Abstract

The evolution of the top academic social networks: Mendeley, Academia.edu, and ResearchGate is analyzed. This study tests the current health of these platforms and determines which growth stage they are in by tracking the annual number of new members and documents. In addition, the degree of transparency of these sites is discussed in relation to publicly available information about their services. The results show these platforms are reaching a change in cycle, where the increase rates are slowing down, decreasing the aggregation rate of documents and users.

Abstract

A survey conducted among 5,500 professors and researchers from the three Galician universities received 463 answers. The results reveal a rise in popularity of professional and scientific digital social networks, but it also shows a lack of knowledge about them and inefficient use of them. Ninety percent of Galician university professors are present in a professional or academic network, but only 8.64 percent consider themselves experts. LinkedIn and ResearchGate have the largest number of members, although their average use is medium or low. Biomedical, engineering, and natural sciences scholars use more networks than the two previously mentioned; and social sciences and humanities scholars prefer Academia.edu. In total, 32.8 percent of the three universities’ scholars that answered the survey use social networks at least once a month. Social networks are used primarily to disseminate and follow publications, and, secondly, to get citations and improve reputation.