Creating & Managing an Academic Profile

This guide focuses on skills and tools for discussing, interacting, presenting, writing, commenting, and finally publishing your research in the social networks used by academics.

Traditional research outputs like articles and books have been measured with traditional tools, typically by counting citations. With your online portfolio, the data you can gather as proof of your exposure is very different. explore the range of your influence; compare with traditional metrics (lots of downloads but no citations - ask yourself why); instead of traditional metrics for some types of publications

What Metrics can be Gathered?

You can gather a number of academic profile metrics.  Fro example, you can count the number of times your profile is visited; the number of downloads of your content; the number of requests for assistance or advice; requests to collaborate; requests to share data; volunteering related information; positive feedback; unsolicited/solicited advice given to you.

However, these numbers need to be put into context to make them relevant. For instance:

  • A citation receives 21 Twitter mentions / 91 Mendeley bookmarks / 12 Blog mentions

This raw data needs to be put into context relative to other works.  For instance:

  • A citation is listed in the Xth percentile of Biology research published in 2015 on Impactstory.

These metrics can also enable you to add "stories" to your CV.  For example:

  • Paper covered by more than 100 medias worldwide, including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
  • Recommended on xx research blogs, putting it in the Xth percentile of Physics publications published in 2015. Was described as "a breakthrough study" by Harvard professor John the Professor.

What are AltMetrics?

Altmertics (i.e. alternative metrics) measure the amount of exposure based on web activity, including download counts, page views, mentions in news reports, social media, blogs, and links. journal impact factor 

For example, ImpactStory is an open-source website that helps researchers explore and share the the online impact of their research. Using your ORCID, ImpactStory gathers alternative metrics (e.g. tweets, saves on citation managers, etc.) in one place. 

Examples of Alternative Metrics in CVs and Tenure Portfolios

 

Example of Alternative Metrics in CVs

Examples of Alternative Metrics in Tenure Portfolios