Scholarly communication, social media, and collaboration in ESS

The importance of social media for scholarly communication grows steadily. Over 800 MAX IV users from 20 countries all over the world are asked about their use of social media, collaboration methods, and views on a creative research environment. The results will provide useful input for the planning of the research environment of ESS which will be ready by 2019.

Scientists’ information practices change when new interactive tools, like social media, become available. So far there are no studies of the effects of social media on scholarly communication and the quality of research. The focus of my project is to investigate such effects in Big Science.

Vast resources are required and expectations on research output are very high in Big Science. But researchers are also social human beings who need a creative environment. Socio-cultural aspects like small research teams, meeting places, and an open cognitive climate strongly contribute to research quality. If ESS manages to provide the stimulating research context that makes research thrive and scientists win Nobel prizes it would doubtlessly help to legitimize the huge investments involved.

Facilitating face-to-face and digital communication in and between the research teams is only one aspect of a creative environment. Over 2000 researchers will visit the ESS/MAX IV site every year. Teamwork and collaboration on several levels will be their main modus operandi. Social media are useful tools for both individual and collective communication, also in research, and often used for collaborative authoring and conferencing.

Identifying critical factors for an environment that facilitates interaction and boosts informal communication among the researchers at a site is a central issue in this project. It will contribute to the planning of a creative research environment at ESS.