Social media for researchers

LinkedIn for researchers

LinkedIn is a popular professional networking platform used by more than 930 million members in 200 countries and regions worldwide. Use LinkedIn to enhance your academic profile, demonstrate your credibility as a subject professional, promote your publications, share your skills, and highlight your honors and awards.

Create an account

  • Register using your true name as LinkedIn do not allow the use of pseudonyms
  • Use an email that is personally associated with you
  • Upload a recent and professional profile photograph
  • Add a headline to attract the people and professionals with whom you want to connect
Register and get started with LinkedIn

Build your profile

About you

Write a summary for your 'About' section that tells your professional story. Include your scholarly interests and expertise, teaching activities, demonstrate your authority and expertise, and share your future aims and ambitions

Experience

Add your professional roles, including voluntary, to demonstrate your experiences. Include your role titles, their start and end dates, and write a description of the role. You can also assign Skills and Media to each role from other sections in your LinkedIn profile.

Education

Add your education history and qualifications to enhance your academic profile and underpin your subject authority and expertise.

Projects

Add projects you have led or been involved with, share the project hyperlink, and add a description of the project. You can also assign Skills, Media and any role assocations from other sections in your LinkedIn profile.

Skills

Add skills to your profile by clicking the 'plus button' in the Skills section. Once a skill is added you can link this with specific roles,projects, publications, courses, honors and awards and endorsements, listed in other sections in your LinkedIn profile.

Recommendations

Automatically share the endorsements you have received via LinkedIn from other professionals who have worked with you.

Publications

Share your publications, provide a publication hyperlink, add a description of the publication, and link with any co-authors of the works.

Honors and Awards

Include any honors or awards that you have received. Add a description to capture the reason for the award, which will further enhance your academic profile.

Connect with people

  • Use the search bar to find and connect with colleagues, collaborators and stakeholders
  • Find people you may know for the My Network section of your profile
  • Join Groups that are relevant to your research area and subject expertise
  • Read profiles before you ‘follow’ to make sure they’re relevant and active

    • Make your content accessible for everyone

    Use the accessible content checklist to create a blog that is quicker and easier for everyone to understand and use, regardless of individal need. Making your online content accessibleis also a legal rquirement for universities. It's simple to do and makes a big difference.    

    Use the accessible content checklist

    Consent, copyright and data protection

  • Photographs of people can be considered personal data. Ask for written consent to use photographs and archive this information for the future
  • Different types of material have their own copyright frameworks. Read the University’s copyright policy and guidelines and contact copyright@kent.ac.uk for advice.

    • Start sharing

  • Introduce yourself by sharing your first Post
  • Use the Repost button to share the Post of another
  • Your Posts may be shared by your followers and beyond
  • Share anything from a comment, image, gif or video to links to blogs, research webpages, articles, surveys, and more!
  • Add alternative text to describe any visual content you include in a Post
  • Add hashtags, in camel-case format, to help other people discover your Posts. For example, #ResearchSurvery instead of #researchsurvey
  • Use Bitly to get a shortened version of a website hyperlink to share in a Post.

    • Engage with your audiences

  • Engage with your audience to keep them interested in your research
  • Like a Post by pressing the Like butto
  • Hold the Like button for a wider range of responses toa Post
  • Ask for opinions when you share your next Post
  • Set your followers a challenge so they actively engage with your work
  • Respond to comments or direct messages to show you appreciate feedback
  • Follow other people and engage with their content.

    • LinkedIn at the University of Kent

    The University of Kent company page is an online networking community for staff, students and graduates.

    Get support

    Click the button below to email the Research and Scholarly Communication team about social media for researchers.

    Contact us about social media for researchers
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