Promoting research
Kate Harbison; Paula Callan; and Tanya Harden
These days it is important for researchers to be visible beyond academia. The old maxim of ‘publish or perish’ is transitioning to ‘be visible or vanish’. They need to promote themselves and their research. However, this is an area where many researchers may not feel comfortable. They may welcome information and training in expanding the reach of their research and maximising their impact.
This chapter will outline different tools and strategies researchers can use to promote themselves using social media, mainstream media and other methods.
Before you start make sure you are familiar with earlier chapters on Open Access and Author Profiles.
Getting started
Before starting it is a good idea to plan a research promotion strategy. There are many venues and tools available for a researcher to promote their research and it is important to choose a strategy that suits the researcher’s commitment, schedule and interests as well as their field. Investigate what platform their colleagues are using, ask the researcher what tools they use already and what they feel comfortable with or enjoy.
Official channels
Many organisations have their own marketing departments that put out press releases which can be used to promote a researcher and their work:
- Journals and Publishers
- Universities
- Societies and organisations
Networking tools
These provide a forum for researchers to connect and communicate with each other:
Be wary of ResearchGate and Academia.edu. Only one is needed (check the researcher’s field and colleagues) and their model is to request researchers upload their articles, which, in many cases, may be undesirable or illegal. The University of Oklahoma has a useful guide to them here.
Social media
Many researchers use social media to engage with their peers and the public. It takes time and energy to build a community on the platform of choice, so selecting the appropriate platform for the field is important. Usually the easiest way to do this is to see what colleagues are doing.
The most commonly used social media platforms for researchers are:
- Twitter
- Many researchers use Twitter as their main social media promotion tool. They should be prepared to post regularly and tag and retweet relevant partners and colleagues.
- YouTube
- Academic blogging
Mainstream media
Getting into the mainstream media is a great way to ensure research is noticed and publicised:
- Traditional media
- The Conversation
- Research from The Conversation is often picked up by other media too
- Expert guides
- Most universities have expert guides to steer the media towards the relevant researchers and marketing or media departments may offer training as well.
Explore: Check out these social media giants of the academic world: The thesis whisperer, Axel Bruns, Andy Miah, Gary Mortimer, or The A to Z of social media for academics from Times Higher Education.
Time to pick!
Each platform will have its own tech