#71 Self-Promotion for Researchers

Hey friends,

I'm sure we can agree that LinkedIn is probably the place where people are the most ‘thrilled’ on Earth.

Who hasn’t posted something like this:

“Thrilled to share our new article has been published in Journal ABC…”

With a screenshot of the PDF, including the title, the list of authors, and abstract

and maybe some hashtags.

We think people would read our articles, get curious, and maybe even cite them

But here’s the reality: this rarely works.

Most people scroll past because they don’t know why they should care

Publishing is step one
Communicating what makes your work valuable, that’s step two.

Self-promotion in research isn’t bragging
It’s translating your work so the right people can notice

Instead of just announcing, you may focus on:

• What was done? (Give a simple, human explanation)

• How was it done? (Share a method, a challenge, or an insight)

• Who should care? (Is this useful for some professionals like clinicians, policymakers, other labs, or even the general public?)

• Why does it matter? (Explain the impact in one or two sentences)

• So what? (Help people see the bigger picture)

It's like telling a story, we don’t just say “Here is a nice book, read it” or “Here is a nice movie, watch it”

You would probably give some context

The same way, here’s what could work better than a plain post like “our paper is published in Journal X (Impact Factor: Y)”:

1. Tell a story:  Share a challenge your team faced and how you solved it

2. Show the impact: Link the work to a problem people care about

3. Engage your audience: Ask a question or invite thoughts from your network

4. Use visuals: A figure, image, or even a simple graphic makes your post stand out

5. Be consistent: Post every few weeks, not just when you publish

Remember: Social Media is not a journal or a place where we can just consume entertaining content

It’s also where people discover and connect with people and ideas

Your work spreads when you help people understand it.

So, next time you share, skip the “thrilled to announce” and tell us:

• What did you do?

• How did you do it?

• Who should care?

• Why should they care?

• What’s next?

That’s how research gets noticed, shared, used and remembered
And this is also where it might open doors to new opportunities

For now, you can try to reframe one of your publications into a story post

Then share it with your network. Please tag me when you do
(I’m on Linkedin, Facebook and X)
I would love to know more about your research projects

That’s all for this week.

Let us know how you communicate your research with society?

As always, if you need clarification or assistance with your research projects, feel free to reach out to me, and I will respond.

See you next Sunday!

Jamal