Anyone writing a research paper wants to do their best in order to increase the number of citations that they receive. In scientific research, citation counts are a great metric if you want to know the overall success of a research paper. It shows that the work is useful and people are actively reading it and referring it in their studies. But you do have to wonder, how can you increase the research paper citations?
Here are some tips and tricks to focus on.
- Be the first and mark your place
If you want lots of citations for your research paper, then you should be among the first ones covering a new topic. You should start working on the new topics early, document as much as you can, and try to finish it as soon as possible. In doing so, you will have a much higher chance of getting citations, since you’re the first one in your field covering the interesting and emerging topic. - Open access publication
When you publish in a journal with limited access, the chances of getting citations are low. Which is why it makes a lot of sense to try and go for an open access publication. That being said, open access can be expensive, since you have to pay the article processing fee to the journal. Note that there is a trade-off, you just have to see what works for you and what delivers great results. - Self-archiving at Arxiv or Research Gate
Even if you can’t pay the open access fee, there are some alternatives to get the more citations. For example, you can post your research paper on platforms like Arxiv or Research Gate without any charges. They don’t have as much traffic, but you get to avoid expensive processing charges of the open access journals, so that’s certainly something you need to take into consideration as much as you can here. - Publish more research papers
The more content you publish, the easier it is for people to find you. Needless to say, the more research papers you have online, the easier it will be to gain citations. Of course, you want to maintain the same high quality, but this can indeed be used to your own advantage, so try to keep that in mind. - Self-citations
In case you do have more than one research paper on the similar topic, try to cite yourself in the new research paper. It shows a sense of continuity. At the same time, it also shows people that you are indeed offering a lot of value with your content, and that alone is always impressive to say the least. - Open Science
It’s also a good idea to make the code and simulation tools open access. It’s seen as a scientific contribution, and people will start citing you more. Plus, readers can also better understand the paper and code logistics, so it’s a great thing overall. - Attractive title and keywords
It’s always a good idea to use a hot topic, as it makes the paper feel a lot more interesting and appealing. Additionally, do some keyword research and include keywords related to your research paper’s title too. The reason why this is important is because it allows you to boost the overall ranking of your research paper. The higher you rank your research paper online, the easier it will be to generate more exposure and that will bring in amazing results. - Blog posts
Once the research paper is published, you want to generate more buzz around it. A good idea is to create a blog post and then publish it, either on your blog or on a dedicated website like Medium, LinkedIn. It’s a very good idea to promote your research paper this way because it will bring more readers and also more citations, which is exactly the thing to focus on. - Social media
Social media is great for sharing research papers because you can easily connect with people from the industry, colleagues and just others that want to learn more about the topic. You should consider targeting platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even forums if you can. - Video presentations
It’s important to note that a lot of people don’t read the full research papers because they are very long. But they do want to check a video presentation of that research paper. Which is why you want to create such a video and upload it to YouTube. It’s free, and the great thing about it is that you can easily generate citations from an entirely new audience. - Contribute by answering questions
There will always be people interested in your research paper’s topic. They might even have questions. That’s why you can go to Reddit or Research Gate, as here you can help others, share your research paper and also encourage them to use exerts as citations. - Paper structure and presentation
You always want to ensure that your research paper is very easy to read. Using words that are very complex can end up limiting the readability of the content. What we encourage you to do is to keep the overall style and complexity simple, because it makes it easier to generate citations. After all, the more people understand what you want to share, the better. - Present your research at a conference
Try to attend in a conference that covers your research paper’s topic. It is a great idea to present the research paper at the conference because it offers several benefits. If you have a large audience to present your research in front of, and you won’t have to worry about getting citations. - Publish in top impact factor journals
Generally, you want to write a research paper that has a great impact. These impact factors are used to show how important a research paper is over the years based on how many of the article was cited. The higher the impact factor, the more citations you will have, generally. - Cite the text in Wikipedia
Using your research paper as a reference for Wikipedia content can help a lot. Needless to say, a lot of people use Wikipedia, so it makes a lot of sense to add it there. With time, you can obtain more citations and that alone can be really handy.
Bonus (16): Survey and tutorial papers get more citations
Here’s a bonus one! If you want to acquire more citations, it might be a good idea to create either a tutorial paper or a survey paper. These research paper types are known to bring in more citations, and that’s certainly something to take into consideration.
Conclusion
These are some great, important ways to boost the number of citations for your research paper. Not only will it boost its growth and importance in the online world, but it also makes the entire experience better. That doesn’t mean it will be easy to acquire citations, but if you follow these tips, the chances can increase exponentially.