Comments

Site Comment Age Location Position
Twitter People say thoughtless things face to face and by email as well ... 45–54 Finland Professor
Twitter Highly useful, more so than e-mail lists nowadays. 35–44 Sweden Research director/VP of research
Twitter It is HUGELY useful. I have found colleagues, collaborators, and it is now my most-used source for finding new papers. I do interdisciplinary research, and it is impossible to read ToCs for every single journal that I may find interesting. Also as a woman in science it lets me voice my concerns and discuss them without worry of departmental backlash. 35–44 United States Associate professor
Twitter It gives visibility to research topics. 35–44 Colombia Professor
Twitter It has the potential to be very useful but I don't use it for such particular aim. 25–34 United Kingdom Postdoctoral fellow
Twitter It has its place but there is a critical mass of the number of people you follow before it just becomes a meaningless stream that you can't keep up with. Careful pruning of who you follow is regularly required. 35–44 United Kingdom Principal investigator
Twitter It is very useful for following specific fields of interest. 55–64 United States Laboratory director/head
Twitter Interesting to follow tweets from conferences I'm not able to attend. 35–44 United Kingdom Research director/VP of research
Twitter It is very useful — one of the main ways I learn about things. 45–54 United States Professor
Twitter I have used Twitter mainly outside of my immediate research area, and more for communication/impact/engagement type activities and information. For this it has been immensely useful, with me finding many people who are talking about the things that I am interested in and making the web more available to me. 25–34 United Kingdom Postdoctoral fellow
Twitter Although I don't have many followers, occasionally a tweet will be RTed and be seen by many people. 45–54 United States Senior scientist
Twitter Sometimes a distraction, generally useful for keeping up on published papers. 45–54 United Kingdom Professor
Twitter Extremely useful in conference settings. At the 2014 AAS meeting, for example, #aas223, #AASviz, and #hackAAS were useful to keep on top of the action. 35–44 United States Research scientist
Twitter It's been phenomenally valuable to me — it's allowed me to form a network of contacts, learn about interesting papers, have discussions about controversial scientific topics, and recruit employees. 35–44 United States Principal investigator
Twitter Too much noise to be useful. 35–44 Germany Postdoctoral fellow
Twitter It is a very efficient way to find out about the latest research and science news. 35 - 44 United States Professor
Twitter I think its a good place to post about your new publications to try to achieve a wide net, but it depends on the day of the week/who is following you, etc whether you get a critical number of retweets. 25–34 United States Postdoctoral fellow
Twitter Very useful for finding papers/research/discussion related to my research interests. 25–34 Canada PhD student
Twitter Some of the peer-reviewed journals that I regularly read and submit my own work to maintain Twitter handles. It's nice to follow those and get updates and news about my field, though I do not necessarily actively participate in professional discussion on Twitter. 25–34 United States PhD student
Twitter It's great to connect with people outside of your specific discipline, country, and professional level. 25–34 United States Research scientist
Twitter Almost all of my Twitter use is done socially. I do occasionally see tweets from my professional society, employer etc. But I do not find these very useful and I do not actively tweet work-related content. 45–54 United States Senior scientist
Twitter 140 characters to make my point and for someone else to make a point. I can read more if I am interested. 55–64 United States Medical professional/doctor
Twitter Very useful resource, recommend it to my students. 35–44 Netherlands Lecturer
Twitter Essential — it's where I go if I prepare a talk. 55–64 United States Associate professor
Twitter Unlike Facebook, I can follow individuals WITHOUT being mutual friends. Ex: I follow NatureNews, NatureNews doesn't need to follow me. 35–44 United States Research scientist
Twitter Twitter is very good for conferences to disseminate work and this is the main way that I use it. 55–64 United Kingdom Professor and head of department
Twitter I primarily use Twitter as an outreach tool to highlight environmental issues and research. 55–64 Australia Head of academic department/faculty
Twitter Great way to keep up to date on what is happening NOW in the research community. 45–54 United States Head of academic department/faculty
Twitter It's like mutation in evolution, it allows to pick up random directions. 45–54 Hungary Professor
Twitter It is mostly a distraction. 35–44 Canada Associate professor
Twitter I am a PhD student, about to defend, and have just been offered a tenure-track research position at an excellent US school. Guess how I heard about this position opening — Twitter! 25–34 Canada PhD student
Twitter It's a bit of a time suck, but a good release, and I've definitely learned a lot about other fields, and it's great to get the perspective of grad students and postdocs. 45–54 United States Professor
Twitter I should probably use it more than I do, although I'm not sure it would work as well as a personal academic blog, and am not sure what it would add to that. 35–44 United States Associate professor
Twitter Most researchers — particularly junior researchers such as postdocs — use social networks for communication *outside* of their professional capacities. We discuss research outside of our professional capacities, too — one of the most rewarding aspects of science is the way it links in with the broader culture's experience of the world at large, and the questions in this survey are utterly failing to reflect this distinction thus far. 25–34 United States Postdoctoral fellow
Twitter Very useful for keeping up to date on high-impact research from the journals/professionals that I follow. 25–34 United States Postdoctoral fellow
Twitter I have identified several colleagues actively posting helpful material on their Twitter sites and regularly follow these sites but have never posted my own comments. One individual is a competitor whose work I am hoping to refute so I look for relevant comments on this person's site. It has proven useful. I am somewhat of an outsider in the fields of research discussed on these sites so the sites often provide useful references. 65 or over United States Professor
Twitter Not seen as professional in my field. 35–44 United States Associate professor
Twitter I believe it is a great tool to highlight what is new in research. 45–54 Italy Research director/VP of research
Twitter I use Twitter mostly as a source to satisfy my scientific curiosity, I follow posts about research in my field, but also other interesting science. I do not find it useful to my own specific professional pursuits. 35–44 United States Principal investigator
Twitter I think of Twitter as a news source in my field! It keeps me up to date with many issues. 25–34 United States Postdoctoral fellow
Twitter Not as useful as sites that are dedicated to professionals or researchers — too much competition from broader news etc tweets. 5–64 Australia Associate professor
Twitter I see Twitter as a global science-communication tool in real time. You really get to know what people are thinking, as opposed to just reading their work. 35–44 France Senior scientist
Twitter It highlights events/blog posts/news that I would never have found using other tools. I wish there was a way to keep track of all interesting matters, because there are too much and updated too fast. 35–44 Iran Associate professor
Twitter It is useful in tracking activities of my colleagues at other institutions. However, my work discourages the use of social networks at the office. 45–54 United States Research scientist
Twitter Requires more attention than I can bring at this time. 45–54 United States President/CEO/company owner
Twitter Very important for staying connected to debates on current issues. 35–44 United Kingdom Lecturer
Twitter Twitter is a great tool for researchers. It can take a bit of time to get going, but once you do, it's fantastic for meeting new people and keeping up to date with research developments. 25–34 United Kingdom PhD student
Twitter Mainly use it for public engagement. 55–64 United Kingdom Professor
Twitter Create awareness of a specific research topic, for example ... 45–54 Portugal PhD student
Twitter I'm sure other people make better use of it than I do. 45–54 China Associate professor
Twitter Haven't really tried to use Twitter for professional life. 35–44 United States Associate professor
Twitter Very useful — when connected with blogging (by myself and others), it has created a space larger than my institution for me to be able to try out new ideas, some of which have ended up turning into papers. 25–34 United Kingdom Lecturer
Twitter Currently not obvious as a way to reach other scientists, may be better for communication with the public. 45–54 North America (including Central America and the Caribbean)
Twitter Only somewhat useful to me directly. I use it to push information, but don't find the time to really follow Twitter posts much myself. 45–54 United States Senior scientist
Twitter Marginal occasionally produces something before other web resources 65 or over United Kingdom Senior researcher
Twitter It's a good way to stay aware of current issues and debates, and to find out new areas of research. 45–54 United Kingdom Lecturer
Twitter It can be very helpful to get information about my research topics and to share some opinions. 45–54 Argentina Socio-legal researcher
Twitter I think it's under-valued — however I would suggest that, like most Internet sources, the content needs to sometimes be viewed with some scepticism. 35–44 United Kingdom Senior lecturer
Twitter I don't think it is very useful. The limited character limit makes in-depth discussions impossible. 45–54 Japan Associate professor
Twitter Useful for knowledge exchange/public engagement and to promote events. I tweet as a research group and to promote its profile, not an individual. 55–64 United Kingdom Professor
Twitter Yes, but too many distractions to keep it professional. 35–44 United States Business consultant
Twitter Good way to interact with journalists and the media. 25–34 Australia Lecturer
Twitter Not a huge contribution but useful in locating grey literature and tapping into what a (fairly biased) subset of the academy is thinking about current issues. 55–64 United Kingdom Professor
Twitter I think Twitter is useful for daily news collecting including personal blogs, but it would be problem for discussing rationally especially with anyone who will not reveal who he/she is. 45–54 Japan Professor
Twitter Minimal use really, perhaps some occasional bursts of political interest. 45–54 Sweden Research scientist
Twitter It's a good way to find out about new research and policy that is relevant to my field. 25–34 United Kingdom Lecturer
Twitter It keeps me up to date on the latest trends, especially as it ties in with current publications and current events. 35–44 United States Associate professor
Twitter I don't really use it professionally, but it could be a good way to share your research to a wider audience. Also, it could be used to help explain more technical news items at a more understandable level for the majority of non-science people. 25–34 United States PhD student
Facebook As a government employee, I can be fired for using it professionally. 55–64 United States Laboratory director/head
Facebook Facebook is totally inappropriate for professional interaction. LinkedIn is preferred. Or, really, just Google-stalk me and send me an email directly. 25–34 United States Staff scientist
Facebook I'm guessing its usefulness is on the rise — and thus will be more useful 5 years from now. 35–44 United States Associate professor
Facebook Facebook connects me to researchers around the world, as well as to important editors of high-impact journals. 25–34 Brazil PhD student
Facebook Creates a discussion forum for topics of shared interest. Allows for more in-depth discussion concerning scientific progress and study details. 45–54 United States President/CEO/company owner
Facebook I am sure it is useful; it's mainly a social-media space to connect with social colleagues. Never thought of it as a research space. 25–34 South Africa Lecturer
Facebook It is very useful as "another way" to keep contact with my students. 55–64 Finland Professor
Facebook I am flat out teaching, I get little time for research so I am not connected electronically or otherwise in a research community. 45–54 United Kingdom Lecturer
Facebook I have chosen not to use Facebook for any professional communication. 45–54 Sweden Professor
Facebook My Facebook page is mostly aimed at students. 45–54 Ireland Lecturer
Facebook It's not that useful for academic networks. I use it for research, since the activists I know post interesting articles related to their work. 25–34 United States Postdoctoral fellow
Facebook I use it mostly for my personal life. 55–64 United States Professor
Facebook I think of Facebook as more of a social network, than a professional network. 35–44 United Kingdom Lecturer
Facebook I could manage without it, but it gives me a feeling of having closer contact with members of my research network that I meet maybe once a year. 25–34 Sweden Associate professor
Facebook I often use it to create research groups for my MSc students. 45–54 Portugal Head of academic department/faculty
Facebook Marketing and promoting own visibility. 35–44 Uganda Lecturer
Facebook As with all other forms of social media, it as as useful as you make it. 45–54 United States PhD student
Facebook I don't use it professionally. 65 or over Turkey Head of academic department/faculty
Facebook I don't use it for my professional life. 35–44 Israel PhD student
Facebook I think it will fade out of usage due to over-commercialization. 55–64 Norway Professor
Facebook Not likely, I see it as a social medium. 45–54 United States Associate professor
Facebook Facebook is not useful to me professionally. I use it to post about my profession because a) my work is a large part of my life, which I share on Facebook and b) I see it as a kind of outreach, reporting the human and fun side of research to my social network, which consists mostly of lay people. 25–34 Netherlands PhD student
Facebook More social than professional. 55–64 Sweden Lecturer
Facebook It keeps me in touch with my friends across the globe who share their interests and ideas with me. As a group member, I post comments to the group and groups members share their view with each other. 55–64 India Head of academic department/faculty
Facebook Little professional use/it is more for social networking. 55–64 India Professor
Facebook I use Facebook to generally stay in contact. I don't actively use it for professional reason, except staying connected with colleagues I have met through my research. 25–34 United States Postdoctoral fellow
Facebook Facebook is neither safe nor secure. It is hosted on servers overseas, and even private messages can be accessed and read by third parties. Facebook is bloated with junk and advertisements and not a very efficient way to organise professional communication. It's distracting to use Facebook during work, since people will start chatting about non-professional issues, or one's boss might think one is not working while using Facebook. 25–34 Germany Postdoctoral fellow
Facebook Very useful to become informed about ongoing events. 35–44 Germany Professor
Facebook I believe it is not really all that useful, actually (at least here, in Spain). 35–44 Spain Associate professor
Facebook Known about other field research. 55–64 Mexico Professor
Facebook Pretty useless. I try to keep my Facebook predominantly personal, so for example I post when a paper I author is published, as many of my young peers are my Facebook friends. 35–44 United States Principal investigator
Facebook Great for building networks, relevant to young professionals. 55–64 South Africa Professor
Academia.edu I find it interesting to see which of my papers are being read and where. 35–44 United States Postdoctoral fellow
Academia.edu I can't see its usefulness right now. 35–44 United States Research scientist
Academia.edu It would be great if Academic.edu has an authorization to download those published articles but not only the abstract. 45–54 Libya PhD student
Academia.edu Not in use long enough to know if redundant. 65 or over United States Professor
Academia.edu I think Academia.edu to be more successful, more scientists should actually use it. It has been trumped by ResearchGate I think. 25–34 Australia Postdoctoral fellow
Academia.edu I think Academia.edu can be very useful but now I am mainly focus in another research link (ResearchGate) and I don't have time for managing several link. Also I am not sure how legal or not is to upload sharing publications in these web pages. 35–44 Japan Staff scientist
Academia.edu Mainly I used Academia.edu to look for my other colleagues and their research. 25–34 Singapore Technician/research Assistant
Academia.edu It is good to have for interaction with the scientific community. 55–64 India Research scientist
Academia.edu It seems that interest in using Academia.edu is disappearing and people are moving to ResearchGate quickly. 35–44 Sweden Associate professor
Academia.edu I think Academia.edu is very useful for my professional life. However, by comparing the view and download rates with those of my profile at ResearchGate I come to the conclusion that the latter is much better known among researchers than Academia. 55–64 Austria Research director/VP of research
Academia.edu Helpful to make international contacts. 55–64 United Kingdom Lecturer
Academia.edu Has led to invites to referee papers/external assessments. 45–54 United Kingdom Postdoctoral fellow
Academia.edu It seems to be just a place to list my research outputs. 45–54 China Associate professor
Academia.edu I like the site a lot. I have been able to post old papers which otherwise would be unavailable to most people. 55–64 United States Professor
Academia.edu I occasionally find something of interest. 65 or over Turkey Head of academic department/faculty
Academia.edu Nice site indeed, but amount must for some other documents to access. 25–34 India PhD student
Academia.edu More useful if transfer of identity between different institutions was better. Besides my current profile, I have an old profile from when I was doing my PhD that I cannot delete, and it confuses users. 25–34 United Kingdom Lecturer
Academia.edu Gives visibility to my work, updates on colleagues and it's fun to see the metrics and the visits from different countries. 45–54 Spain Associate professor
Academia.edu Interesting source of information 65 or over Mexico Professor
Academia.edu I found useful and helpful material for my research. 45 - 54 Argentina Socio-legal researcher
Academia.edu Very useful, especially in countries where literature is not easily available. 45–54 Mexico Laboratory director/head
Academia.edu I find it very useful, but having unordered followers lists is not so convenient for some aspects. 45–54 Japan Professor
Academia.edu It is a rewarding site. 45–54 India Professor
Academia.edu The most interesting part of this site is others posting their articles for dissemination. 35–44 Japan Associate professor
Academia.edu Copyright issues prevent a lot of downloading. 45–54 United Kingdom Lecturer
Academia.edu It would be particularly useful to post ads for jobs and postdocs, but it is not free, and it cannot be charged on research funds. 45–54 Italy Professor
Academia.edu It keeps me updated regarding recent research in my fields of interest. It also provides international visibility for my research papers. 35–44 Romania Associate professor
Academia.edu I don't post much, but it is useful for networking. 35 - 44 United States Associate professor
Academia.edu I find it very useful, especially in those moments when I am in Romania and have no access to good libraries or databases. Then, I ask the authors who interest me to send me their papers. 45–54 Romania Research scientist
Academia.edu To publish my work and to find interesting papers. 25–34 Spain PhD student
Academia.edu I find Academia.edu very useful. Thanks to it people regularly find my papers and I have been contacted in relation to my research several times. It also substitutes a personal research website which my institution does not provide. 25–34 Slovakia Assistant professor
Academia.edu I receive useful links and articles which I find useful. 45–54 United Kingdom Inspector of schools
Academia.edu I think it is really valuable and not sure what I would do without it as it is the only space where I am in charge of what content I put up there. 35–44 United Kingdom Senior lecturer
Academia.edu Do not find time to explore such opportunities. 45–54 India Professor
Academia.edu I don't use it more because I'm concerned about copyright for my research. I don't own the copyright on my published work, and I don't write detailed notes for conference papers so there is nothing to post there. 35–44 Canada Associate professor
ResearchGate I am an in an institution with access to many journals. For me ResearchGate is there to help researchers from universities without access to journals and need to ask for reprints to papers that I have published that are not open source. Initially I would read blogs on experimental questions and I would give input. Many of the times I did this what I read from other people was technically incorrect. After so many times of seeing this I stopped participating. Google searches for methods is far better. 35–44 United States Postdoctoral fellow
ResearchGate I was curious as to if this could become a "scientific Facebook" or something, but I've generally been underwhelmed at its usefulness. 45–54 United States Senior scientist
ResearchGate I use it for work and my research more than Facebook. Facebook I use more for social. Friends and family, not so much for work. 25–34 United States Research scientist
ResearchGate Metrics may have some interest. 45–54 United States Research scientist
ResearchGate It keeps track of publications from my colleagues. However, their update system doesn't work very well, and there are multiple updates that are irrelevant. If it worked, and somehow showed only recently published work, that would be best. 25–34 United States Postdoctoral fellow
ResearchGate Useful for sharing and discovering work. 35–44 United States Associate professor
ResearchGate It's easier to keep my ResearchGate page up to date than my lab webpage. Sometimes I can find other people's work there more easily than through my university library (book chapters particularly). 55–64 United States Professor
ResearchGate Broader dissemination of work, can see who is interested in my work. 25–34 United States Assistant professor
ResearchGate It is quite useless. The ways they assign the "research score" and "impact factor" are ridiculous and seem unfair. My most impactful articles (with plenty of citations) come up as zero citations. They do not consider books and book chapters 'impactful' at all. 55–64 United States Head of academic department/faculty
ResearchGate I like being able to find recent papers and follow researchers in my area. 35–44 United States Associate professor
ResearchGate Because of the eclectic nature of the participants, questions often challenge the foundations of my field, so responses require detailed critical thought on my part. Furthermore, since there are few on campus who are conversant in my field, it allows me contact with interested parties. 65 or over United States Teacher
ResearchGate Could potentially be useful. Not clear how it differs from sites already using like LinkedIn. 25–34 United States Postdoctoral fellow
ResearchGate It's the LinkedIn of the science world. Not good, not bad. Very good for finding colleagues. 55–64 United States Professor
ResearchGate Excellent resource. 65 or over United States Associate professor
ResearchGate It helps me to be immediately informed on publications in my field of expertise. 65 or over United States Senior scientist
ResearchGate I am new to ResearchGate. I find it very rewarding that others are accessing my publication. 45–54 United States Epidemiologist, disease surveillance
ResearchGate I sometimes find interesting links to work in my field — some of the questions posted are interesting. The metrics are a bit strange — if I answer lots of questions my "score" goes up ... who has time for that. 55–64 United States Principal investigator
ResearchGate I had hoped it would be a better resource for my immediate community, but they and I don't take advantage, so it's not overly useful. 45–54 United States Professor
ResearchGate I find it quite useful, particularly in documenting the value and use of my research. 55–64 United States Research scientist
ResearchGate The metrics that ResearchGate uses are perhaps the most asinine thing I've ever seen. But it's a nice way to have a CV online and be updated of other researchers' publications. 25–34 Australia PhD student
ResearchGate As I am currently seeking a position, I see ResearchGate as a good way to make myself "visible" online. 35–44 New Zealand Postdoctoral fellow
ResearchGate It's good, but I can't readily upload files of my work for download — need to put in link to my institution's e-print repository instead. 55–64 Australia Associate professor
ResearchGate Limited use — but helpful for provision of full-text articles. 55–64 Australia Medical professional/doctor
ResearchGate I think is very important to have a social network for professionals dedicated to research and researchers' needs and interests. I use LinkedIn as well but it's not very research friendly. I think ResearchGate is a great initiative. 25–34 Australia Postdoctoral fellow
ResearchGate ResearchGate is useful, but more so for keeping a running list of publications with appropriate metrics measured. 25–34 Australia Senior scientist
ResearchGate May be ok, but I would rather deal with colleagues and potential colleagues by direct e-mail contact — not through such an intermediary service. 65 or over Australia Professor
ResearchGate Great for networking discussion forums/topics. 35–44 Australia PhD student
ResearchGate I note that some of my respected colleagues use it actively. I have responded to email prompts to post some of my work there, but have not been very active in this regard. Don't really know what to use ResearchGate for nor what to expect. I am busy with my work, so engaging with it is something of a distraction. 55–64 Ghana Senior scientist
LinkedIn Good for connecting with other researchers. 45–54 United Kingdom Senior scientist
LinkedIn I use LinkedIn purely for the job opportunities and professional profile. 25–34 United Kingdom Postdoctoral fellow
LinkedIn I do not believe it is useful. Even with a list of contacts most correspondence is done outside of LinkedIn. 55–64 United Kingdom Head of academic department/faculty
LinkedIn The university was helping our group recruit a difficult post and required me to 'fill in a full profile' in order for them to approach potential applicants. 55–64 United Kingdom Laboratory director/head
LinkedIn It would be more useful if I bothered to use it properly. 55–64 United Kingdom Professor
LinkedIn I am concerned that linking to people of a poor reputation would reflect poorly on me, and that other people may link to me in order to benefit from my good reputation. 35–44 United Kingdom Postdoctoral fellow
LinkedIn Useful for linking to other professionals who may be able to help progress one's work and job opportunities. I am involved in defining and influencing health policy, so finding individuals in organisations also involved in this is very useful. 55–64 United Kingdom Laboratory director/head
LinkedIn LinkedIn seems to be more useful for consultants who want to advertise their skills, and isn't a good source of research publications or research-oriented discussions (which is why I prefer ResearchGate). 55–64 United Kingdom Senior scientist
LinkedIn Seems business orientated. 55–64 United Kingdom Lecturer
LinkedIn OK — but am not as wild about it as some people I know. 55–64 United Kingdom Lecturer
LinkedIn It is a bit incestuous and I also get irritated by unrelated requests from u/g students to be connected. 55–64 United Kingdom Forensic psychologist
LinkedIn I've got jobs through LinkedIn and I know people look me up on it. 55–64 United Kingdom Criminal-justice consultant
LinkedIn On all of these questions: I much prefer to look for information directly from websites of organisations/individuals/topics, rather than general ones such as Twitter or LinkedIn. I see no point in specialised search facilities when the normal ones work, and produce some interesting non-academic work as well as the academic. I do not like the fact that some people are retreating into closed environments such as Facebook. 65 or over United Kingdom Senior researcher
LinkedIn I do not use the discussion forums at the moment as the ones I subscribe to are unselective and chaotic, and I am not sure what could happen to the content. I use it to keep in touch with people I am unable to contact face to face, and to follow their career trajectories, and so people can find me. 45–54 United Kingdom Lecturer
LinkedIn I tend to decreasingly use LinkedIn with time, now that I prefer ResearchGate. 35–44 Brazil Research scientist
LinkedIn LinkedIn has been very useful, helping get/keep in touch with colleagues that I have lost contact with over the years. It has also helped me contact individuals outside my field. 35–44 Brazil Professor
LinkedIn Very useful to track trends in my research interests, as well as find professional employment offers or see what is out there in the job market. 35–44 South Africa Professor
LinkedIn The operation should be more user-friendly. 25–34 China Associate professor
LinkedIn I don't know if I've ever seen an interesting job in my area on this site. 45–54 China Associate professor
LinkedIn Its very useful for searching and contacting professionals all over the world. 35–44 India Director
LinkedIn LinkedIn was incredibly annoying until I figured out how to turn off all of the email alerts. Now I only see contact requests, etc. when I intentionally visit the website. 35–44 Japan Associate professor
LinkedIn This enables me to keep in touch with many of my earlier colleagues who are in different fields now. 65 or over Singapore Laboratory director/head
Mendeley Mendeley, primarily, still is a reference manager for me. The social component is less important (but occasional useful to discover interesting papers). 35–44 Canada Research scientist
Mendeley Reference management only. 25–34 Canada Student (other)
Mendeley As a social network I am a bit sceptical, but as a reference manager, it fits the bill for my students. 45–54 Canada Associate professor
Mendeley For me Mendeley is not really a social network. It is rather a great device to organize all my papers. 35–44 Mexico Professor
Mendeley I mostly use it to organize research papers I am reading/have read. 35–44 United States Research scientist
Mendeley The reference-manager desktop software is more useful than the online part. Particularly because the API is so poorly designed and the company's own focus on the desktop side has made the web side frequently ignored by serious researchers (e.g. compared to RG). 25–34 United States Postdoctoral fellow
Mendeley I primarily use Mendeley for reference management; its social features are more useful in connection with better-trafficked networks like Twitter and Facebook. 25–34 United States Postdoctoral fellow
Mendeley Fairly useful as a documents clearing-house for lab group. 25–34 United States Postdoctoral fellow
Mendeley I use it as a literature-management tool and to share articles with students. General a good tool they need to work on their BibTeX export capabilities. 35–44 United States Associate professor
Mendeley I mostly use the desktop client for research-paper management and citations. 25–34 United States Principal investigator
Mendeley Very useful in organizing literature. 25–34 United States Student (other)
Mendeley I do not use Mendeley as a social network. I use it as a reference manager. 35–44 United States Research scientist
Mendeley I mostly use it as a citation software. I've used it for teaching classes as a way to pool resources. 25–34 United States Postdoctoral fellow
Mendeley I use Mendeley only in as much as it is an effective, free means of managing citations. I do not find much value in Mendeley's networking capabilities. 25–34 United States PhD student
Mendeley I use Mendeley only as a scientific-paper browser and source. 25–34 United States Research scientist
Mendeley I didn't know Mendeley had a networking feature. I just use it to organize and search through papers I download. Also, it works well for citations in papers that I am currently writing. 25–34 United States PhD student
Mendeley Great for constructing bibliographies. I use it because my students use it and I want to be on the same page as them. 55–64 United States Professor
Mendeley Fantastic product. Tracks my PDF library across computers. 35–44 United States Research scientist
Mendeley I think it a good resource. I have only been using it for about 2 weeks, but it has been useful thus far. 18–24 United States PhD student
Mendeley Very important to organizing references. 35–44 United States Senior scientist
Mendeley Incredibly useful reference manager with syncing/etc. 35–44 United States Principal investigator
Mendeley Mendeley, it's a team work tool to me. It's not so much about reaching out, it's more about sharing literature. 35–44 Denmark Associate professor
Mendeley I use Mendeley mainly for managing bibliography. 55–64 France Professor
Mendeley Very useful to include a reference manager with social-networking functions. 25–34 Germany Lecturer
Mendeley Actually, I mainly use the reference manager of Mendeley. 25–34 Netherlands PhD student
Mendeley it is an useful database to keep my references and organize them. 55–64 Romania Professor
Mendeley Quite useful to keep bibliographic references and share them with other members of the research group (clean through the web cloud and the desktop tool). Their easy-to-install plugins to embed the bibliography into my manuscripts are also appreciated. 35–44 Spain Associate professor
Mendeley Tool for getting my bibliography updated. 25–34 Spain Teacher
Mendeley As reference manager it is very good. 35–44 Sweden Associate professor
Mendeley Useful to handle papers and references. 45–54 Sweden Professor
Mendeley Can be useful especially in exploring the field around a selected paper. 45–54 Sweden Research scientist
Mendeley Mendeley is very useful to me because I used the Mendeley desktop and PaperShip apps that allow me to have my papers everywhere I go. 25–34 United Kingdom Postdoctoral fellow
Mendeley I use Mendeley as a reference manager but rarely use it for social-networking purposes. 35–44 United Kingdom Postdoctoral fellow
Mendeley I mainly use the desktop reference manager and am not interested in its website beyond cloud backup. 25–34 United Kingdom Lecturer
Mendeley It is very useful as a reference library, I do not make use of the social-network features. 25–34 Australia Lecturer
Mendeley As a good reference manager. 45–54 India Professor
Mendeley It is very useful as a citing tool, and not to anything else. 25–34 Israel Postdoctoral fellow
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