Skip to Main Content

The Digital Scholar: Develop Your Online Presence and Communicate Your Work to the World

A guide to your options for creating and maintaining a presence online among fellow scholars, with the purposes of raising your profile, meeting and working with collaborators, and promoting your research.

Claim Your Author Profiles

Once published, your research can be read, shared and cited. These tools will help you build and maintain your author profile so you can make the most of your research impact.

  • Citation indexes Scopus and Web of Science are best used for citation tracking with an established author profile.
  • Online impact trackers like Paperbuzz and Impactstory can help collect online usage data for your work in ways the citation indexes might not.

But whatever you decide to do, registering on ORCID for a researcher identifier will help ensure everything you've published is correctly attributed to you.

For more on citation tracking:

Unique Identifier Registry: ORCID

In a world of ever-increasing publications, ensure yours are all attributed to you by registering for a unique identifier. This identifier can then be linked to other professional accounts and used on future work and research to ensure a common connection between the author and the work.

ORCID is a standalone open registry, and you'll also find that you're assigned identifiers if your works are indexed in Scopus (Scopus Author ID) and Web of Science (ResearcherID).

 

ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID)

  • Persistent 16-character unique identifier for researchers and reviewers to connect to works, grants, patents, etc.
  • Nonprofit organization
  • Founded 2010
  • Free registration
  • Works in conjunction with ISNI (International Standard Name Identifier; ISO 27729)

Using Scopus as an Author

The Scopus algorithm uses the article metadata for publications in a journal indexed by Scopus to create Scopus Author Profiles when two or more articles are linked to one author name. Authors with similar names are assigned different Scopus Author Identifiers, but it is the responsibility of the individual author to ensure that citations are accurately assigned to the right identifier.

  •  Author profiles: To ensure accurate records, authors must claim their profiles in order to submit requests for edits and corrections. Please note that Scopus Author Profiles can be edited only through submitting a request to the Author Feedback Wizard (see below); individuals cannot edit their own.
    • In addition to contact and citation information, your Author Profile can also show awarded grants and preprints when indexed by Scopus.
  • Unique identifier: Scopus Author Identifier. Errors can be corrected through submission to the Author Feedback Wizard, which is also how you can request to link your ORCID account.
  • Metrics (for articles indexed in Scopus):
    • Total citation count
    • H-index score, indicating the ratio of total articles published to citations
    • Field-Weighted Citation Impact

Using Web of Science as an Author

When you have a publication in a journal indexed by Web of Science, the algorithm assigns you an author record and Web of Science ResearcherID, which you must claim in order to eliminate duplicate records and inaccurate information.

  • Author profiles: Web of Science's author profiles, known as Researcher Profiles, are integrated with Publons, the peer review platform. You must create a Web of Science account to claim your publications and ResearcherID, and from there correct any errors. If you have an exiting Publons account, it is now integrated into Web of Science.
    • Your Author Profile will also show listed peer review and editor work if added to Publons.
  • Unique identifier: Web of Science ResearcherID. You can also add your ORCID number.
  • Metrics (for articles indexed in Web of Science):
    • Citation count
    • Citation network
    • Author Impact Beamplot

Online Impact Trackers

How is your work being discussed online?

Citation indexes like Scopus and Web of Science track citations between articles, but do not always capture online discussion usage like social media and sharing. These tools, both projects of the nonprofit OurResearch, can help.

Paperbuzz

  • Free to use DOI search based on Crossref data
  • No account required

Impactstory

  • Researcher profiles that highlight the sharing of open source and open access materials
  • Initially released in 2012 by the organization that is now known as OurResearch
  • Log in with ORCID or Twitter account
  • Allows for user download of all personal data