A series of special interest groups (SIGs) in the ‘Perspectives’ journal section of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, which is in a new partnership with the ResearchGate ‘Journal Home’ platform. Image: ASHA
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘Expanding the Reach and Impact of Our Authors’
The Berlin-based research network ResearchGate today (February 27) is announcing a new partnership with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), devised to boost the impact of journals focused on research in communications sciences and disorders.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association is the United States’ national professional scientific and credentialing association for what it says are some 234,00 audiologists, speech-language pathologists; scientists who work in these fields; audiology and speech-language assistants; and students.
There are five journals produced by ASHA, which is based in Rockville, Maryland:
- American Journal of Audiology
- American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
- The Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
- Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
- Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups
In describing the newly arranged partnership, ASHA’s senior publishing director Mike Cannon says, “For nearly 90 years, our journals portfolio has delivered important research to ASHA members and the speech-language pathology and audiology communities worldwide.
“Now, through Journal Home, we can build the reach and influence of these titles with a greater international readership, growing citations, engagement, and authorship.
“Through this partnership, and as the readership of our journals grows, we’ll be very interested in expanding the reach and impact of our authors from within ResearchGate’s highly engaged membership”
As Publishing Perspectives readers know, Journal Home is ResearchGate’s platform. ResearchGate promotes it as, essentially, an amplifier for the journals of small and large journal-producing companies.
Our readership, for example, is quite familiar with some of the biggest listed by ResearchGate and its JournalHome platform. Here, for example, are Springer Nature; Frontiers; De Gruyter; Taylor & Francis; Sage; and Wiley.
Among lesser known companies working with ResearchGate’s “JournalHome” portal are Rockefeller University Press; the American Society for Microbiology; AIP Publishing; the Royal Society of Chemistry; The Royal Society; IOP Publishing; and Thieme.
In listing what the Speech-Language-Hearing Association can expect from its inclusion in the Journal Home offering, ResearchGate enumerates:
- “Boosted brand presence, with journal profile pages featuring information about each journal and article content, prominent branding on article pages, and across other member touchpoints on ResearchGate
- “Engagement with authors through their researcher cycle and beyond the published article—building deeper relationships with author communities, attracting new authors, and increasing author loyalty
- “New author services including automatic uploading of articles to member profile pages, engagement metrics, and new opportunities for interactions with readers
- “Syndication of full-text article content to ResearchGate, building visibility and readership among ResearchGate’s community of researcher-members
- “Insights on readers and their interactions with ASHA journals and, through growing engagement, the opportunity to expand authorship”
Sören Hofmayer
Sören Hofmayer, a ResearchGate co-founder and chief strategy officer, says, “Increasing engagement with the international research community delivers a positive effect for journals’ editors and publishing teams, as more reviewers and more authors identify these journals as the home for their community.”
ResearchGate asserts that more than 25 million researchers are operating in its network. This is, of course, a figure that Publishing Perspectives cannot verify. The company was founded in 2008.
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association is by far the older entity, founded in 1925.
More from Publishing Perspectives on academic and scholarly research publishing is here, more on open access is here, more on scholarly journals is here, more on ResearchGate is here, more on the German market is here, and more on the United States market is here.