The Use of Academic Social Networking Sites in Scholarly Communication: Scoping Review

Abstract

This research provides a systematic analysis of 115 previous literatures on the use of academic social networking sites (ASNs) in scholarly communication. Previous research on the subject has mainly taken a disciplinary and user perspective. This research conceptualizes the use of ASNs in scholarly communication in the space between social interactions and the technologies themselves. Keyword analysis and scoping review approaches have been used to analyze the comprehensive literature in the field. The study found a geographic variation in what motivates academics to use ASNs. Scholar discovery and sharing are the primary driving factors identified in the literature. Four main themes within the research literature are proposed: motivation and uses, impact assessment, features and services, and scholarly big data. The study found that there has been an increase in scholarly big data research in recent years. The paper also discusses the key findings and concepts stated in each theme. This gives academics a better understanding of what ASNs can do and their weaknesses, and identifies gaps in the literature that are worth addressing in future investigations. We suggest that future studies may also extend the existing theoretical framework and epistemological approaches to better predict and clarify the socio-technical dimensions of ASNs use in scholarly communication. In addition, this study has implications for academic and research institutions, libraries and information literacy programs, and future studies on the topic.