Source: https://libguides.reading.ac.uk/boost

Boost your academic profile

Tips to help get your work seen and cited

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• Act NowToggle Dropdown
• Preparing Publications
• Choosing where to publishToggle Dropdown
• After Acceptance

Boost your academic profile

This guide expands on the information in the 'Boost your Academic Profile' booklet that was issued to researchers at University of Reading in 2017. There are still a few paper copies available. Contact the Research Publications Adviser if you would like a hard copy of the booklet. There are suggestions for some simple things that you can do to make your research more visible and so more likely to be cited.

• Research Publications Adviser (Library)

  Expert advice on research publications and bibliometrics.

ACT NOW

There are three simple steps that you can take now to make sure that your outputs are attributed to you.
Making sure that you have a consistent digital identity is essential if all your outputs are to be correctly attributed to you.
Use the links below or the drop-down menus to work your way through the three steps and find out more. 

• Check your Scopus Author Profile

  You may not know that this profile exists - check it is correct so that your publications and citations are attributed to you
• Create a Google Scholar profile

  Full instructions on how to set up a Google Scholar profile
• Register for an ORCID ID

  Creating an ORCID iD will mean that your research outputs are correctly assigned to you

PREPARING PUBLICATIONS

Prepare your publications well and vary your outputs

• Form a reading club with colleagues to get constructive feedback on your outputs before submission.
• Different output types accrue citations at different rates. Consider writing a review or perspective paper, ideally in a high-impact journal.
• Consider provocative debate pieces, inputs into policy, and if appropriate for your field,
• multi-author surveys.
• If appropriate for your discipline, and not considered as prior publication by your chosen journal, post your manuscript to a pre-print server such as arXiv, bioRxiv, PeerJ Preprints or SSRN.

Cite yourself  (when appropriate and in moderation)

• Always cite your own work correctly, preferably using the DOI if one was assigned.
• Self-citations can be excluded from citation indices, but advertise your previous relevant work to others.
• Female authors don’t self-cite as often as male authors. Self-citation is OK when appropriate and in moderation.
• Cite your colleagues if appropriate.

Write clear titles and abstracts

• Think what keywords/phrases your audience might search for.
• Use keywords and phrases in the title, and repeatedly in the abstract.

Collaborate

• Co-authors from other countries or other institutions can give a citation advantage (check it out in SciVal).
• Explore opportunities to collaborate across disciplines thereby tapping into multiple citation networks.
• Articles with two authors double citations, on average

Share your data and research materials

• Share your supporting data and other materials, such as software code, using a data repository. Search for a repository at re3data.org, or use the University’s Research Data Archive researchdata.reading.ac.uk
• Cite and link to the data from your publication using a DOI or other unique identifier.
• Contact researchdata@reading.ac.uk for advice and assistance in sharing data.

Standardise names and affliations

• Your affiliation must always be ‘University of Reading’ and this should come first, before any departmental or other affiliation
• Always use the same format for your names and initials on every output.
• Use your University email name@reading.ac.uk
• Use your ORCID iD when you submit your manuscript.

HELP AND MORE INFORMATION

Karen Rowlett

She/Her

Email Me

Contact:

Room G10, Library

0118 378 7870

Website

Subjects: Open access, Research publications

WHERE TO PUBLISH

Open Access

• Make sure your journal permits Gold or Green Open Access.
• Make sure you know your funder’s requirements on Open Access publishing.
• Apply for funds to pay for Gold Open Access via OArequests@reading.ac.uk

Journal impact

• Do your homework before submitting to a journal – visit: thinkchecksubmit.org
• Find a journal with the right audience –do you read it and cite it? Do your peers and competitors publish in it?
• Check journal metrics with Scopus, SciVal, Scimago, InCites Journal Citation Reports and Google Scholar.
• Make sure the journal/platform will issue a DOI for your publication.
• If possible, publish in a journal that is indexed by Scopus.

Publishing speed

• Choose journals with faster publication times. Contact the journal’s Editorial Office for information.
• Choose a journal that publishes online ahead of print, rather than waiting for the publication of the print edition.

Non-journal outputs

• Book chapters and conference proceedings often have poor online visibility. Choose a publisher with an online presence.
• Avoid submitting outputs that will not be not given DOIs.

 

AFTER ACCEPTANCE

Archiving

• Upload to CentAUR as soon as your output is accepted – this is mandatory for all staff and all research outputs.

Sharing

• Upload permitted versions to Academia.edu, ResearchGate or Mendeley – and tag with keywords.
• Send PDFs of your article to your peer network (if allowed by your publisher) – don’t assume they will see it in a journal.
• Use shareable links provided by the publisher to disseminate your paper to your peers.
• Include links to your latest publications in your email signature.

Promotion

• Link your works in CentAUR to your University staff webpage to increase visibility.
• Use social media to drive traffic to your publications. Post on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc.
• Blog about your research to encourage ongoing discussion, record a podcast, make a video, or design an infographic.
• Find links with current news stories – contact the University Press Office on pressoffice@reading.ac.uk as soon as a news story emerges.
• Edit relevant Wikipedia pages, inserting text and references to your research.
• Promote associated outputs such as research data or software code. Cite them by DOI or other unique identifier.
• Organise a conference for major outputs – contact the University Events Team on events@reading.ac.uk

Tracking attention and impact

• Use Altmetric Explorer to track mentions of your outputs on social media, policy documents and news sites.
• Track citations to your paper via Google Scholar, Web of Science or Scopus. If someone is citing you, they may be interested in your next paper.