Product Overview of Publons
Publons is a comprehensive online platform designed to support the scholarly research community by enabling researchers to track, verify, and showcase their various academic contributions. Here’s a detailed look at what Publons does and its key features:
What Publons Does
Publons serves as a social network for over 600,000 researchers, allowing them to create and manage an online profile that highlights their scholarly achievements. This includes peer review activities, editorial work, and publication history. The platform is free of charge and is integrated into the Web of Science platform, having been acquired by Clarivate in 2017.
Key Features and Functionality
Publication Management
- Researchers can import and display their publications from databases such as Web of Science, ORCID, EndNote, and Mendeley. Publications can also be imported using identifiers like DOI, arXiv, or PubMed ID, or by uploading files in RIS, CSV, or BibTex format.
Peer Review and Editorial Tracking
- Publons allows users to log and verify their peer review activities and editorial board memberships. For partnered journals, users can add review records directly through a confirmation email. For non-partnered journals, users can forward the confirmation email to Publons for verification.
Citation Metrics and Impact Assessment
- Users can track their citation counts and h-index from the Web of Science Core Collection. This helps in assessing the impact of their work and provides a tangible measure of their scholarly contributions.
Professional Recognition and Collaboration
- Publons profiles enhance professional recognition by demonstrating scholarly contributions, which is beneficial for applications for promotions, funding, and other professional opportunities. The platform also helps researchers identify potential collaborators based on shared interests and expertise.
Verification Process
- The verification process for peer reviews and editorial work is streamlined through partnerships with thousands of scholarly journals. Users can add records via email confirmations or by manually filling in details on their private dashboard.
Profile Management and Integration
- Publons profiles are now consolidated into Web of Science Researcher Profiles, providing a single platform to manage various research metrics and activities. Users can sign in using their Publons, Web of Science, or EndNote credentials.
Author Attribution and Misidentification Prevention
- Publons ensures correct author attribution by assigning a unique Web of Science ResearcherID, which remains consistent even if the researcher changes their name or institution affiliation. This helps avoid author misidentification.
Downloadable Records
- Users can download a record summarizing their scholarly impact as authors, editors, and peer reviewers, providing a comprehensive overview of their contributions to the academic publishing industry.
In summary, Publons is an essential tool for researchers to manage, track, and showcase their academic achievements, ensuring proper attribution and recognition for their contributions to the scholarly community.