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Social Media | Social Media Tips for Editors and Societies | Blogging | Press Releases | Journal Prizes
Increasingly, a variety of different online platforms are being used as places to discover, and engage with, research. Journal content is also no longer limited to just text; it now includes video, podcasts, images, datasets, photographs and maps. Multimedia content aids the discoverability and share-ability of content and allows users to engage with your publication. Sage Publishing is dedicated to supporting you to ensure that your journal is visible where the user starts their search. But where and how should you be sharing this content to engage and reach an audience beyond the core readership of your journal?
Below are some of the resources we think are key for promoting your journal, offering you a direct way to reach the widest and most appropriate audience.
Twitter allows you to connect with your authors, as well as researchers and society partners within you field and beyond. You can share content from your publication as well as set up search terms to enable you to monitor what is being talked about in your areas of interest: you can then join in on conversations, and share relevant research from your journal. The more you engage, the more people will follow you to listen to your comments and recommendations, allowing you to position your journal as a leading source of information on specific topics and well as widen the reach and impact of your name.
Find out about Sage’s discipline specific channels.
Why not also create a Facebook page for your journal? Facebook lets users add ‘friends’ to build a network of researchers and organizations within a particular field. You can then share information and content from your journal. You can also join and create groups according to your journal’s interests or areas of expertise.
Find out more about how to enhance discoverability using social media to help promote your article.
Social media is a powerful tool. Academics use social media to share research, build their digital presence, and connect with the scholarly community. Likewise, journal editors and societies can use social media to promote their publication and engage with a global audience.
This resource provides recommendations for social media for Sage journal editors and societies. It covers the following information:
Below are some best practice recommendations across social media platforms.
If you are posting from a journal or society account, be sure to maintain a consistent tone of voice and be respectful of any journal or society policies. You are representing an organization, not just you as an individual.
Consider sharing the following content across your social media platforms:
You can collect information from authors upon submission to help with crafting tweets and spreading the word. Work with your Publishing Editor to get these questions configured. You can ask authors to submit their social media handles and/or a pre-crafted tweet. You can also ask if authors might be interested in writing a Sage Perspectives blog post or creating a visual abstract, all of which are great for additional journal promotion.
Maintain a professional tone even when dealing with heated topics. Avoid hyperbole and sensationalism. Instead, focus on providing articulate, informed commentary that demonstrates your expertise without talking down to your audience.
Generative AI tools (i.e., conversational software powered by artificial intelligence, like ChatGPT) have been game changers for content creation – including social media content. These tools can help generate impactful social media content and save you time and energy.
Consider utilizing generative AI tools to create content:
Formerly known as Twitter, this social media platform rebranded to X in 2023. Changes to the site have caused many users, including academics, to abandon X. At the moment, X remains an active, freely accessible platform for short-form discourse.
Users create handles (e.g. @SageJournals) and share brief posts called tweets. These tweets can contain photos, videos, links, hashtags (e.g. #Sociology, #CarbonFootprint), and mentions of other handles. Users are limited to 280 characters per tweet for free accounts. Users with premium accounts may use up to 4,000 characters per tweet.
Academics, journal editors, and societies can use X to connect with other academics and the public at large.
We recommend the following best practices for posting to X:
We have a full list of X social media tips available here, including how to set up an X account, managing an account, additional content suggestions, and how to build a following.
LinkedIn, a Microsoft product, is a professional social network platform where members connect, organize offline events, join groups, write articles, publish job postings, post photos and videos, share relevant resources, and more.
Individual users can create profiles detailing their professional accomplishments and can connect with other users; these sometimes represent real-world professional relationships and networks. Institutions, organizations, and businesses can also create accounts, build followers, and promote initiatives.
Posting regularly to LinkedIn can build your professional network and promote your work. We recommend the following best practices:
In 2021, the company known as Facebook rebranded to Meta. Meta is a tech company known for its social media platforms and virtual reality products.
The main Meta-owned social media platforms of interest to academics are Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
Facebook is a social networking platform designed for users to share posts, photos, videos, and links with others, known as “friends.” Institutions like academic journals or societies use Facebook to publicize journal updates, share calls for papers and editors, and promote events.
For a public-facing account, such as an account for a journal, ensure that your privacy settings are “public” so that anyone may visit your profile.
When posting to Facebook, include a combination of written and visual content. While the platform allows for longer blocks of text, keep things short and easy to read.
We have a full guide available on tips for posting to and managing a Facebook account.
Instagram is a photo and video sharing platform and social networking service. Many academic institutions and organizations use Instagram to share updates and research.
There are several ways to share content to Instagram:
When developing an Instagram strategy, consider how you can share and save content to Instagram. If you want to promote a Call for Papers, you could hold a Q&A with Instagram Live, share a feed post and pin it to the top of your profile, and create a series of Stories. |
This platform is unique because link sharing is not allowable in a post, only in your bio. Because of this, the focus for Instagram is on engagement within the network instead of driving traffic to your research or journal.
Launched in 2023, Threads aims to replicate the functionality and atmosphere of X. Threads users can share text, images, and video as well as interact with other posts by replying, reposting, and “liking.” Whether Threads will emerge as a viable replacement for X remains to be seen.
Threads is closely linked to Instagram, and Meta requires that Threads users first create an Instagram account. Your Threads handle will be the same as your Instagram handle.
Our advice for using Threads is similar to our preceding advice for X. Note that Threads has a limit of 500 characters per post.
Learn more about using threads to promote your research in this LinkedIn article.
With over an estimated billion active users, and a search engine that has outperformed Google, TikTok is an increasingly popular platform to share research and resources.
To succeed on TikTok, follow these strategic tips:
In addition to sharing social media content, academics can share their research by contributing to blogs or other websites. A blog is a website in which one or more writers share brief entries called blog posts. Blogs posts might be written by the site owner or by guest contributors.
Examples of blogs and community websites include Sage Perspectives, Business and Management INK, and Social Science Space, which highlights topical and interesting research published in Sage books and journals, and Sage Research Methods Community, an online hub for resources about social and behavioral research methods where scholars and students can share experiences and learn how to improve their research and writing.
If you are asked to contribute to a blog or website (or choose to blog from a personal site or account, such as LinkedIn), consider the following strategies:
Listservs (short for “list servers”) are email distribution systems used to send messages to large groups of subscribers. Users who subscribe to a listserv receive all messages sent to the listserv email address.
Listservs can be used by researchers in the following ways:
To find relevant listservs, search online for listservs in your field (for example, “economics listserv” or “music education email discussion group”). You can also see if any professional organizations, academic journals, or institutions associated with your field host listservs.
Listserv managers should establish clear guidelines and moderate email communications to ensure that discussions remain on topic and appropriate. Managers should also protect user privacy, such as their contact information, and allow users to unsubscribe easily.
Listserv communication should follow all guidelines, be professional in tone, and include a brief, descriptive subject line.
YouTube is a video-sharing platform that allows users to upload, share, and view videos. Billions of users from around the world access the platform each month.
YouTube may require more time and effort than some other social media platforms.
Academics, societies, and journal editors can use YouTube in the following ways:
If you choose to use YouTube for your journal or society, we recommend the following:
Researcher profiles are digital platforms that serve as online portfolios showcasing a scholar’s research. Popular researcher profile platforms include ResearchGate, ORCID, and Web of Science profiles.
Sage Policy Profiles is a new platform for researchers to see specific citations of their work in policy documents and discover the real-world impact of their research.
Here are some tips for getting the most out of your researcher profiles:
WeChat is a Chinese “super-app” used for social media, instant messaging, and more.
Accounts linked with Chinese Mainland phone numbers operate under the Weixin or 微信 brand, while external numbers are managed under WeChat. Data is stored, analyzed, and tracked differently depending on whether a user is registered under Weixin or WeChat, but the user interface is similar.
Sage uses WeChat to engage with scholars located in China.
When using WeChat, we recommend the following:
Sage also runs a variety of blog sites to share topical and thought-provoking articles, interviews, videos and features to engage with the academic community. They include:
Sage Perspectives blog focuses on highlighting topical and interesting research published in Sage books and journals. The blog includes posts from authors across a wide range of subject disciplines and research areas.
Social Science Space brings social scientists together to explore, share and shape the big issues in social science, from funding to impact. This online social network features blogs with the most current thinking from key players in social science. It is an active forum for discussions, a resource center with free videos, reports and slides that support these discussions, as well as funding and job opportunity notices. If you have a piece of research publishing that engages with these big issues in social science get in touch.
MethodSpace is an online community for research methods. The purpose of the site is to connect researchers to discuss methodology issues and controversies, discover and review new resources, find relevant conferences and events, and share and solve methodology problems.
The Sage Press Release Toolkit is a valuable resource for editors aiming to promote their journal's research to the wider media. The toolkit will guide you, the editor, through the process of determining whether an article is newsworthy. It will help you write the press release and provide helpful tips and tricks for drafting an effective press release. A press release template is also available for editors to share, download and use.
Why not consider introducing a best paper prize or other award in order to promote your journal to potential authors and raise your profile? The prize could be awarded to the most highly cited paper, the best paper by an early career academic or postgraduate, or simply the paper that best advances the aims and scope of the journal. The winning paper could then be promoted via the journal’s website. Ask your Sage Editor for advice.
Sage is committed to promoting and increasing the visibility of the journals we publish. For further information on any of the above please contact your Sage editor.