I’ve had this post percolating in draft form for a while, as I come across more web-based resources for scientists. Yesterday, I saw an article in Cell by Laura Bonetta titled “Should You be Tweeting?” (OK, I downloaded the pdf of the article from my university library. I haven’t touched a physical journal, except the ones I receive as part of my membership in professional societies, in years.) Bonetta discusses how scientists are using the 140 character social networking site, and it’s limitations. Some tweet links to new research, while others feel it provides insufficient space for scientific conversation.
I’ve been torn about tweeting. My hubby, the computer geek, got an account a couple of years ago but rarely uses it. He gets a real thrill out of trying new technologies, whereas I prefer to understand their utility before signing up. Twitter, in particular, seemed like so much navel-gazing to me, especially with all the celebrity accounts.
There have been several web services launched in the last few years aimed specifically at the science community, however. I’ve experimented with some of them, and wanted to provide links to these resources for others.
Social Networking for Scientists:
- Graduate Junction – Billed as “The Academic Network for all early career researchers”, Graduate Junction is geared toward graduate level and postdoctoral academics. Users create a profile, basically an online CV, covering all relevant academic experience. You can search for others with similar interests and create “research links,” your virtual research network, connecting you with potential collaborators around the world. There are groups organized around various topics, like bioinformatics and evolutionary genetics. The site also has advice forums covering topics from writing your thesis and work/life balance to giving talks and postgraduate jobs. They are also sponsoring an online poster competition, and are developing a searchable conference database. Overall, a nice resource for those beginning a career in research. Registration required but free.
- ResearchGate – The “leading professional network for scientists.” Like Graduate Junction, users have a profile, there are groups, and the ability to network with other researchers. But ResearchGate goes a step further, allowing self-archiving of your publications and providing abstract search functionality, so others can read about your research and you can search for connections via their published work. The abstract search could also be used to do a lit review, with a “literature pool [that provides] access to publication metadata of more than 35,000,000 documents of many different institutes and universities.” In addition, ResearchGate has a global job search. There is lots of potential for connecting with relevant researchers in your field, with 200,000 members and growing. Registration required but free.
- Labmeeting – Allows users to organize, collect and share publications and also has a lab management feature. You can create a paper collection, upload EndNote libraries and pdfs, and set alerts to be notified about relevant papers. The uploading pdfs feature is really nice, because labmeeting can match your pdfs to the correct reference in PubMed, eliminating the need for entering citations manually. In the lab management section, you can schedule events and share protocols in the group notebook. Users also have a profile and the ability to network with colleagues. When I signed up a couple of years ago, a .edu email address was required. They’ve since restricted membership, so you have to request an invitation, be a member of one of their chosen institutions, or pay a yearly subscription fee ($99).
- MySciNet – Hosted by the AAAS as part of the Science Careers website, “MySciNet is a place for scientists and students from diverse backgrounds to network and build the personal and professional connections needed to succeed in the sciences.” Again, users can set up a profile and join groups (like Women in Science) that fit their interests. What distinguishes MySciNet from the other social networking sites is that it provides practical, relevant advice on how to succeed as a researcher. With articles on how to write a good personal statement, returning to science, and maximizing your mentoring, MySciNet is a valuable resource for navigating the science career path. Registration required but free.
- BioCrowd – BioCrowd is “social network designed exclusively for bioscience professionals.” Described as a cross between Facebook and LinkedIn, which may explain my aversion. It appears to be a pure social networking site/job search site, and may be geared more towards those in industry. If it’s similar to LinkedIn, I’d be worried about being hounded by headhunters. They do have a podcast detailing the development of BioCrowd, so I’ll reserve judgment until I give it a listen. Registration required but free.
- CiteULike – Sponsored by Springer, an academic journal publisher, CiteULike is a social reference management website. There’s a basic profile section, groups and connections (your network). You can upload your EndNote libraries and personal pdfs, create watchlists on various topics, and the coolest feature, get recommendations on new articles based on those already in your library. I’ve only been using CiteULike for a few months, but I like it for aggregating articles on my to-be-read list. I have several TOC subscriptions to various journals, and I can click on interesting articles in my email and post them to my CiteULike library for future reading. Registration required but free.
- Mendeley – Similar to CiteULike, Mendeley is a reference manager. It has a web-based interface, along with a desktop client (free download – available for all major platforms, including Linux), making it an EndNote competitor. Mendeley is compatible with both EndNote and CiteULike, so you can easily import your references from these sources. You can also search journal publishers and other sites directly, and then import interesting articles using the Mendeley bookmarklet. In the desktop client, you can drag and drop your pdfs and Mendeley will automatically extract the citation information. You can read and annotate references in the included pdf viewer. Mendeley also has networking capability, so you can create a research profile, connect with colleagues, and share your annotated articles. There’s also a research trends section, where you can see the articles most viewed by Mendeley users, statistics for publications in your library, as well as your own articles. Registration required but free.
- Connotea – Another online reference manager, geared specifically for scientists and clinicians. The social networking aspects are primitive; the profile page is a text box. References are shared via email links to specific collections in your library. Not crazy about this one, because others are doing it better. Registration required but free.
- Academia.edu – Looks like a Facebook for academics, several members of my graduate department have a presence here. Registration required but free.
- Nature Network – Another Facebook clone, with blogging and discussion forums. Sponsored by Nature. Registration required but free.
- SciLink – I’d actually forgotten that I had an account here, which shows how much I use it. What I like about it is it generates a network for you based on your publications. Registration required but free.
- ResearcherID – “A Global Community Where Researchers Connect” run by Thompson Reuters, ResearcherID provides scientists with a profile and list of their publications. “With a unique identifier assigned to each author in ResearcherID, you can eliminate author misidentification and view an author’s citation metrics instantly.” It was easier for me to track down all of my citations here, including conference abstracts, and they also provide metrics to measure your impact factor. Registration required but free.
- Epernicus – Another science networking site that I just learned about today, although Richard Dawkins is a member. Adding publications was fiddly, but there appear to be lots of people from my graduate institution here. Registration required but free.
- ResearchBlogging – You might have noticed the little icon in the last post. As part of my goal to get back to blogging about interesting science, I registered Freethinker’s with ResearchBlogging. Sponsored by SEED, the site aggregates posts on peer-reviewed research which meet their criteria. It’s a great way to see some of the best work in the science blogging community.
Quite a list, and by no means exhaustive (I left out Laboratree, as I haven’t used it, and it’s primarily a lab management tool). And yet none of these services do everything a researcher would want or find useful. I really don’t think Twitter fills a niche here, except for pointing out interesting articles. I think CiteULike’s recommendation algorithm may be better for that. Just being a professional Facebook clone isn’t enough, as this wiki details. The ability to track, import and share publications is critical to collaboration. Lab management is a nice feature for bench scientists. The threaded conversations and collaboration potential of Google Wave also present network possibilities to researchers.
I’m curious what other scientists think of these online tools. Do you use them? Which ones? Are there particular services you avoid? If so, why? What would your ideal Science 2.0 experience be?
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Bonetta L (2009). Should you be tweeting? Cell, 139 (3), 452-3 PMID: 19879830
