Ruth
Tadesse, RN, MS
PhD
Student, College of Nursing
University of Utah
A quick review of the history of the Internet may be
useful when discussing the ongoing shift in research dissemination. The Internet
Society briefly summarizes the history of the Internet and
reminds us what the Internet does by stating “The
Internet is at once a world-wide broadcasting capability, a mechanism for
information dissemination, and a medium for collaboration and interaction
between individuals and their computers without regard for geographic
location.” It is this remarkable
aptitude to connect people like any other medium that has made the Internet a
unique platform to researchers who are not only are responsible for producing new
knowledge but also for disseminating it.
As the graph below depicts, the Internet has come a long way since its
inception in 1969. Today, with available
social tools, such as blogging and microblogging, the way scientists
communicate about their research work is shifting undeniably from the
traditional method of publishing in peer-reviewed journals.
What
is available on google?
A preliminary search on google using words “social media for health science
researchers” resulted in close to 5-milion sites; another
search using “twitter and blogs for health science
research dissemination” retrieved 881,000 sites discussing
topics ranging from public health to ePatient and eMedicine. Most
of the information found on the Internet on research and social media is filled
with information on “how to tips” signaling that the use of social media for
research dissemination is new and an ongoing paradigm shift, and one that may
not be fully utilized by current researchers.
Social
Media: A guide for researchers is published by
scientists in the UK who have experience using social media, and introduces
readers to ten other social media users.
Using the words of the authors, the guide was created “to show how
social media can change the ways in which you undertake research, and open up
new forms of communication and dissemination.” The content of the guide includes advantages and disadvantages of using
social media for researchers. Most
importantly, the guide encourages readers to consider the following questions
when using social media for research dissemination:
- What is the appropriate tone for publication of scholarly ideas via social media? Do I write as if I were producing a conventional academic article or do I need a different approach?
- What should I publish and when? Do I wait for things to be published in academic journals or can I start dissemination earlier?
- Are there intellectual property and copyright implications if I make ideas and results available using social media?
- Who is my audience?
Social
media impact and popularity: Intended or unintended consequence?
While researchers are advised to be thoughtful and
consider the above questions, they are also encouraged not to be fearful of the
impact of social media. Anne Weiler,
co-founder and CEO of wellpepper,
a website that declares to deliver “powerful analytics for healthcare
organizations and awesome tools for end-users both patients and providers”
wrote a blog about research dissemination with a little twist of “Publish or
Perish” mantra. She titled her blog
post: “Post
or Perish: Disseminating Scientific Research and the Kardashian Index.” She is one of the several bloggers who provides
several useful tips about using social media for disseminating research. She cautions her readers to not dismiss the Kardashian Index stating “Popularity and valid information do
not need to be mutually exclusive.”
Becoming
viral: What does it mean for your research?
If you have posted your research on
social media, whether it went viral or not, it is likely that your work has gone
noticed and created a discussion. In
fact, this is one of the stark differences between the traditional method of
research dissemination - publishing in peer-reviewed journals and disseminating
research using social media. Nonetheless,
anyone who is doubtful of this fact may want to read the paper written in 2011
by Dr. Gunther Eysenbach, a researcher who
is known for his work on eHealth and consumer health informatics. He wrote a paper in the Journal of Medical
Internet Research on a study he conducted about twitter impact factor. His paper titled “Can Tweets Predict
Citations? Metrics of Social Impact Based on Twitter and Correlation with
Traditional Metrics of Scientific Impact” explores the impact of twitter and
compares it with the traditional method.
He reported highly tweeted articles are 11 times more likely to
end up being highly cited. Dr. Eysenbach
recognizes the relationship between social media buzz and articles cited is an
association acknowledging a causation does not exist. However, scientists will be wise to pay
attention to this correlation and be informed about the impact of social media.
In 2014, Gibbs et al., nurse
leaders invited their core research team to pose for a photograph holding a sign
explaining why they do research. They
posted the photograph on their department Twitter account using hashtag #WhyWeDoResearch and they write “what began as a simple way to introduce the
research team to clinical colleagues, patients, and the local public gained momentum
and attracted national and international attention…” Their
campaign has now reached 22 countries,
has 8,600 participants, over 137 million impressions and over 93,000 tweets. Gibbs et al. (2015) paper published in
Nursing Times titled “Clinical research
benefits go viral via Twitter” is worth reading for those of us who are
still contemplating of using social media or are not informed about the
potential of this new paradigm.
Blogging
for reach and impact
For researchers who feel 140 words afforded by Twitter
are a constraint for research dissemination, Research Blogging (RB)
may be their answer. The site was
created in 2007 by the scientific blogger Dave Munger who was using an icon to
distinguish posts about peer-reviewed research from other blogs. Currently, Research Blogging site has over 1,230 active blogs, with over 26,960
entries posted about peer-reviewed
research on different subjects in seven
different languages including English, Spanish, and Chinese to name a
few. The site is known for being “a central means of disseminating findings of
peer-reviewed research that bloggers have found interesting to
read and analyze.” You can learn all
about RB by reading an online article What
is: ResearchBlogging.org posted on Scientific American by
Bora Zivkovic.
Summary
On a final note, researchers are sensibly advised to
choose their audience when disseminating research. One audience that they may
not afford to discount are health policy makers who are in a position to
translate evidence into practice. With
regards to this, the findings of Kapp
et al. (2015) paper may be informative for those who
want to communicate with policy makers at the congress level in a timely
manner. In an era, when direct
communication with congress and the public is possible using social media,
researchers should take a note and capitalize on this ongoing paradigm shift of
research dissemination.
Links
to Hyperlinked Text:
Internet
Society: http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/what-internet/history-internet/brief-history-internet
Social
media for health science researchers: https://www.google.com/#q=Social+media+for+health+science+researchers
Twitter
and Blogs for health science research dissemination: https://www.google.com/#q=Twitter+and+Blogs+for+health+science+research+dissemination
Social
Media: A guide for researchers: http://www.rin.ac.uk/system/files/attachments/social_media_guide_for_screen_0.pdf
Post
or Perish? Disseminating Scientific Research and the Kardashian Index: http://www.wellpepper.com/post-or-perish-disseminating-scientific-research-and-the-kardashian-index
Kardashian
Index:
Key
References:
Eysenbach,
G. (2011). Can tweets predict
citations? Metrics of social impact
based on Twitter and correlation with traditional
metrics of scientific impact. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 13(4):e123.
Gibbs,
CL, Greaves, A., Keeling, M., Gaw, A., & O’Neill, F. (2015). Clinical research benefits go viral via Twitter. Nursing
Times, 111(19): 16-17.
Kapp,
JM, Hensel, B., Schnoring, KT (2015). Is
Twitter a forum for disseminating research to health policy makers? Annals
of Epidemiology, 25(12), 883-887.
Zivkovic,
B. (2011). What is: ResearchBlogging.org
retrieved from
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/network-central/what-is-researchblogging-org/
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/network-central/what-is-researchblogging-org/
