ResearchGate, Academia.edu, and Social Networking Sites

WHAT ARE ACADEMIC SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES?: This short video by John Bond of Riverwinds Consulting discusses Social Networking Sites. FIND OUT more about John Bond and his publishing consulting practice at www.RiverwindsConsulting.com

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TRANSCRIPT
Hi there. I am John Bond from Riverwinds Consulting and this is Publishing Defined.

Today I am going to discuss how academic social networking sites like ResearchGate and Academia.edu.

A social networking site is an online platform that is used to build social networks or create connections with other people who share similar interests. The look and function of each site will vary but generally they include a personal profile, user generated content, and an ability to connect with others. In research or academia, these are used for professional users to connect with people who share the same professional interests. The most important aspect of social networks for professional purposes are the ability to disseminate information and the ability to reach likeminded contacts.

Two popular academic social networking sites are ResearchGate and Acamedia.edu.

Research Gate is a social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. According to a study by Nature, it is the largest academic social network in terms of active users and research shared with over 13 million active users.

People that wish to use the site need to have an email address at a recognized institution or to be confirmed as a published researcher in order to sign up for an account. Members of the site each have a user profile and can upload research output including papers, data, negative results, patents, research proposals, presentations, and software source code.

The New York Times described the site as a combination of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. ResearchGate does not require peer review or fees.

Academia.edu is a social networking website for academics. The platform can be used to share papers, monitor a work’s impact, and follow the research in a field.

The website allows its users to create a profile, upload their work, select areas of interests and then browse the networks of people with similar interests. Academia.edu has over 50 million registered users, but there is a question about how active many of them are.

Academia.edu, FYI is a private company and not a .edu in the traditional sense. Research Gate is also a private company.

Of course, there are other social networking sites such as Mendeley and others. Each has a particular twist to their service or area of focus.

There are of course criticisms of these services including, most importantly, copyright violations, but also unwanted emails or invitations, fake users, inactive accounts.

Any academic or researcher should sign up for these services and have a full, vibrant, and up to date profile.

Well that’s it. I’ve released a new eBook called, “The Request for Proposal in Publishing: Managing the RFP Process.” It is a short, focused guide to this essential business task that associations or societies use to find potential publishing partners. See the link in the notes below for more information on the book or how to purchase it.

Hit the Like button below if you enjoyed this video. Please subscribe to my YouTube channel or click on the playlist to see more videos about academic social networking sites.

And make comments below or email me with questions. Thank so much and take care.