The way that scientific research is conducted is evolving rapidly. Researchers have essentially migrated from the era of “traditional” research in which one researcher pursued a theme over several decades. Instead, academia is fostering a fresh culture in which research advances through the creation of interdisciplinary research. As a researcher, you surely know the benefits that you can gain from research collaboration. But where exactly can you find research collaborators?
Here’s a list of popular websites to help you find collaborators in psychology – and beyond:
AcademicLabs
The platform brings transparency to the world of research. AcademicLabs helps innovative companies and researchers to find ideal research partners by providing them access to relevant research teams that want to share their expertise, services and infrastructure. It combines a dedicated search engine with professional social network characteristics.
Mendeley
If you are looking to identify an expert in a particular field or want to connect with an author, Mendeley can help you find interesting contacts or groups related to your interest. Of course, through Mendeley, you can search one of the world’s largest crowd-sourced research catalogues.
ScienceOpen
This is a professional networking platform for scholars to enhance their research in the open, make an impact, and receive credit for it. They provide context-building services for publishers, to bring researchers closer to the content than ever before. Its advanced search and discovery functions, combined with post-publication peer review, recommendation, social sharing, and collection-building features make ScienceOpen the only research platform you’ll ever need.
Facebook groups
This is a feature introduced in the fall of 2010, which has proven to be an effective way for people to stay in touch with families, friends and other collections of people. But did you know that Facebook groups can also be a valuable tool for finding research collaborators? If, for instance, you are looking for research collaborators in psychology who are based in Europe, you can join the group European Psychologists.
ResearchGate
This is a professional network for scientists and researchers. ResearchGate can help researchers connect and make it easy for them to share and access scientific output, knowledge, and expertise. According to the University of Leeds: ResearchGate is the largest professional network for scientists; it enables researchers to connect with colleagues, build their scientific network and collaborate with one another using numerous applications that are unique to the scientific platform. After just a few years, the network has attracted over 1,000,000 members and the community is continuing to grow at an incredible rate internationally.
Although not primarily an academic networking service, Twitter has been a platform for digital academics to foster networking and research collaboration. Activities such as Twitter chats have been popular among academics, with hashtags like #ecrchat, #phdchat and #highered becoming visible within the scholarly realm. For psychology, there are useful hashtags which will enable you to connect with like-minded Twitterers such as #psychology, #mentalhealth and #wellbeing.
With more than 21 million professionals, LinkedIn gives you unparalleled access to a global community spanning 133 countries. Its members represent over 100 industries so you have lots of room for inter-organisational collaboration.
Publiconn
This is a social network for organisations which are users of public or private donor funding, and those organisations that provide funding. Simply put, Publiconn can help you find partners and funding. Publiconn enables its users instant access to information on available funding and potential partners globally.
Conseris
This is a one-stop shop for collecting, exploring, and sharing data from anywhere on the planet. But more than that, Conseris is also a virtual workspace. Whether you and your teammates are cubicles or countries apart, each project member can view, analyse, and share their data in your unique virtual office.
Psychreg
As you are probably aware, we feature a collection of profiles of people whose backgrounds are in psychology and allied fields.
Takeaway
Hopefully, you find these resources useful for your research journey. However, bear in mind. For the search to be successful, approach it like a process with clear objectives and milestones. This way, you won’t have to lose sleep over finding a research collaborator the next time.
Dennis Relojo-Howell is the managing director of Psychreg.
