Academic Social Networks: How the web is changing our way to make and communicate researches

Giovanni Bonaiuti

doi:10.1515/rem-2015-0010

Abstract

Networking is not only essential for success in academia, but it should also be seen as a natural component of the scholarly profession. Research is typically not a purely individualistic enterprise. Academic social network sites give researchers the ability to publicise their research outputs and connect with each other. This work aims to investigate the use done by Italian scholars of 11/D2 scientific field. The picture presented shows a realistic insight into the Italian situation, although since the phenomenon is in rapid evolution results are not stable and generalizable.

References

Ary, D., Jacobs, L. C., & Sorensen, Chris. (2009). Introduction to research in education (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Search in Google Scholar
Baynes, G. (2012). Key Issue - Scientometrics, bibliometrics, altmetrics: some introductory advice for the lost and bemused. Insights: The UKSG Journal, 25(3), 311-315. http://doi.org/10.1629/2048-7754.25.3.31110.1629/2048-7754.25.3.311
Search in Google Scholar
Beall, J. (2012). Predatory publishers are corrupting open access. Nature, 489(7415), 179-179. http://doi.org/10.1038/489179a10.1038/489179a
Search in Google Scholar
Beech, M. (2014). Key Issue How to share and discuss your research successfully online. Insights: The UKSG Journal, 27(1), 92-95. http://doi.org/10.1629/2048-7754.14210.1629/2048-7754.142
Search in Google Scholar
Bik, H. M., & Goldstein, M. C. (2013). An Introduction to Social Media for Scientists. PLoS Biology, 11(4). doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.100153510.1371/journal.pbio.1001535
Search in Google Scholar
Bornmann, L., & Mutz, R. (2014). Growth rates of modern science: A bibliometric analysis based on the number of publications and cited references. Eprint arxiv:1402.4578. Retrieved from arXiv
Search in Google Scholar
Brenner, J., & Smith, A. (2013). 72 % of Online Adults are Social Networking Site Users groups continue to increase their engagement. Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/files/oldmedia//Files/Reports/2013/PIP_Social_networking_sites_update_PDF.pdf
Search in Google Scholar
Bullinger, A. C., Hallerstede, S. H., Renken, U., Söldner, J.-H., & Möslein, K. M. (2010). Towards Research Collaboration - a Taxonomy of Social Research Network Sites. In Proceedings of the Sixteenth Americas Conference on Information Systems, Lima, Peru, August 12-15, 2010 (pp. 1-9). Lima, Peru.
Search in Google Scholar
Falagas M.E., Pitsouni E.I., Malietzis G.A., & Pappas G. (2008). Comparison of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar: strengths and weaknesses. FASEB Journal, 22(2), pp. 338-42.10.1096/fj.07-9492LSF
Search in Google Scholar
Galligan, F., & Dyas-Correia, S. (2013). Altmetrics: Rethinking the Way We Measure. Serials Review, 39(1), 56-61. doi:10.1016/j.serrev.2013.01.00310.1016/j.serrev.2013.01.003
Search in Google Scholar
Greenhow, C., & Gleason, B. (2014). Social scholarship: Reconsidering scholarly practices in the age of social media. British Journal of Educational Technology, 45(3), 392-402.10.1111/bjet.12150
Search in Google Scholar
Haglund, L., & Olsson, P. (2008). The impact on university libraries of changes in information behavior among academic researchers: A multiple case study. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 34(1), 52-59.10.1016/j.acalib.2007.11.010
Search in Google Scholar
Haines, L. L., Light, J., O’Malley, D., & Delwiche, F. a. (2010). Information-seeking behavior of basic science researchers: implications for library services. Journal of the Medical Library Association : JMLA, 98(1), 73-81. http://doi.org/10.3163/1536-5050.98.1.01910.3163/1536-5050.98.1.019
Search in Google Scholar
Happell, B., & Cleary, M. (2013). Research career development: The importance of establishing a solid track record in nursing academia. Collegian, 21(3), 233-238. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.colegn.2013.04.00510.1016/j.colegn.2013.04.005
Search in Google Scholar
Hoffmann, C. P., Lutz, C., & Meckel, M. (2014). Impact Factor 2.0: Applying Social Network Analysis to Scientific Impact Assessment. In Proceedings of the 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 1576-1586). doi:10.1109/HICSS.2014.20210.1109/HICSS.2014.202
Search in Google Scholar
Hugget, S. (2010). Social networking in academia. Research Trends, 16(March), 5-6.
Search in Google Scholar
Hugget, S. (2010). Social networking in academia. Research Trends, 16(March), 5-6.
Search in Google Scholar
Jordan, K. (2014). Academics and their online networks: Exploring the role of academic social networking sites. First Monday, 19(11), 1-19.10.5210/fm.v19i11.4937
Search in Google Scholar
Kinal, J., & Rykiel, Z. (2013). Open Access as a Factor of Enhancing of the Global Information Flow. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 83, 156-160. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.03010.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.030
Search in Google Scholar
Kortelainen, T., & Katvala, M. (2012). “ Everything is plentiful-Except attention” Attention data of scientific journals on social web tools. Journal of Informetrics, 6(4), 661-668. doi:10.1016/j.joi.2012.06.00410.1016/j.joi.2012.06.004
Search in Google Scholar
Labrie, N., Amati, R., Camerini, A.-L., Zampa, M., & Zanini, C. (2015). “What’s in it for us?” Six dyadic networking strategies in academia. Studies in Communication Sciences, 15(1), 158-160. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.scoms.2015.03.01210.1016/j.scoms.2015.03.012
Search in Google Scholar
Li, N., & Gillet, D. (2013). Identifying influential scholars in academic social media platforms. In Proceedings of the 2013 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining - ASONAM ’13 (pp. 608-614). Niagara, Ontario, CAN: ACM. doi:10.1145/2492517.249261410.1145/2492517.2492614
Search in Google Scholar
Liu, J., & Adie, E. (2013). New perspectives on article-level metrics: developing ways to assess research uptake and impact online. Insights the UKSG Journal, 26(July), 153-158. doi:10.1629/2048-7754.7910.1629/2048-7754.79
Search in Google Scholar
Lupton, D. (2014). ‘Feeling Better Connected’: Academics’ Use of Social Media. Canberra: News & Media Research Centre, University of Canberra.
Search in Google Scholar
Mabe, M. A. (2010). Scholarly Communication: A Long View. New Review of Academic Librarianship, 16(sup1), 132-144. doi:10.1080/13614533.2010.51224210.1080/13614533.2010.512242
Search in Google Scholar
Manca, S., & Ranieri, M. (2014). I Social Media vanno all’università? Un’indagine sulle pratiche didattiche degli accademici italiani. ECPS - Educational, Cultural and Psychological Studies, (10), 305-339. doi:10.7358/ecps-2014-010-manc10.7358/ecps-2014-010-manc
Search in Google Scholar
Marino, W. (2012). Fore-cite: tactics for evaluating citation management tools. Reference Services Review, 40(2), 295-310. http://doi.org/10.1108/0090732121122833610.1108/00907321211228336
Search in Google Scholar
Menendez, M., De Angeli, A., & Menestrina, Z. (2012). Exploring the virtual space of academia. In From Research to Practice in the Design of Cooperative Systems: Results and Open Challenges. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on the Design of Cooperative Systems, COOP 2012 (pp. 49-63). Marseille, France. doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-4093-1_410.1007/978-1-4471-4093-1_4
Search in Google Scholar
Moed, H.F. (2005). Citation analysis in research evaluation. New York: Springer Mohammadi, E., & Thelwall, M. (2014). Mendeley readership altmetrics for the social sciences and humanities: Research evaluation and knowledge flows. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 65(8), 1627-1638. doi:10.1002/asi.2307110.1002/asi.23071
Search in Google Scholar
Niu, X., Hemminger, B. M., Lown, C., Adams, S., Brown, C., Level, A., … Cataldo, T. (2010). National study of information seeking behavior of academic researchers in the United States. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 61(5), 869-890. http://doi.org/10.1002/asi.2130710.1002/asi.21307
Search in Google Scholar
Ortega, J. L. (2015). Relationship between altmetric and bibliometric indicators across academic social sites : The case of CSIC’s members. Journal of Informetrics, 9(1), 39-49. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2014.11.00410.1016/j.joi.2014.11.004
Search in Google Scholar
Ovadia, S. (2014). ResearchGate and Academia.edu : Academic Social Networks. Behavioral & Social Sciences Librarian, 33(3), 165-16941. http://doi.org/10.1080/01639269.2014.93409310.1080/01639269.2014.934093
Search in Google Scholar
Powell, D. a., Jacob, C. J., & Chapman, B. J. (2012). Using Blogs and New Media in Academic Practice: Potential Roles in Research, Teaching, Learning, and Extension. Innovative Higher Education, 37(4), 271-282. doi:10.1007/s10755-011-9207-710.1007/s10755-011-9207-7
Search in Google Scholar
Ranieri, M., Manca, S., & Fini, A. (2012). Why (and how) do teachers engage in social networks? An exploratory study of professional use of Facebook and its implications for lifelong learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43(5), 754-769. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2012.01356.x Salem, J., & Fehrmann, P. (2013). Bibliographic Management Software : A Focus Group Study of the Preferences and Practices of Undergraduate Students Bibliographic Management Software : A Focus Group Study of the Preferences and Practices of Undergraduate Students. Public Services Quarterly, 9(October), 110-120. http://doi.org/10.1080/15228959.2013.78587810.1080/15228959.2013.785878
Search in Google Scholar
Steinfield, C., Ellison, N. B., & Lampe, C. (2008). Social capital, self-esteem, and use of online social network sites: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29(6), 434-445. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2008.07.00210.1016/j.appdev.2008.07.002
Search in Google Scholar
Tapscott D., Williams A. D. (2007). Wikinomics 2.0: La collaborazione di massa che sta cambiando il mondo, Milano: Etas Libri.
Search in Google Scholar
Thelwall, M., & Kousha, K. (2014). Academia.edu: Social network or academic network. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 65(4), 721-731. doi:10.1002/asi.2303810.1002/asi.23038
Search in Google Scholar
Thelwall, M., & Kousha, K. (2015). ResearchGate: Disseminating, communicating, and measuring Scholarship? Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 66(4), 876-889. doi:10.1002/asi.2323610.1002/asi.23236
Search in Google Scholar
Van Eperen, L., & Marincola, F. M. (2011). How scientists use social media to communicate their research. Journal of Translational Medicine, 9(1), 199. doi:10.1186/1479-5876-9-19910.1186/1479-5876-9-199
Search in Google Scholar
Walters W.H. (2011). Comparative Recall and Precision of Simple and Expert Searches in Google Scholar and Eight Other Databases. Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 11(4), pp. 971-1006.10.1353/pla.2011.0042
Search in Google Scholar
Weller, M. (2011). The Digital Scholar. How technology is transforming scholarly practice. London: Bloomsbury.10.5040/9781849666275
Search in Google Scholar
Yang, S., Qiu, J., & Xiong, Z. (2010). An empirical study on the utilization of web academic resources in humanities and social sciences based on web citations. Scientometrics, 84(1), 1-19. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-0142-710.1007/s11192-009-0142-7
Search in Google Scholar
Zhang, Y. (2012). Comparison of Select Reference Management Tools. Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 31(1), 45-60. http://doi.org/10.1080/02763869.2012.641841 10.1080/02763869.2012.641841
Search in Google Scholar

Academic Social Networks: How the web is changing our way to make and communicate researches

Abstract

Paradigm

My account