The Internet is flooded with information – also about you. It is a good idea to take some measurements to control what those searching for information about you are likely to find. Here are three tips to increase your digital visibility as a researcher, reduce the risk of mix-up with others, and make sure you and your institution are properly credited for your efforts and results.
1. Use Cristin
Cristin is the main source of information about your publications and projects for administrators and evaluators, and to a certain extent for researchers nationally.
As a minimum, you must register all your scientific publications. The library will check all results in the scientific categories before reporting them to the authorities, who in turn distribute funding based on the information. You can also register other results, such as artistic products or performances, popular articles, talks and lectures, conference participation etc. to present a more comprehensive picture of yourself, your competence and activities.
You should also register projects. That does not entail everything you work on, but defined projects that have a title, a set time span, and perhaps fellow participants. You can add publications and other results to the presentation of a project. Be aware that projects and results are dealt with in two different modules of Cristin, and that these do not get along so well. You have to log on to them separately using FEIDE. In order to display your results in the context of a project, you must first register them in the results module, and then upload them to the project module.
Via Cristin you can upload texts to have them published in HVL Open. You tick a box that appears at the very end of the registration procedure, and then add (preferably!) the correct version of your text. Before publishing it in our archive, the library will check that you have the legal right to do so. It is likely we will contact you with some questions. We strongly encourage you to upload your texts, because Open Access publishing increases the visibility of your research.
Finally, it is a good idea to select up to five publications you regard as particularly important. They will appear in a separate list in your Cristin profile as main publications, and if you are an HVL employee, they will also feature on your profile page at hvl.no. You can find a guide of how to do it (in Norwegian) at Vestibylen, and you can ask someone in the library or the communication section to help you. When people google you, your HVL profile will appear high on their hit list. That brings me to:
2. Create a Google Scholar profile
Researchers worldwide are perhaps more likely to search for you in Google Scholar, and they will get a much better picture of you if you have created a profile there. You need to verify your affiliation, and then Google will search the Internet for your publications and suggest them to you.
It is important that you actively maintain your profile. As you probably know there are limitations to Google’s ability to separate the wheat from the chaff, and especially if you have a common name, there is a risk of confusion with other authors.
Another reason for keeping your profile up to date is that it helps Google pick up citations to your publications. They will notify you, count the citations, and calculate bibliometric indices like the h-index based on their findings.
3. Get an Orcid ID
An Orcid ID is a persistent, digital identifier (like DOIs for articles) connected to you as a person. It consists of 16 digits, but will appear as an elegant green button next to your name in the author by-line when everything is in place.
Orcid is a non-profit organisation, and an Orcid ID is applicable across databases. It enables you to import information from other providers of IDs, like Scopus and Web of Science, which automatically create and update your Scopus ID and ResearcherID respectively when indexing your publications. There exist plans for integration between Orcid and Cristin as well, but as of yet, you have to add publications that are only in Cristin (not in Scopus or Web of Science) to your Orcid profile manually if you want them to appear there.
It is up to you how much information you wish to share in your profile; most likely, it will add up over time. You can let interested readers know a little about yourself, your research, interests and experiences, and you can link to websites (e.g. those of projects you are involved in). Read more at Orcid’s website.
An increasing number or publishers ask for an Orcid ID. We recommend you create one. It is up to you how diligently you want to use it, but consider including it in grant applications, journals’ submission forms, your social media profiles, email-signatures etc. You may find it saves you precious time!