Academic online profiles: Finding your way as early career researcher

University profile pages, LinkedIn, Twitter, Orcid, Google Scholar, Academia, Publons, ResearchGate. The list goes on. The sheer amount of possible online profiles and academic platforms can be overwhelming, particularly for early career researchers.

Which profiles are necessary? What are the benefits of each platform? Which profiles are beneficial for networking, and which ones for research dissemination? Should we focus on a few, or try to be active on all?

On the 17th of May, 2021, I organised a session for early career researchers who are part of the Planning + Property theme group. Based on popular demand, I provided an overview of most popular profiles and platforms in academia. We discussed which ones are beneficial for, and most commonly used by, governance researchers who focus on planning and property market dynamics.

There are a few essentials, such as a well-maintained university profile page. However, we came to the conclusion that it is better to focus on a few profiles and platforms properly instead of trying to be active everywhere.

In addition, we explored some of the metrics and indexes that are frequently used in academia. For early career scholars, these systems can be very confusing. And the less you understand something, the scarier it seems.

Providing information and exchanging views and strategies on academic online profiles helped everyone to feel more confident, and to figure out a personal strategy to be present online that is not taking away precious research time.