As a student or academic, you’ve likely spent countless hours researching and writing papers that demonstrate your knowledge and skills in a particular subject area. After turning in that paper for a grade, you may wonder what to do with it next. How can you get more mileage out of your hard work? One option is to share an abbreviated version of your paper on your LinkedIn profile.
Why Share Research on LinkedIn?
Posting your research on LinkedIn can be beneficial for several reasons:
- Demonstrate your knowledge and skills to connections and potential employers or clients
- Establish yourself as an expert in your field
- Get feedback and comments from others that may improve your work
- Expand the reach and impact of your research
- Boost your professional profile and online presence
In short, sharing your papers gives you a chance to showcase your academic abilities, qualifications, and thought leadership. This can help advance your career and connect with professionals in your industry.
What to Include from Your Research Paper
You probably don’t want to copy and paste your entire 20-page paper on LinkedIn. Here are some key sections to share from your work:
- Title and Abstract: The title and short abstract give readers an overview of what your paper is about.
- Introduction: Provide some background and context for your research topic in a short introduction.
- Methodology: Briefly explain the methods you used to conduct your study or experiments.
- Results: Share one or two highlights from the results of your research.
- Discussion: Summarize the key findings and importance of your work.
- Conclusion: Wrap up with the main conclusions from your paper.
You can also include relevant charts, graphs or images that help illustrate your work. The sections you include will depend on the type of paper, but aim for an excerpt that is around 500 words or less.
Where to Post Your Research Summary on LinkedIn
There are a few options for where to share your research paper excerpt on LinkedIn:
- Your Profile Summary section: Use 2-3 sentences to note your paper under your professional summary.
- The Featured section: Write a post with your paper summary and add it to this prominent section.
- Make a new post: Write up your summary as a regular LinkedIn post that will be shared in your network’s feeds.
No matter where you put it, be sure to use an eye-catching headline and write a clear introduction explaining what the paper is about and why your connections should read it. You can also link to the full paper if it is published online.
Best Practices for Sharing Research on LinkedIn
Follow these tips to make the most of posting your academic work:
- Be concise – Pare down your paper to key facts, figures, and takeaways.
- Explain terminology – Define terms and acronyms that may be unfamiliar to readers.
- Engage your audience – Ask questions to spark discussion and feedback in the comments.
- Use multimedia – Insert relevant charts, images, or links to bring your summary to life.
- Post consistently – Share your research regularly to build your professional brand.
- Promote your post – Message connections asking them to like and share your paper summary.
- Monitor engagement – Reply to any comments and see who is interested in your work.
Pitfalls to Avoid
Be careful not to commit these common mistakes when posting research on LinkedIn:
- Making it too long – Don’t post your full thesis! Keep it short and scannable.
- Using overly technical jargon – Explain concepts clearly for a general professional audience.
- Not engaging your readers – Don’t just post your summary without commentary. Generate discussion.
- Failing to proofread – Carefully edit your post for any typos, grammar issues, or formatting problems.
- Neglecting multimedia – Break up dense text with relevant visuals to make your post more interactive.
- Forgetting your goals – Know what you want to achieve from the post, like connections with researchers in your field.
Measuring the Impact
Once you’ve shared your research on LinkedIn, be sure to track how well your post performs by:
- Monitoring Likes, comments, and shares
- Seeing who engages with your post
- Paying attention to which sections generate interest
- Checking if new connections mention reading your summary
- Following up with readers for feedback
This data can reveal if your paper excerpt is resonating with your target audience. You may choose to adjust your posting strategy based on these metrics.
Conclusion
Posting abbreviated versions of your academic papers on LinkedIn is a smart way for students and researchers to showcase expertise, get noticed by potential employers and colleagues, and extend the impact of their work. By following best practices for sharing engaging research summaries, you can build your professional brand and credibility on the platform. Analyze the response to your posts to refine your approach over time. With LinkedIn’s expansive network, your scholarship can find new audiences well beyond your institution.