How to increase citation count of your research paper?
If you are a published researcher, you know the importance of this number. Number of times an academic paper is cited has become a major measure of it’s research impact. Research consumption has moved online. Many researchers today have an online workflow from discovery to publishing. Easy discoverability online has become a necessary to increase citation count for your research. A research article that is easily discovered online can affect readership, utilization and citation count of your research.
At Typeset.io, we talk to hundreds of researchers every day in our journey to build the easiest and simplest research writing platform. One of the challenges researchers face today is how to increase the visibility of their published research online.
Based on our conversations with published researchers, we have aggregated the below steps you can immediately take to increase citation count of your research paper:
1. Identifying Keywords: Based on the topic of your research, identify 2–5 keywords you can use. You have to incorporate the keywords in all parts of your content such as title, abstract, headings, sub-headings, keywords section, graphics, tables, figures, file name and description tags. More than SEO, keywords are also used by abstracting and indexing services to tag research content. Selecting the right keywords can increase citation count by improving article discoverability.
2. Source for Keywords : Start with keywords and phrases that a typical user will search for in your domain. You can also use tools to help you identify the right keywords for your content, such as
a. Google Trends — Gives you relative rankings of keywords and phrases based on popularity.
b. Google Adwords — Gives you keywords that advertisers bid for. This gives you an indicator of what keywords generate more searches.
If you still are not sure what key words to use, check out the popular papers in your area of research, for reference.
3. Keywords Optimization: One thing you have to be wary about is cramming your content with keywords. You need to strike a balance between your content and it’s search-ability online. Using too many keywords, also known as keyword stuffing, might get your article “un-indexed”, making it hard to find it online.
Also, using the most popular keyword may not always be best for your article. A lot of articles out there might use the same popular keyword, thereby reducing the impact. A less popular but more appropriate and relevant keyword might get you more search hits and views.
4. Incorporating keywords in your content:
a. Title — Keep your title short and include 1–2 keywords within 65 characters of your title. Make the title descriptive. You must incorporate a keyword related to your topic of research in the title.
b. Abstract — The first two sentences of your abstract is what is usually displayed in search engine results. So make sure that the right keywords are included in the first two sentences. Use the keywords 3–6 times in the abstract but make sure you clearly explain the key points of your research while doing so.
c. Headings — Search engines use headings to identify the overall structure and content of your article. Incorporating your keywords and phrases in these headings will help your article’s search-ability.
5. Authority marketing on the social media: The volume and quality of inbound links is a big factor in Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
You can increase the number of links by sharing/including your article on
a. LinkedIn
b. Facebook
c. Twitter
d. Websites that you contribute to
e. Your institution’s repository
f. Your Mendeley/ResearchGate/Academia.edu profile
g. Your website
h. Your academic institution’s website
i. Facebook Groups
j. Quora
More than sharing your article on these media, you can also reach out to influencers in your domain. Ask them to read and give feedback about your article. A tweet or a Facebook post mention by an influencer can generate a good amount of traffic to your article.
6. Actively promote your article: Write a blog post on your research with a link to the library where it’s hosted. A good blog post talking about your research can increase citation count. It can also help the wider audience understand your research better there by increasing chances of usage.
You can also write a guest post about your research on a blog with a bigger audience. This will contribute to citations as well as your article SEO. It also helps in spreading your work to areas and audience your research can create impact on.
7. Self-citation: Cite you’re own or your co-authors past papers as appropriate. This is important since citations of your past work factors into how search engines rank your current and future work.
According to a major publisher, more than half of the traffic to it’s online library comes from Google, Google Scholar and other search engines. A reason why publishers and journals today are focusing on SEO strategies to help improve citations of their articles. Readership and citations affects the impact factor of the journal. And as an author you can and you should help improve the discoverability at the article level.
As a team building tools and technology to solve major problems researchers face in communicating your knowledge, we at Typeset.io understand why this is important. That’s why we are building a feature which will auto-suggest SEO keywords based on your target journal and domain.
Quality research that are verifiable, Publication with Quality journals that are Scopus indexed, collaborations with experienced researchers and ensure your publications are open access
Quality oriented reasearch, with publication in good impact factor, Scopus indexed journals which are open accessable. Low citation is not the measure of the quality of research.
How to increase citation count of your research paper?
If you are a published researcher, you know the importance of this number. Number of times an academic paper is cited has become a major measure of it’s research impact. Research consumption has moved online. Many researchers today have an online workflow from discovery to publishing. Easy discoverability online has become a necessary to increase citation count for your research. A research article that is easily discovered online can affect readership, utilization and citation count of your research.
At Typeset.io, we talk to hundreds of researchers every day in our journey to build the easiest and simplest research writing platform. One of the challenges researchers face today is how to increase the visibility of their published research online.
Based on our conversations with published researchers, we have aggregated the below steps you can immediately take to increase citation count of your research paper:
1. Identifying Keywords: Based on the topic of your research, identify 2–5 keywords you can use. You have to incorporate the keywords in all parts of your content such as title, abstract, headings, sub-headings, keywords section, graphics, tables, figures, file name and description tags. More than SEO, keywords are also used by abstracting and indexing services to tag research content. Selecting the right keywords can increase citation count by improving article discoverability.
2. Source for Keywords : Start with keywords and phrases that a typical user will search for in your domain. You can also use tools to help you identify the right keywords for your content, such as
a. Google Trends — Gives you relative rankings of keywords and phrases based on popularity.
b. Google Adwords — Gives you keywords that advertisers bid for. This gives you an indicator of what keywords generate more searches.
If you still are not sure what key words to use, check out the popular papers in your area of research, for reference.
3. Keywords Optimization: One thing you have to be wary about is cramming your content with keywords. You need to strike a balance between your content and it’s search-ability online. Using too many keywords, also known as keyword stuffing, might get your article “un-indexed”, making it hard to find it online.
Also, using the most popular keyword may not always be best for your article. A lot of articles out there might use the same popular keyword, thereby reducing the impact. A less popular but more appropriate and relevant keyword might get you more search hits and views.
4. Incorporating keywords in your content:
a. Title — Keep your title short and include 1–2 keywords within 65 characters of your title. Make the title descriptive. You must incorporate a keyword related to your topic of research in the title.
b. Abstract — The first two sentences of your abstract is what is usually displayed in search engine results. So make sure that the right keywords are included in the first two sentences. Use the keywords 3–6 times in the abstract but make sure you clearly explain the key points of your research while doing so.
c. Headings — Search engines use headings to identify the overall structure and content of your article. Incorporating your keywords and phrases in these headings will help your article’s search-ability.
5. Authority marketing on the social media: The volume and quality of inbound links is a big factor in Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
You can increase the number of links by sharing/including your article on
a. LinkedIn
b. Facebook
c. Twitter
d. Websites that you contribute to
e. Your institution’s repository
f. Your Mendeley/ResearchGate/Academia.edu profile
g. Your website
h. Your academic institution’s website
i. Facebook Groups
j. Quora
More than sharing your article on these media, you can also reach out to influencers in your domain. Ask them to read and give feedback about your article. A tweet or a Facebook post mention by an influencer can generate a good amount of traffic to your article.
6. Actively promote your article: Write a blog post on your research with a link to the library where it’s hosted. A good blog post talking about your research can increase citation count. It can also help the wider audience understand your research better there by increasing chances of usage.
You can also write a guest post about your research on a blog with a bigger audience. This will contribute to citations as well as your article SEO. It also helps in spreading your work to areas and audience your research can create impact on.
7. Self-citation: Cite you’re own or your co-authors past papers as appropriate. This is important since citations of your past work factors into how search engines rank your current and future work.
According to a major publisher, more than half of the traffic to it’s online library comes from Google, Google Scholar and other search engines. A reason why publishers and journals today are focusing on SEO strategies to help improve citations of their articles. Readership and citations affects the impact factor of the journal. And as an author you can and you should help improve the discoverability at the article level.
As a team building tools and technology to solve major problems researchers face in communicating your knowledge, we at Typeset.io understand why this is important. That’s why we are building a feature which will auto-suggest SEO keywords based on your target journal and domain.
The number of papers you publish is important to your career. “Publish early and often” is heard over and over again in research. However, the number of times your work is cited is important as well because it can indicate the impact that your research has on the field.
Increasing your citation count can also have a positive impact on your career because funding agencies often look at a combination of the number of papers and the number of citations when making grant decisions.
To boost your citation count to maximize impact, consider these 10 simple techniques:
1. Cite your past work when it is relevant to a new manuscript. However, do not reference every paper you have written just to increase your citation count.
2. Carefully choose your keywords. Choose keywords that researchers in your field will be searching for so that your paper will appear in a database search.
3. Use your keywords and phrases in your title and repeatedly in your abstract. Repeating keywords and phrases will increase the likelihood your paper will be at the top of a search engine list, making it more likely to be read.
4. Use a consistent form of your name on all of your papers. Using the same name on all of your papers will make it easier for others to find all of your published work. If your name is very common, consider getting a research identifier, such as an ORCID. You can provide your ORCID in your email signature and link that ID to your publication list so that anyone you email has access to your publications.
5. Make sure that your information is correct. Check that your name and affiliation are correct on the final proofs of your manuscript and check that the paper’s information is accurate in database searches.
6. Make your manuscript easily accessible. If your paper is not published in an open-access journal, post your pre- or post-publication prints to a repository. Check SHERPA RoMEO to find your publisher’s copyright and self-archiving policies regarding sharing your published manuscript.
7. Share your data. There is some evidence that sharing your data can increase your citations. Consider posting to data sharing websites, such as figshare or SlideShare, or contributing to Wikipediaand providing links to your published manuscripts.
8. Present your work at conferences. Although conference presentations are not cited by other others, this will make your research more visible to the academic and research communities. Check out these tips for making the most of your next research conference.
9. Use social media. Provide links to your papers on social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Academia.edu, ResearchGate, Mendeley) and your university profile page.
10. Actively promote your work. Talk to other researchers about your paper, even ones not in your field, and email copies of your paper to researchers who may be interested. Create a blog or a website dedicated to your research and share it.
Publishing in open access journals is very effective, and try to enrich your papers and try to publish in wellknown journals with higher impact factor in your research field.