Follow up
Once your article has been published in OnLineFirst or it has
been assigned to an issue, you need to get it read and cited. The more
that you do to promote your own article, the more it will be cited in other
publications, and thus the more your work will be noticed.
Unfortunately, some authors, think that their work stops once
they have sent in the proofs. In the contrary, authors have a duty - to
themselves, to their organizations, to colleagues, and to the people whom they
cite - to get their work known and cited. Below are some suggestions from
SAGA Publications. We urge you to do as much as possible to use these.
10 Ways to
Increase Usage and Citations of Your Article
Congratulations on publishing your
article in Simulation & Gaming.
SAGE is committed to promoting and
increasing the visibility of your article and would like to work with you to
promote your paper to potential readers. We are actively engaged with several
social media initiatives and see this as a key way for people to engage with
your newly-published work. As user expectations change, it is important
that your article is visible where the user starts their search. Below
are some of the sites we think are key for promoting your paper and other
channels that will offer a direct way to reach the widest and most appropriate
audience.
Whilst social media is increasing
in importance, there are other options to draw attention to your latest work:
email your networks or post on listservs and websites about your recent
publication, and add your article to your course reading list (if appropriate).
Let us know what initiatives you
are already using to promote your article. We would love to help you promote any
blogs, sites or twitter feeds you set up by linking to them from our websites,
so please do
get in touch.
Best Wishes,
SAGE Marketing
P.S. Visit the SAGE Author
Gateway for tips on how you can
optimize your next article for increased search engine visibility before you
submit it for publication.
1. Contribute to Wikipedia
We recognise that many students are increasingly using Wikipedia as the
starting point for their research. If there are pages that relate to
themes, subjects or research that your article covers, add your article as a
reference, with a link to it on SAGE Journals Online. If there isn’t a page in
existence, why not create one? You can find out how
here.
2. Join Twitter
Twitter is a micro-blogging service that
enables its users to send and read messages known as Tweets. Authors are
increasingly promoting their content via Twitter which is then picked up by
other researchers and practitioners depending on their search parameters. Look
at the example
here. Senders can restrict delivery to those in
their circle of friends or, by default, allow open access. Twitter allows you to
set up search terms to enable you to monitor what is being talked about in your
areas of interest: You can then comment on the relevant conversations.
The more you engage, the more people will follow you to listen to your comments
and recommendations. As followers come to you, rather than you
approaching them, Twitter is an ideal way to reach new audiences.
SAGE’s guidelines for how to use
Twitter are available
here.
3. Add content to YouTube
Content is, of course, no longer as narrow as text and figures. It also includes
user-generated content and multi-media content such as podcasts and videos.
We are seeing an increasing amount of traffic to our journal sites via
YouTube as students use video as an initial way of researching a topic.
If you already have video content relating to your specific journal article,
please let us know and we will add it to our
SAGE YouTube channel.
4.
Start blogging
Wondering what to write about? What about:
- Your area of research and
papers that you have published – and/or other related papers in your field
of research. Don’t forget to link to them from your blog!
- Conferences and training
events that you’re due to speak at
- Your last conference – were
there any interesting questions that came up?
- What do you think of any
recent press coverage of your subject area?
- Ask your colleagues and co-researchers
to guest blog and stimulate debate.
The more you write, the higher your
page will appear in search engine results pages when researchers are searching
for content – especially as they are increasingly using Google Scholar. SAGE
will provide a blogging template and guidelines – please contact us if you would
like further information.
5. Join academic social
networking sites
Academics, researchers and practitioners are increasingly using social
communities as a way of meeting and conversing with people who share the same
research interests. These sites offer an immediate way to monitor what other
people are looking at in your field of research or as a way to commission papers
around online conversations you think are interesting. If there aren’t any
groups talking about your research interests – set one up. Take a look at
MyNetReseach and
Academici for example. There are others too,
perhaps you can ask your colleagues which they are part of to decide what suits
you best.
6. Create your own website
Do you have your own website? If not, create one! You can create a very clean
and simple site using
Google sites. SAGE will provide guidelines on
how to engage with your audience using social media functionality.
7. Utilise social
bookmarking with CiteULike
CiteULike is a free service to help you to
store, organise and share the scholarly papers you are reading. When you see a
paper on the web that interests you, you can click one button and have it added
to your personal library. CiteULike automatically extracts the citation details,
so there's no need to type them in yourself. It all works from within your web
browser so you don't have to install any software. Because your library is
stored on the server, you can access it from any computer with an Internet
connection.
8. Join Methodspace
Sponsored by SAGE,
Methodspace is a new online community for
research methods. On the site, you can connect with other researchers, discuss
methodology issues and controversies, Discover and review new resources, find
relevant conferences and events, and share and solve methodology problems.
9. Engaged with LinkedIn
LinkedIn is an interconnected network of
experienced professionals from around the world with over 55 million members. It
is not just for career opportunities. When you create your profile that
summarizes your professional expertise and accomplishments, why not include a
mention of your articles and a link to S&G?
10. Sign up to Facebook
Facebook lets users add friends and send them
messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves.
Additionally, users can join networks organized by city, workplace, and school
or college. You can also join and create groups according to your interests or
areas of expertise.
Your suggestions. If
you have additional suggestions that would be of use to other authors, please
send them to the editor: simulation.gaming |@| gmail.com.
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