Master in Translational Medicine-MSc
University of Barcelona, 12/5/2021
Science dissemination 2.0
Social media
for researchers
Xavier Lasauca i Cisa
@xavierlasauca

SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVITY OF MTM
2021 STUDENTS
• Students: 13
• Answers: 9
8
8
0
7 1
7

#MTMSD20
#socialmedia4researchers

Source: Anurag Acharya

• Introduction
• Feedly
• Blogging
• Twitter
• Networking
• Sharing
• Health 2.0
• Digital identity building
• Further reading
• Questions time
Structure of the session

• To get new information
• To increase the impact and visibility of research
papers
• To engage with fellow researchers and meet new
collaborators
• To improve a researcher's public profile, build your on
line reputation and thus competitiveness
• As part of the research process
Using social media can be really beneficial…
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mkhmarketing/8540717756

https://www.flickr.com/photos/67623309@N07/6286036061
Overview

https://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonview.asp?catref=mmcn225
The homo mobilis!

Future is mobile.

Universal
Synchronous
Private
Asynchronous

http://www.nature.com/news/online-collaboration-scientists-and-the-social-network-1.15711

A researcher 2.0 thinks it’s important…

Source: Percepción Social de la Ciencia y la Tecnología en España 2018. FECYT.

The
New
Scientist.

“COVID-19 will be remembered for
many things, including the pandemic
that changed science communication.
Much of the effect was positive.
Outstanding epidemiologists,
virologists, and public health experts
became household names as they
talked about the pandemic through
mainstream media and social
platforms. “
Science 16 Apr 2021:
Vol. 372, Issue 6539, pp. 217
DOI: 10.1126/science.abi9363

Altmetrics

• Authors should be able to see the
attention that their articles are receiving
in real-time, and what people are saying
about their work.
• Researchers should be able to see which
recent research their peers think is
interesting.
• Publishers should be able to show
authors, readers and their own internal
teams the conversations surrounding
their content.

https://www.altmetric.com/top100/2020/?subject=Medical+and+Health+Sciences&details=77676422

Why are many researchers beginning to
embrace altmetrics?
• Track the dissemination of research beyond academia
• Show the attention, reception, and response to a published
work prior to it being cited
• Can be applied to non-traditional research outputs like data-
sets and blog posts
• Show research impact in real-time — scholars and journals
don’t have to wait for their score to be released, like in the
Journal Citation Reports
Source: Enter Alternative Metrics: Indicators that capture the value of research and
richness of scholarly discourse

• Adams J, Loach T. (2015). Altmetric mentions and the communication of
medical research.
• Maggio LA, Leroux T, Meyer HS, Artino AR. (2018). Exploring the relationship
between altmetrics and traditional measures of dissemination in health
professions education.
• Wooldridge J, King MB. (2018). Altmetric scores: An early indicator of research
impact.
• Lemke S., Peters I., Mazarakis A. (2019, March 20). “If you use social media
then you are not working” – How do social scientists perceive altmetrics and
online forms of scholarly communication? [Blog post].
• Williams C. (2020, February 19). The altmetrics of Coronavirus – How research
has shaped our understanding [Blog post].
• Ortiz-Torres E. A., Viamonte-Garrido Y. I (2021). Indicadores cienciométricos y
altmétricos para la identificación de líderes científicos
References about altmetrics

Open science
Image:
fosteropenscience.eu

“Be open,
my friend.”

Publications + Research Data Accessible
Reproducibility
Reuse of results
Transparency
Visibility
Impact
Scientific progress

“Science is moving towards a
greater openness, in terms of not
just data but also publications,
computer code and workflows.
Yet researchers who are learning
to navigate the open-science
arena face a thicket of thorny
issues. “
Nature 569, 445-447 (2019)
doi: 10.1038/d41586-019-01506-x

https://tinyurl.com/H2020AGA

• Public Consultation: ‘Science 2.0’: Science in Transition. European Commission
(EC). 2014
• Communicating EU research and innovation guidance for project participants.
EC. 2014
• Emerging reputation mechanisms for scholars. EC. 2015
• Making Open Science a Reality. OECD. 2015
• Open Innovation, Open Science, Open to the World: a vision for Europe. EC. 2016
• Next generation metrics. EC. 2017
• Providing researchers with the skills and competencies they need to practice
Open Science. EC. 2017
• Evaluation of research careers fully acknowledging Open Science practices.
Rewards, incentives and/or recognition for researchers practicing Open Science.
EC. 2017
• H2020 Programme. Guidance. Social media guide for EU funded R&I projects
EC. 2018
• OSPP-REC. Open Science Policy Platform Recommendations. EC. 2018
• Indicator frameworks for fostering open knowledge practices in science and
scholarship . EC. 2018
EU references about open science

• Open science: Sharing is caring, but is privacy theft?, David Mehler and Kevin
Weiner. PLOS Neuro Community blog. 2018.
• Qué es la ciencia abierta?, Lluís Anglada and Ernest Abadal. Anuario ThinkEPI, vol.
12. 2018.
• Open science is all very well but how do you make it FAIR in practice?, Rachel Bruce
and Bas Cordewener. JISC blog. 2018.
• Mapping Open Science Tools, Lettie Y. Conrad. The Scholarly Kitchen blog. 2018.
• Monográfico InfoDoc sobre Ciencia Abierta. Universidad de Salamanca. 2018.
• Open Science: Sharing Your Research with the World: MOOC of the University of
Delft. 2018.
• Open Science MOOC: MOOC of the University of Leiden. 2018.
• The Open Science Training Handbook. 2018.
• Una aproximació al concepte de ciència oberta (i 25 recursos per aprofundir-hi),
Xavier Lasauca i Cisa. L’ase quàntic blog. 2018.
• Ciencia abierta. Cómo han evolucionado la denominación y el concepto. Lluís
Anglada and Ernest Abadal. Anales De Documentación, 23(1). 2020.
• Méndez, E. (2021). Open Science por defecto. La nueva normalidad para la
investigación. Arbor, 197(799), a587.
Other references about open science

“This is me and my digital circumstance.”
Miquel Duran

Image:
Yasser
Alghofily
in
Flickr
(CC
BY
2.0)

R20=LC3S
The researcher 2.0 formula

LC3S
Listen
Create
Communicate
Connect
Share

Listen

“Let the contents
come to me.“
https://pixabay.com/photos/fishing-net-background-fishing-net-3433340/

Social bookmarking
websites
Bibliographic data
managers

Create
https://www.flickr.com/photos/128817307@N02/15243403263

“Spread the
word.“

http://www.altmetric.com/blog/interactions-here-in-the-blogosphere/

Motive A: Visibility Motive B: Networking Motive C: Information
increase own impact connect with peers be up to date
be found by peers and
other stakeholders
stay in touch with
colleagues
be part of a conversation
present self/own work
be(come) part of a
community
anticipate trends
Source: (Micro)blogging Science? Notes on Potentials and Constraints of New Forms of
Scholarly Communication, by Cornelius Puschmann

https://www.flickr.com/photos/miuenski/5887393036/

Ready to become a blogger?
http://www.fromthelabbench.com/from-the-lab-bench-science-blog/blogging-tips-for-science-bloggers-from-science-bloggers

Blogging Tips for Science Bloggers (1)
• Covering the basics of new scientific
research papers is a good starting
point.
• Let your voice be heard.
• Your blog will evolve over time...
• Focus on a few key topics.
• Make your science blog a place for
open dialogue.

• Highlight what the real 'open questions' are
in your area of science.
• Use visuals!
• Connect with other bloggers on Twitter.
• Cite your sources.
• Respect your audience.
• ALWAYS do a last check for grammar and
spelling before clicking 'publish'.
Blogging Tips for Science Bloggers, From Science Bloggers. From the Lab Bench Blog.
Blogging Tips for Science Bloggers (2)

Blogging Tips for Science Bloggers
(Bonus track)
• Update your blog regularly.
• Do not become slave of your blog.
• Disseminate your posts across social
media.

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/

• LSE Impact Blog. (2012, February 24). Five minutes with Patrick Dunleavy
and Chris Gilson: “Blogging is quite simply, one of the most important
things that an academic should be doing right now”. [Blog post].
• Dunleavy, P. (2014, December 28). Shorter, better, faster, free: Blogging
changes the nature of academic research, not just how it is
communicated [Blog post].
• Dunleavy, P. (2016, January 25). How to write a blogpost from your
journal article in eleven easy steps. [Blog post].
• Carrigan, M. (2016, April 26) 40 reasons why you should blog about your
research [Blog post].
• Mollett A., Brumley C., Gilson C., Williams S. (2017, May 25). So you’ve
decided to blog? These are the things you should write about. [Blog
post].
http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com/Internet-Report-Information-Blogging-Blogger-Blog-970722
References about blogging

Communicate
https://www.flickr.com/photos/30767852@N00/3460078384/

“Lo bueno, si
breve, dos
veces bueno.“
Baltasar Gracián
‘If the good is brief, then
it is twice as good‘.

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2012/04/19/blog-tweeting-papers-worth-it/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shovellingson/6800803601/
The Importance of Being Hashtag

A
B
C
D

1
2

Twitter
threads

…

• As a source of information: it’s a great way
to get information you otherwise
wouldn’t.
• As a tool to disseminate our research: the
way we translate information is changing.
• For lecturers, Twitter can contribute to
discussions and deepen understanding.
• At conferences, Twitter is invaluable for
stimulating discussion and finding out
what is happening in other sessions.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/47400163@N05/7846842772
Why a researcher 2.0 should use Twitter?

#ISMBECCB

http://www.flickr.com/photos/72211347@N00/327122302
#
I am a researcher and I am
on Twitter… Now what?

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2011/09/29/twitter-guide/
http://www.lwec.org.uk/sites/default/files/TwitterTips.pdf

https://ja.cat/GuiaComCientRedes

Microblogging Tips for Science Twitterers (1)
• Make content of value and easy to read.
• Add an image and fill the bio of your profile.
• To select followers, take a look to a
researcher’s profile with the same interests as
you.
• Structure of the tweet: text + URL + hashtags.
• Be very careful with spelling.
• Include an image or a video.

• Content: dissemination of papers published
recently, conferences, congresses, grants,
news, blog posts…
• Try to tweet regularly.
• Publish according to timezone of target
audience.
• Reply to mentions.
• Monitor your activity with Tweetdeck or
Hootsuite.
• Organize the profiles that you are interested
in by lists.
Microblogging Tips for Science Twitterers (2)

The lists

Add an image and fill the bio

MTM-MSc Alumni
in Twitter!

• Emily S. Darling et al (2013). The role of twitter in the life cycle of a scientific
publication.
• Qing Ke, Yong-Yeol Ahn and Cassidy R. Sugimoto (2017). A systematic
identification and analysis of scientists on Twitter.
• Monya Baker (2015). Social media: A network boost.
• Wheeler, T. (2015, August 21). Permission to tweet? The underlying principles of
good science communication are all about sharing. [Blog post].
• Haustein, S. & Costas, R. (2015). Identifying Twitter audiences: who is tweeting
about scientific papers?
• Ortega, JL. (2017, December 4). Academic journals with a presence on Twitter
are more widely disseminated and receive a higher number of citations. [Blog
post].
• Vidal-Alaball, J. et al (2019). A New Tool for Public Health Opinion to Give Insight
Into Telemedicine: Twitter Poll Analysis
• Cheplygina V, Hermans F, Albers C, Bielczyk N, Smeets I (2020). Ten simple rules
for getting started on Twitter as a scientist.
• Ema Talam (2021, March 2). Socially distanced networks – 5 Reasons PhD
students should engage with social media now [Blog post].
References about Twitter

Connect
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ralf_st/32713638224

“Connect with
one another.”
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fauzirulandi/32564476507

General networks Specific networks

Share
https://www.flickr.com/photos/27281712@N08/32113577855

“Each of us finds his
unique vehicle for
sharing with others
his bit of wisdom.”
Ram Dass
https://www.flickr.com/photos/wefi_official/26959617928

Articles and presentations
(Slideshare, issuu)
Social bookmarking (Diigo)
Images (flickr, Instagram) and videos
(YouTube)
Bibliographic data management
(Zotero, Mendeley)
Video chats (Skype, Zoom)

Slideshare

Google hangouts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4sfQg9IKO8A

Instagram

• Gill, J. (2013, 2 January). Six ways to use Google + Hangouts for academic
productivity. [Blog post].
• Noruzi, A. (2017). YouTube in scientific research: A bibliometric analysis.
• Diner E. (2019, 25 January). Should academics share their presentations? [Blog
post].
• Jorda, K. (2019). From Social Networks to Publishing Platforms: A Review of the
History and Scholarship of Academic Social Network Sites.
• Khaisar Muneebulla Khan and K. S. Ali. (2020). Web tools and technologies to
increase citation frequency by use of social media: An appraisal.
References about connecting and
sharing

https://www.flickr.com/photos/xav/3678466365
#Health20

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0900702
Ultimately, the
Internet provides a
powerful
communications
channel, but it is
health care
professionals and
the public who will
best determine how
to use this channel
for surveillance,
prevention, and
control of emerging
diseases.

Image:
CNBC

http://www.yelp.es/barcelona

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=25124281
Based on
observations in this
study and the
increased usage of
social media, we
posit that online
illness reports could
complement
traditional
surveillance systems
by providing near
real-time
information on
foodborne illnesses,
implicated foods
and locations.

http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v27/n10/full/nbt1009-888.html

https://www.flickr.com/photos/56695083@N00/4464828517/
©
Photo
by
KatB
Photography
How to build your new digital reputation

Strategy
• Define objectives about online presence
(as individual researcher or research group)
• Explore the tools and choose the most
appropriate
• Develop your network
• Encourage feedback and discussion
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ybot84/7850997682/

Source: Sue Beckingham, Developing a professional online presence (2018), CC BY 4.0.

“Social media provides more than just a
channel for disseminating personal brand
content: it provides the content itself. In
fact, it is possible to develop a social
media presence without expressing a
single original idea, simply by re-posting
content created by others. This means
that, with relatively minimal effort, users
can use social media platforms to
reinvent themselves.”
Oestreicher-Singer G., Geva H. and Saar-Tsechansky M. (2019, April 29). Building online
personas: Has social media become an exercise in self-branding? . [Blog post]

10 Simple Steps to Building a Reputation
as a Researcher, in Your Early Career
1. Register for an ORCID identifier
2. Register for information hubs: LinkedIN, Slideshare, and a domain name of your
own
3. Register for Twitter
4. Write and share a 1-paragraph bio
5. Describe your research program in 2 paragraph
6. Create a CV and share it
7. Share (on Twitter & LinkedIN) news about something you did or published; an
upcoming event in which you will participate; interesting news and publications in
your field
8. Make writing; data; publication; software available as Open Access
9. Set up tracking of your citations, mentions, and topics you are interested in using
Google scholar and Google alert,
10. Find your Klout score, H-index.
Source:
Micah
Altman,s
Blog
http://nepalireporter.com/21956/paul-van-dyk-returns-uae/

Top 10 tips to get started
1. Explore online guides (start with this).
2. Do some “lurking” (look at examples of good practice).
3. Locate pertinent and relevant online sources (e.g. who to follow on
Twitter, interesting bloggers).
4. Start using content aggregation and curation tools (e.g. RSS, Diigo).
5. Identify a few key tools and start with those – know your limits!
6. Develop your network (e.g. LinkedIn, Twitter).
7. Join academic social network sites (e.g. ResearchGate, Mendeley).
8. Create your own website
9. Start blogging and twittering about your research (or whatever else
takes your fancy!).
10. Keep your purpose and audience in mind.
Source:
Introduction
to
Social
Media
for
researchers,
by
Gilles
Couzin
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/eeel45jfeg/1-tiesto-22-million/

• Konkiel, S. (2016, July 8). A ‘quick and dirty’ guide to building your online
reputation. [Blog post]
• Herman, E. and Nicholas, D. (2019). Scholarly reputation building in the
digital age: an activity-specific approach.
• Social Media in Higher Education: Case Studies, Reflections and Analysis.
Edited by Chris Rowell (2019).
• Wallis, K. (2020, August 6). How an audience-first approach to social
media increases engagement with your research. [Blog post]
• Carrigan M., Anhoto A. (2020, November 7). Equipping PhD researchers
for social media success
References about digital identity building

Researcher
Blog
Twitter
Social media
Science
dissemination
Personal brand
+Online
reputation
+Visibility
+Impact
+Prestige
+Influence
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waywuwei/4611542919/sizes/o/

“I'm trying to free your
mind, Neo. But I can only
show you the door. You're
the one that has to walk
through it.”
The Matrix (1999)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/funksoup/403990660
To deepen…

Communication and dissemination guide addressed to Beatriu de Pinós fellows. AGAUR. 2019.

• Bik HM, Goldstein MC (2013). An Introduction to Social Media for
Scientists
• Digital tools for researchers. Thomas Crouzier.
• Innovations in Scholarly Communication. Universiteit Utrecht.
• Social media en investigación. Lydia Gil.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/frosch50/21492514468
References to deepen

Conclusions
https://www.flickr.com/photos/niaid/14861104355

“Be open, my friend.”
“Let the contents come to me.“
“Spread the word.“
“Lo bueno, si breve, dos veces bueno.“
“Connect with one another.”
“Each of us finds his unique vehicle for sharing
with others his bit of wisdom.”
L
C
C
C
S

.

“Because
sharing isn’t
just nice; it’s
absolutely
critical.”
Terry Wheeler
xavierlasauca.cat
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eightysixfilms/6176735010/