How to increase the reach of your published work
Your work has been published in a brilliant journal with an
excellent impact factor. This may be quite recently, or it could be some
time ago, and due to recent events, or published findings, it is time
to reiterate the results of that particular piece of research. Today
more research is being discussed on-line. Your work could be discussed
on social media sites and in research blogs. It could be mentioned in
public policy documents and news articles. So it could be
beneficial for you to be part of that discussion.
You have the power to enhance and increase the reach of your
published work and you don’t have to totally rely on the journal’s
impact factor. Through raising your on-line presence, you will increase
the reach of your published work and potentially increase the number of
citations. But where do you begin? You may have started to set up your
LinkedIn account, and had a look at Twitter but don’t really understand
the point in it. Well, help is at hand. Here are several strategies for
using various digital platforms in the most effective way to increase
the reach and impact of your work.
Before you start
Professor Andy Miah, Chair in Science Communication & Future Media
at University of Salford, who has been published in Taylor & Francis
journals, is a strong advocate of using social media to publicise your
work. He has produced a 15minute video for Taylor & Francis’ author services site. His key take away messages are: –
1. Consider the journal’s social media identity
Social media can improve the cohesiveness of your research community.
Think about the journal’s social media identity as the focus of interest
for the people around it.
2. Grow community and public engagement
Grow the academic community beyond your peer groups. Doing this can
potentially increase the impact and the value of the research you are
producing.
3. Think of social media as a conversation not purely a broadcast channel
Consider how you respond to the sharing of knowledge and the changes in
behaviours around communication. Connect the interests with the
journal’s readership.
Which channels
Whilst you are very likely to be part of a community of researchers in
your area, there are several mainstream platforms that you can use to
take part in discussions on, and disseminate your thoughts through, to
reach a wider audience.
Here are the top four mainstream platforms that we suggest you
consider. If you are not active on any of these channels start with one
and invest a bit of time in it until it becomes a habit.
1. Twitter
This is our favourite here at GA Jobs. It is a truly an international
platform. The use of hashtags opens up communication to the world. In
our post Twitter 101 for academics
we mention The power of the hashtag post on the Wiley Exchanges blog,
which lists various platforms that can help you to find relevant
hashtags without too much guess work.
Most institutions and organisations have a Twitter account listed
fairly prominently on their website. Before you follow that account
check when the last post was and who their followers are. As you look at
their followers you will inevitably end up following other accounts you
find interesting. You will discover relevant hashtags too. You may also
want to follow the lists that are set up on various Twitter accounts.
Some of our favourite Twitter accounts are listed below: –
Organisations
LSE Social Impact Blog
Altmetrics
Fast Track Impact
Blogs
Research Whisperer
Writing for Research
Individuals
Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega
Patrick Dunleavy
Tseen Khoo
Pat Thomson
Athene Donald
Having an active Twitter account will increase your on-line visibility.
The keys are to engage and share interesting and relevant useful
information about your area of research. As you build up your network it
becomes a really great place to share your updates on your personal
blog, or events you take part in. For your published work you can share a
link to the journal listing with a photo of the cover of the journal.
Twitter is a fantastic source for live news updates, you will often
find individuals tweeting about events or news in your area of
interest/research before you see it on official accounts. When you can’t
attend events it can be a helpful tool if there is a hashtag being
used, as you will be able to get a flavour of what is going on. Event
attendees often post photos of slides that are being shown in the
session with their own comments.
2. LinkedIn
No matter what your area of work, whether you are a head of a department
or head of a company LinkedIn will increase your online visibility.
When someone ‘Googles’ you they will find you quickly and learn more
about your network too. Make sure you connect with your colleagues and
co-authors.
When you update your LinkedIn profile link it to your staff page on
your institution’s website. Of course you will need to ensure this is
also up to date. LinkedIn will automatically link you to the
institution’s LinkedIn page.
As well as raising your online profile and helping people to build a
picture of who you are in terms of your professional network, LinkedIn
is a useful tool to learn more about contacts and see who others are
connected to. It is handy if you don’t have a contact’s email because
you can contact them via LinkedIn.
It can be helpful to follow relevant funding organisations’ company
pages, such as Horizon 2020, for regular sound bites of information.
3. FaceBook
There is a general rule of thumb about keeping FaceBook as your personal
network and LinkedIn as your professional network. However, you may
well have built up a strong personal network of contacts throughout your
academic life. You could invite that community on to a FaceBook page
based on a project you’re working on or a team you have joined.
On international early career researcher Wesley Loftie-Eaton
has done this for his cycle trip through six African countries in six
months raising awareness of antibiotic resistance at institutions along
the way.
4. Your own blog
It is really important to have a plan before you start. Blogs can be
started with great gusto and trail off almost as quickly as they begin. We have a series of posts to help you get set up and maintain
your own professional blog. The reason to blog is to enhance your
network in your area of research and to potentially increase that
network to a wider audience including the general public and
journalists.
In summary, the focus is more about encouraging researchers to be
active participants of on-line platforms and build up communities around
their area of work. By default, this will increase the reach of
published work and potentially increase citation rates.
How to increase the reach of your published work - Global Academy Jobs Blog
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