Thing 6: A short discussion about academic networking profiles

This Thing is about the use of academic networks such as ResearchGate, Academia.edu and Google Scholar. I've introduced my ResearchGate and Academia.edu accounts in a previous blog post (Thing 4), but should you wish to see them, here are the links:

ResearchGate profile & Academia.edu profile

I originally only made my accounts for the aforementioned networks because (I'll be honest...) we were asked to as part of a Research Methods course during my undergraduate degree. However, as a post-grad, I'm starting to understand their advantages. The ability to contact the authors of a particular paper, or view their most up to date research or academic activity, is really useful - and I've certainly benefited from numerous discussion threads on the sites where questions similar to those I'm having with my research, have been answered by very experienced researchers.

Sadly, I've no research to publish yet so I my pages are looking a bit thin, but in terms of exposure to research communities, these sites are so helpful.

I think having a professional space where snippets of research can be advertised, shared or discussed is really useful in developing a professional image. In the future I hope to link my LinkedIn and Adademia.edu & ResearchGate pages in order to present, not only my working history, but also details of the kind of academic research I'm involved in.

That's it for today, but thank-you so much for reading! Below is a great picture of a Mantis Shrimp - this hefty critter can punch so fast that water around its fist-like clubs begins to boil! (Picture from New Scientist)