This document discusses encouraging undergraduate students to publish scientific work early in their careers. It notes that publishing can take a long time, but that today scientists can more easily share data online through platforms like ChemSpider and SlideShare. The presenter discusses how they did not publish anything during their undergraduate or PhD studies in the 1980s. However, students today have more opportunities to publish spectra, syntheses, and other research outputs online early through data sharing platforms. Doing so can help develop students' professional reputation and engagement in scientific discussion and collaboration.

1. Encouraging undergraduate
students to participate as
authors of scientific
publications
Antony Williams
ACS San Francisco
August 2014

2. This talk is to students…
• BUT…even if you are not a student PLEASE
consider what you can do as a supervisor
and teacher to help…
• It is our job to train, facilitate and encourage
• How will students learn to write and have
peer review early?
• The value of learning about the challenges of
sharing data, using standards, developing
collaborations and early contribution….

3. My Publication Record
• BSc 1982-85 and PhD 1985-88
• Not a single publication in six years… Why?

4. My Publication Record
• BSc 1982-85 and PhD 1985-88
• Not a single publication in six years… Why?
• But I did a lot of research!
• Made a lot of chemicals – synthetic data
• Measured a LOT of spectral data
• Measured a lot of property data
• Did a lot of computational work
• Wrote a lot of code
• But that was in the 1980s…

5. As a Young Scientist…
• It takes time to build a publication profile
• Writing, submitting, getting reviewed, getting
published could be many months!
• It’s easy to become an Online Scientist today!
• Contribution to science is a few keystrokes
away – sharing, part of the likesonomy culture

6. Sharing science today
• At any point in your scientific career you can
technically share data
• If you make it, study it, measure it then you
can report on it…
• There are many platforms to share your data,
your skills, your experience and yourself
• YES..it IS self-marketing….

7. Visibility Means Discoverability
• Q: Does a Social Profile as a scientist matter?
• You are visible, when you share your skills,
experience and research activities by:
• Establishing a public profile
• Getting on the record
• Collaborative Science
• Demonstrating a skill set
• Contributing to the public peer review process
• Many ways to become “visible”

8. The Alt-Metrics Manifesto
http://altmetrics.org/manifesto/

10. Altmetrics Score

11. AltMetrics via Plum Analytics

12. Detailed Usage Statistics

13. Such Stats “Quantify” You
• We are quantified
• Stats are gathered and analyzed
• Employers can find them, tenure will depend
on them and these already happen without
your participation
• Scientists Impact Factors, H-index and many
other variants.

14. How I am Quantified…

15. How I am Quantified…

16. Google Scholar Citations

17. Tweets are “publications”?

18. Your slides are publications?

19. SlideShare

20. Is Data A Publication?

21. Is Data A Publication?

22. ChemSpider

23. Cholesterol on ChemSpider

24. Deposition of Data
Deposit structures, spectra, properties, data
collections (thousands of compounds etc)

25. Being a Data Source

26. How much data is lost?
• How many reactions in a thesis never get
published?
• How many spectra of common materials could
be shared?
• How many properties are measured and lost?
• What stands in the way of sharing?
• Is it technology?
• Permissions? “The Boss”, Licensing?

27. What about Syntheses?

28. ChemSpider SyntheticPages

29. Submission process
• Register
• Use the Submit
button and fill in
the fields…

30. Submission Process
• Submissions reviewed by editorial board
• Published as is or comments sent to author
• Online Peer Review process – engage
chemists in ongoing discussions and
feedback loop
• Data supported include web movies, images,
live spectra etc.

32. Profile

35. Interactive Data

36. Most Accessed

37. Popular Authors

38. Future Recognition on

39. Future Recognition on Plum
Analytics?
ChemSpider

40. How much work?
• How much work is done generating and
analyzing data?
• How long does it take to write a publication?
• How much work does it take to go through
the peer review process?
• How much effort to represent your science –
presentations, publications?

41. …and do you market it???
• How much work is putting into “Marketing” a
publication/presentation?
• How much work do you put into your own
profile as a scientist (versus other aspects of
you on Facebook )
• Even if you are not going to be a scientist your
online profile is increasingly important.

42. Kudos Enhance the Article

43. Focus Efforts on One Article

44. The Article of Interest

45. Altmetrics Score

46. Explain

47. Enrich

48. Enrich

49. Enrich

50. Enrich

51. Completed

52. Share Twitter and Facebook

53. Measure (15 hours)

54. • Persistent unique digital identifier
• Integrates to workflows such as
manuscript and grant submission
• Supports automated linkages with your
professional activities
Enabled by

55. Benefits of “Publishing“ Early..
• Publishing is changing and has many forms
• Data, figures, reports, videos, and…
• Online exposure develops reputation,
benefits the community, engages discussion
and collaboration.
• RSC Platform open to chemistry data:
chemicals, property data, spectral data,
syntheses etc.

56. Thank you
Email: williamsa@rsc.org
ORCID: 0000-0002-2668-4821
Twitter: @ChemConnector
Personal Blog: www.chemconnector.com
SLIDES: www.slideshare.net/AntonyWilliams