Social media tools in research: for learning, sharing, collaborating and progressing. Catalyst Editorial October 2015

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1 Social media tools in research: for learning, sharing, collaborating and progressing Jane Alfred AgreenSkills Catalyst Editorial October 2015

2 Who am I? A brief introduction Position Editor Journal Trends in Genetics Editor in Chief Nature Reviews Genetics Executive Editor Development and the Node Deputy Editor PLOS Biology and PLOS Biologue Director /Founder Catalyst Editorial, Ltd.

3 What is social media anyway? Simply put: Social media describes websites and applications that enable users to create and share content or to participate in social networking.

4 Einstein didn t tweet, why should I? There are many benefits to using social media as a research tool There are pitfalls too

5 The benefits Increase your profile as a scientist Broaden your network of contacts in science good for career progression & change Keep up to date with new research & new policies Make your research more visible & more citable Collaborate & share ideas & knowledge Use it for science out reach & advocacy Use social media as part of an open science strategy (Titus Brown) In the age of the internet, social media tools offer a powerful way for scientists to boost their professional profile and act as a public voice for science. (Holly Bik & Miriam Goldstein An Introduction to Social Media for Scientists PLOS Biology, 2013)

6 The pitfalls Time drain The trollers and debaters (aka. the yellers & quarrellers) Being irrelevant or ignored or wrong Blurring the professional with the private Falling foul of funder/institutional policies Being seen as a time waster (For more pros and cons of social media, see Titus Brown s talk on slideshare

7 The first steps Step 1: Define your goals Step 2: Decide how much time you have or want to invest Step 3: Decide on your audience and your voice Step 4: Set your priorities, your limits and then make a plan!

8 Tools for keeping up to date

9 Twitter

10 Literature sharing / recommendation sites.

11 Literature discussion sites

subreddits, get credits, participate in AMA sessions.

12 Information sharing sites Reddit Register, post content, subscribe to subreddits, comment, vote content up or down, share content, create new subreddits, get credits, participate in AMA sessions. Lots of popular science related subreddits r/science r/everythingscience r/genetics r/plants

13 Science blog networks

14 Tools for networking & collaborating

15 ResearchGate

16 Epernicus

17 Other networking sites for scientists

18 Data sharing sites

19 Collaborative writing tools

20 Tools for communicating your research & ideas

First, three important questions... Who are you talking to? The public or media? Future employers/funders? Your peers? What do you want to talk about? Your research?

21 First, three important questions... Who are you talking to? The public or media? Future employers/funders? Your peers? What do you want to talk about? Your research? Science generally? Science policy? Your ideas & opinions? How much time do you have? Very little (think short, sweet and Twitter) Very little but I LOVE communicating about science (think blogging)

24 com/about/

26 Blogging Advantages Great for developing writing skills Opportunity to develop a style and a voice If well done enhances your profile a plus for career change or progression Great for outreach and for campaigning on issues Let s you reach a broader audience, beyond your community of peers Two-way channel for feedback & discussion Disadvantages To gain an audience - posts must be engaging, well written & have something to say You need to set up a blog site and maintain it. Or blog on someone else s. All this takes time to do well!

27 Use other social medial tools to share & publicize your posts: Twitter, FB, RSS feeds, Google+, blog aggregator sites (such as Research Blogging), Tumblr, and more!

28 Other sites for sharing knowledge & networking

29 Summary Decide how you want to use social media make a plan! Create a Twitter account and follow people in your area of research chart progress Save time with tools Hootsuite, Buffer, Tweetdeck When you write papers, think about: Using collaborative writing tools How to use social media to share your findings When you attend a conference, think about: Tweeting & Storifying using the meeting # Adding your Twitter handle to talks about your work Sharing your talk/posters on Slideshare, Figshare or F1000Research When you publish, think about: Posting data on Dryad or Figshare and code on GitHub Posting on Twitter, FB, ResearchGate and LinkedIn to raise awareness of your work Blogging about what you ve discovered and why it matters

30 Thanks for listening. Any questions?

31 WE ALSO RUN WORKSHOPS & PRESENTATIONS ON: RESEARCH INTEGRITY PUBLISHING ETHICS PEER REVIEW TIPS FOR PUBLISHING SUCCESS AND PROVIDE EDITORIAL SERVICES TO ACADEMICS For more information contact: or visit catalyst-editorial.co.uk

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