To refer to, describe and promote your research very often has a ripple effect in the form of the more interested readers you reach the greater are the chances that your research in its entirety will be read and used, leading to more citations.
There are many different channels you can use for this purpose all may not suit you personally. Below are some established tips on which channels to use:
- Email signature
A simple way to promote your research is to include one or several links to your latest articles, your research profile page, your blog, or Twitter, to your email signature.
10 DO's & DON'Ts social media & email signatures
- Blog
To blog is a way to popularize a newly published article or an ongoing research project and lets you write in a more lighthearted way about your research. In this way, you could get more people interested and make it more relevant.
Scientific Research Blogging: Tips for Researchers!
Vertikals (JU's blog)
- Video
To present your latest article, an ongoing research project or your research at large, in layman's terms, or in a very colourful way with exciting examples, is a good way to emphasize its relevancy and its most important aspects. To put it into perspective and connect it to everyday practice and experience could also make it more understandable and relevant to a wider audience. YouTube and Vimeo are two of the most common platforms to share your videos.
How to Share Your Research Video
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Social media
Link to a new article or a blog entry by using social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and others. Remember that it usually takes some time to get followers and impact on social networks so have patience and try to tweet and post entries continually.
A Guide to Using Twitter (a guide from Cambridge Author Hub for researchers)
10 tips for promoting your research online
"Twitter can help with scientific dissemination but its influence on citation impact is less clear" (LSE Impact Blog)
". . . actively participating on Twitter is a powerful way of promoting and disseminating academic outputs, potentially indirectly influencing the scholarly impact and improving prospects of increased citations."
(LSE Impact Blog)
- Digital research networks
These research networks include ResearchGate, Academia, Kudos, Mendeley and others. They are important channels to share your publications or information about them on and perhaps find potential research collaborators. Remember that descriptive information about your research is not only descriptive (for those that have already found your profile) but also makes it searchable and easier to find. Therefore it is important to reflect on what keywords you use when you describe your research and research topics (in ResearchGate, for instance, these keywords are added under headings such as Skills and expertise and Topics). Also, note that you are usually not allowed to upload the publisher's PDF of an article as it goes against their copyright policy and the contract you have signed with the publisher. Contact the library for advice in these cases.
Why I use ResearchGate (Dr Robin Kay) [4:36]
Introduction to Academia.edu [8:52]
Step-by-step tutorial for using Kudos [4:00]
ResearchGate, Academia.edu, and Social Networking Sites [3:56]
10 DO's & DON'Ts social media & email signatures
Why I use ResearchGate (Dr Robin Kay) [4:36]