Scholarly Communication

Similar in concept to personal social networking sites like Facebook which allow users to share content and connect with other users, academic social networks bring researchers and their work together in the same forum. Social network sites are web-based services that allow individuals to construct profile about themselves, compile a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system." Academic social network sites (ASNs) are designed to bring the benefits of social networking sites to a specifically academic audience.

• Metrics - Analyze your research from a variety of perspectives including views, downloads and citations
• Discussions - Comment, post questions, and follow other researchers/publications.
• Networking - Communicate and share ideas or documents with other researchers in your field.
• Discoverability - your profile and your research can be searched for in Google and other search engines.
• Share Your Work - Some social networking sites can also act as repositories where you can upload preprints. Or you can list citations and external links.

• These social media networks are owned by commercial entities that will potentially harvest and share your data.
• Unless you manually adjust your privacy settings, you are likely to receive unwanted email and solicitations.
• These are private entities, and do not provide a safe sustainable environment for your papers.
• Be mindful of copyright when submitting documents and information.
• Many do not consider the uploading of materials to such networks as true Open Access.
• Academic bullying or harassment has occurred in these online environments.
• Metrics differ between products and have been criticized as being inaccurate or misleading.