Maximizing the Impacts of Academic Research

Description

This is an invaluable guide to better research communication within and beyond academia. With many years of research experience, the authors provide scholars and scientists with systematic advice on how to ensure their research reaches its potential, and grows the recognition, influence, practical application and public understanding of science and scholarship. It begins by examining how citations work and evaluating the different measures of academic influence, from legacy bibliometric systems to altmetrics and digital metrics. Subsequent chapters show readers how to craft impactful journal articles, work effectively with co-authors, create a portfolio of publications and build a digital strategy that promotes knowledge exchange. Checklists help readers decide how and in what format to publish, enabling them to get their research in front of the right people. Throughout, the authors illustrate impact with data drawn from a wide range of disciplines. Maximizing the Impacts of Academic Research is ideal for PhD students and early career researchers taking their first steps into academic research, experienced researchers mentoring the next generation of scholars and scientists and established academics looking to systematically review and upgrade their existing impact practices.

Patrick Dunleavy is Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. In addition to his disciplinary work, he is well known for his successful guide, Authoring a PhD (Red Globe Press, 2003) and for the LSE Writing for Research blog. His Twitter feed @Write4Research has 68,000 followers from many countries and disciplines. His widely cited 2014 research study of The Impact of the Social Sciences (co-authored with Simon Bastow and Jane Tinkler) provided part of the foundation for this book. Jane Tinkler is Senior Prize Manager at the Nine Dots Prize for innovation in the social sciences. She is also studying for a PhD in public policy at Stirling University. She previously managed LSE Public Policy Group for many years and co-authored The Impact of the Social Sciences (2014). She has also been a researcher in the UK's Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, and before London School of Economics worked at UCL and Birkbeck College, London.