2019 Charleston Library Conference

ResearchGate is a significant academic social network site for researchers to publish, share, and discover research with a wide international academic community, and is changing the landscape of scholarly communication. While there is research on which features different populations use on ResearchGate, primarily through surveys and analysis of profiles on the site, the potential motivations for joining and utilizing ResearchGate from the perspective of early career researchers (ECRs) has not been examined. This session will present findings from an interview-based study of what motivates early career researchers to engage on ResearchGate, with particular attention to those who build profiles prior to having any publications, and how it fits with their career goals. This study indicates a potential relationship between ResearchGate, scholars, and publishers as well as lessons for librarians in understanding their user communities. Publishers and librarians alike can utilize these findings to better support scholars, and understand trending topics within respective fields, creating a more relevant and supportive academic publishing and/or library service program.

Attendees at the session will leave with:

• Insights into how ECRs are interacting on ResearchGate and how they value ResearchGate to establish and further their academic career status.
• An understanding of why ECRs use ResearchGate rather than other platforms that are available to them (e.g., institutional repositories).
• A framework for considering how publisher and library service might be re-worked meet ECRs' needs.