Writing an academic research paper can take a few months to several years. But the work doesn’t stop once the paper is published. Now it’s time to think about promoting your findings in the media and on social media.
Promoting your work increases its visibility, providing opportunities to connect with other researchers who may become potential collaborators, engage in discussions around the topic, and build a professional profile that can help secure funding for future research projects.
Communicating your work can be a complicated task. Estimates suggest around two million scientific articles are published each year. That’s over 5,400 per day! To stand out from the throng, you need to be able to pick out the elements of your research that are best suited to media promotion.
For instance, always include if your research has been published in a reputable academic journal. Here are five reasons why:
Not all journals were created equal. Some have a more prestigious reputation and this reflects on the quality and significance of your research. So, if your work has been published in a highly acclaimed journal, be sure to communicate this when you engage with the media or post about it on your social media channels.
Top-tier journals include Accounting Review and the Journal of Accounting Research in the field of accounting, the Journal of Finance and American Economic Review in finance, and the Academy of Management Journal and Journal of Business Venturing in strategic management.
If you publish research in these or a journal with a reputation on par, be clear about this achievement in your efforts to communicate your findings. Mention the journal by name.
Prestige doesn’t arise from nowhere. More often than not, it’s the result of saying ‘no’ to research papers that do not meet the journal’s standards. Top-tier journals employ rigorous peer review processes to check the credibility of findings.
While this can mean it takes longer for research to be published after it’s submitted, once research finally hits the journal’s pages, it benefits from that selectivity.
Being included in a reputable journal is essentially a seal of approval from other leading experts in your field of study. This can open the door to media opportunities with journalists writing for non-academic publications because they have a quality assurance that your findings are accurate.
Academic journals target different audiences. Mentioning which journal your research has been published in can help to define the readership your work is intended for.
Of course, plenty of research papers appeal to large audiences across various disciplines and industries outside of academia. However, this is not always the case and it’s important to know who you are trying to engage before starting to promote your work in the media.
In cases where your research focuses on a more niche topic, you may find that reaching out to journalists at sector-specific publications, or engaging with people in that sector on social media, will generate more attention for your work than it appearing in a national newspaper, for example. You’re likely to have in-house PR and communications experts at your institution that can help with this – or agencies like us that support them.
There are also practical reasons for sharing details about the journal your research is published in. Chief among them is the fact that it will make your work easier to find for people who are interested in reading it.
Newspapers, podcasts, online news platforms, and social media can all be useful avenues to convey your key findings to a broader audience. However, ultimately you are looking to encourage readers to read your original research paper so that they can engage with the details and nuances on a deeper level.
To enable them to do this, it’s important to make your work as easy to locate as possible. This includes communicating details of the academic journal your work was published in, as well as the date it was published. If your research was published recently, making this clear when you engage with the media can also help to drive interest because journalists are especially keen to write about new and current research.
Communicating the high quality of academic journal your research has been published in can also help to develop your personal brand as a researcher in a particular field. This can have an impact on evaluations, promotions, and grant applications.
It also opens up new possibilities for collaboration. If you are seen to publish your work in top-tier journals regularly, this enables you to connect with a wide variety of other top academics in your field to work on new projects together.
Posting about your research on social media is a great way to build connections with other like-minded researchers who are interested in similar topics. You can also encourage colleagues, department social media pages, or even your business school or university to post on their social media channels to leverage as wide a network as possible. Other ways of communicating where your research has been published include in your personal bio on your institution’s website and in any potential press releases that are sent out about your work.
At BlueSky Education, we have plenty of experience promoting research that has been published in top-tier academic journals in the media. If you would like to hear more about how we can help you attract media visibility for your research, contact us today.
Having developed his craft as a writer under the guidance of world-renowned novelists, poets and playwrights, Jamie has also spent a couple of years as a content writer for a primarily American readership, with over 150 articles published under his name.