DISCOVERING SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE THROUGH ACTIONABLE RESEARCHER PERSONAS ON ACADEMIA.EDU AND RESEARCHGATE
DISCOVERING SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE THROUGH ACTIONABLE RESEARCHER PERSONAS ON ACADEMIA.EDU AND RESEARCHGATE

Summary/Abstract: Scholarly social networks such as Academia.edu and ResearchGate.net introduce a novel approach in literature search, bringing authors to the fore as nodes in exploration paths. While traditional literature search occurs in a text-based environment, academic social sites bring forward the authors. They make use of actionable researcher personas to facilitate discovery and encourage user engagement. Still, the topic of search and exploration remains underrepresented in the discussions on academic social networks. Current interface design limits the potential of researcher personas to facilitate discovery, and the potential of literature discovery to enrich researcher personas. We study through observation the profiles of 207 Game Studies researchers on Academia.edu and ResearchGate, documenting a significant space for improving engagement beyond current median levels. By introducing the concept of actionable researcher personas and discussing actual limits and opportunities in its implementation, we contribute to a better understanding of the potential of academic social networks to change literature discovery and create a novel experience of search, centered on authors’ mediated presence. When exploring research publications on the two platforms, authors are no longer attributes of texts: they become contexts for making sense of publications and for charting new routes in the research landscape. Such an author-centric experience of literature discovery can emerge and consolidate in time, as users incorporate novel ways of relating to authors and using their personas as tools for navigation. Higher engagement can lead to richer and more relevant home feeds that, in turn, can create new opportunities to practice an emerging skill of literature discovery through actionable researcher personas.

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