Studies on the use of academic social networking sites by academics and researchers: a review

Abstract

The present review is an endeavour to understand the use of Academic Social Networking (ASN) sites by academics and researchers during the 2001-2020. The literature indicates existence of disciplinary differences in choice of ASN platforms as well as frequency of use of a particular platform by users belonging to a particular discipline. The strong disciplinary influence could be attributed to variations in social and cultural practices of a particular discipline. The review finds professional visibility as one of the outstanding motivating factors for academics and researchers to join ASN sites. Seeking scholarly answer, accruing citations, seeking expert, sharing research literature by availing self-archiving facilities of ASN sites, exploring collaborative research avenues and job seeking are some other important motivators. The review noticed that alternative metrics have become a strong contender for measuring research impact. The review also found age and gender discrimination, snooping, academic cyber bullying, flooding of ASN sites with substandard literature as some concerns which need concerted attention and suggests more research in these fronts and accordingly modification of ASN interfaces to make them more responsive to user’s needs.