Branding your research: 5 simple steps to follow

Many a time, we the researchers feel that our work is done once a paper got accepted and published. We often get ready to move on to the next paper expecting that the readers will find my paper and will use it for their possible application. However, often that is not the case. My experience tells me it is just the beginning of put my work in the public and we need to maximize the visibility of the article to the community to generate impact and citations. A researcher in his lifetime can come up with solid 15-20 core research works with novelty and potential impact, while other works come as the by-product of these major works. We as the researchers have to get the best out of these major publications and create the right impact it deserves.

In the recent age of technology, the research community finds its sources and information through the internet. This has made it convenient to know about the research works in a short time. However, the overwhelming volume of research and its accessibility, making it difficult to stand out as new researchers and get noticed. 

Here I will focus on some important steps that we could deploy to enhance our chance of generating more citations and informing our research output to the respective research community for future collaborations.

Step 1: Knowing the importance of branding and getting ready to make the effort

Step 2: Making a plan by breaking down the steps to be taken at Project, person, and institutional level

Step 3: let's organize the project in a box to be presented with the 6 subtasks (video, webpage + git, seminar, data repository, social media, and news article)

Step 4: Continuously update your research portfolio in the personal and official website, research networks as research gate, google scholar, Orcid, Professional network as IEEE, Linkedin. Also, it is important to have a profound portfolio as a reviewer through Publon, Sciprofile, etc. Keynote speeches in conferences, webinars, and local & international collaboration through research enhances personal recognition as researchers.

Step 5: From your institutional point of view, it should also continuously focus on faculty research, showcase the projects, Bring industries to know about the work. Joint research programs in curriculum, conference-journal management, and also smart infographics as posters, digital media can definitely help the cause.

A link to a talk regarding research branding in Bangla