There are several different types of online profiles you can create:

  • Google Scholar
  • ResearchGate.Net
  • OrcID
  • Twitter

Google Scholar

Written by Michael Gottlieb. Last updated May 23, 2021.

Google Scholar provides an easy way to showcase your publications, allowing you and others to track your research. This also increases your research presence, making it easier for others to identify you as a future speaker or collaborator. Once created, Google Scholar will automatically add new research to your profile as soon as it is published. It will also track your citation metrics, including total citations, h-index, and i-10 index in real-time. This can be particularly useful when submitting applications to your Promotion and Tenure Committee.

Step 1: Create Your Profile

  1. Go to https://scholar.google.com/ and click on “My profile” located at the top-left corner of the page.
  2. On the first page, you will need to sign into your Google account. If you do not have a Google account, you will need to create one here.
  3. On the next page, you will need to add your name, affiliation, email for verification, and areas of interest. Use your Rush email address for the “email for verification” entry. Add keywords relevant to your research areas of interest, so that others can more easily find you when browsing subject areas.page1image36934528
  4. Click “Next” to begin adding articles.

Step 2: Adding Publications

  1. You will now see a list of all names that are similar to your name. Search through the list and find the one that corresponds to your research. If more than one listed name corresponds to your research, it is ok to select both.
    1. When scrolling through the lists, click on the number of articles on the right to see a full list attributed to that author heading.
    2. It is ok if you notice some research in the list that you have not written. You can remove those later.
    3. If you cannot easily find your name, consider adding your institution or city next to your name at the top and repeating the search.
  2. Once you identify the name(s), click the checkbox to the left to mark it for inclusion. Google Scholar will utilize this to identify new articles for inclusion that are affiliated with this author listing.page2image36920848

Step 3: Make Your Profile Public

Your profile is currently private if you have just created it. In the final page, select “Make my profile public” so that others may see it. You can also select how your profile articles will update by selecting either automatic updates or having Google email you for review.

You can edit any of these settings later by clicking on the pencil icon next to your name.

Step 4: Review and Remove Articles

While the “auto add” feature is a great function, it can lead to articles being added which you did not author. Therefore, it is important to review the list and remove any incorrect articles. There are two ways to do this:

  1. Click the checkbox next to the article title and then select “Delete” at the top.
  2. Click on the article and select the ‘trashcan’ icon on the top right corner of the pop-up.

It is important to keep a close eye on what articles are added to your profile. The easiest way to do this is to “follow” your profile. You can do this by selecting the blue “follow” button next to your name. Then select “New articles in my profile”. I also recommend selecting “New citations to my articles” to keep track of how your work is being cited.page3image36936192

Step 5: Add Missing Articles

Occasionally, Google Scholar may miss one of your articles. When this occurs, you can manually add an article by selecting the “+” icon. Then select “Add article manually” from the dropdown menu. A pop-up window will then allow you to enter the data manually.page4image36920640page4image53546384

Step 6: Add Co-authors

This is a valuable feature to help grow your research network and increase your visibility to others interested in similar research. To add a co-author, find the co-authors section on the right- hand section of your profile (just below the “Cited by” bar graph) and select “Edit”. The next window will provide a list of potential co-authors. Select the “+” icon to add them as a co-author.page5image36921888

ResearchGate

ResearchGate is a European social network for researchers to share papers and find potential collaborators. According to a study in Nature (2014), it is the academic social network with the most number of academic users. Google Scholar comes in a close second.

To register, you need an email address at a recognized institution (Rush counts) or be manually confirmed as a published researcher. Members will upload their papers, data, chapters, negative results, patents, proposals, etc such that others can review and comment.

ORCid

According to their website, ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier (an ORCID iD) that you own and control, and that distinguishes you from every other researcher. You can connect your iD with your professional information — affiliations, grants, publications, peer review, and more. You can use your iD to share your information with other systems, ensuring you get recognition for all your contributions, saving you time and hassle, and reducing the risk of errors. You may see a lime green circle with iD encapsulated within it next to author names in journals.

Twitter

Thought not specifically designed for research, a lot of announcing, dissemination and discussion of scholarly work occurs on Twitter. Consider creating a profile if you haven’t already.