In a new publication, The Use and Significance of a Researcher Networking System, featured in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, CTSI’s Virtual Home program team provides an overview and assessment of UCSF Profiles as a researcher networking platform.
The paper notes that tools such as UCSF Profiles are enabling the search and discovery of researchers and their expertise, intellectual output, and professional networks, and that these web-based applications mine a variety of data sources to automatically generate searchable profiles and expose existing networks of collaborators.
“The technology and communications team behind UCSF Profiles is continuing to develop the platform to address the diverse interests of researchers, and in particular to support new and novel ways to find collaborators and explore networks,” said Leslie Yuan, MPH, director of the Virtual Home program, which manages UCSF Profiles and continues to expand and enhance the tool.
Each month, more than 85,000 users visit UCSF Profiles, which includes nearly 6,400 individual researcher profiles featuring more than 115,000 publications. UCSF Profiles also offers a variety of features allowing researchers to enhance their profile page.
The publication concludes that returning visitors to the site display behavior consistent with using the tool to identify new collaborators or research topics, and authors note that direct user feedback shows that some visits result in research-enhancing outcomes. Read more.
For more information on UCSF Profiles, contact [email protected].