This document discusses Sean Ekins' experience using various online tools and platforms to increase the visibility of his scientific work and facilitate collaboration. It notes that Ekins uses multiple networks, tools and audiences due to working in different areas like drug discovery, grant writing and blogging. The document provides advice on using tools to connect with others, share your work in accessible formats, and assess the impact of your research. It discusses both the benefits and challenges of using these tools, including the ongoing effort needed to maintain an online presence.

1. Sean Ekins
Collaborations In Chemistry, Fuquay Varina, NC 27526
Email: ekinssean@yahoo.com
Twitter: Collabchem

2. Senior Consultant
Since 2007
Chief Scientific Officer
Since 2008
Chief Science Officer
Since 2013
CEO, President, Co-Founder
Since 2012
CEO, Founder
Since 2015
Blogger
Since 2011
Consulting ADME/Tox,
drug discovery
cheminformatics
Grant PI, bringing in
funding, neglected disease
drug discovery research –
use cheminformatics
Facilitate science & SAB,
write grants, collaborate
Grant PI, rare disease-
Sanfilippo Syndrome
Write grants and
collaborate on rare and
neglected diseases,
cheminformatics
Blog about drug discovery

3.  I work on diverse projects (drug discovery, grant writing etc.)
 Need to make people aware that I am here and gain visibility
for work
 Different networks (neglected disease, rare disease)
 Different audience backgrounds (cheminformatics,patients,
investors)
 Different needs (customers for software vs customers for
consulting, vs VCs for investment)

4.  Most of my links in one place

5.  A single webpage is a starting point

6.  Using software to help connect to others
 Providing your science in a consumable assessible format
 Using software / apps to assess use of your output
 Downloads of papers, views, citations
 What works and what does not in this space
 Marketing vs Social marketing
 Networking for connections

7.  Visibility
 Cost
 Global Reach
 Openness
 Enhanced or new collaborations
 Career changing
 Bottom line – people can find you and your work

8.  It’s a full time job
 Once in – there is no reason for going back
 Longevity / permanence of information
 Law of unintended consequences
 Frightening for the inexperienced
 Bottom line – there are no free rides, you get out what you put in

9.  LinkedIn – my only tool for a long time
 Then it all exploded with a paper
 iPhone
 Antony Williams
 Alex Clark
Williams et al DDT 16:928-939, 2011

10.  Links to Slideshare etc.
 Use to post links to blogs, slides etc.

11.  Blog
 Wiki’s
 Mobile app development
 Using a whole array of tools
 Twitter
 Slideshare
 Figshare
 Kudos
 Pubmed Commons
 F1000Research

14. App for rare and
neglected diseases
Share
Data and
molecules
Inspiration:
P4C2011
Scio2012
Instigation:
PA Dragons Den 2012
Crowdfunding visibility
Publications,
posters, talks
biotech
Mol Informatics, 31: 585-597, 2012
ODDT

16.  I put all slides on here

17.  I put datasets and posters on here

18.  Occasional I put preprints on figshare as well
 I now like to publish in F1000Research
 Several more PLOS, BMC papers..
 Fewer totally closed papers..
 My profile is increasing I think..
 More followers on Twitter
 Increased citations

19.  Used to track and enrich papers

20.  Takes a lot of effort
 Need to select papers
 Add summary, links etc.

22.  Actions can impact views

24.  A way to comment on work in pubmed and enrich

26.  Collaborations started from tweets

27. And lead to this…

29. Michele Rhee MBA
Connected on Twitter
Helped us write paper
GoTo meeting with colleagues
managing collaborations funding
science
Introduct
ion to a
company
We had already
connected
Intro to
others
gave me CV
for a
postdoc at
Harvard

30.  Every company
needs a person
engaging, mining
and connecting

31.  Highlight talks
 Papers being published
 Any interesting science from outside own network
 Putting ideas out there
 Try not to overload, keep tone professional,
 How you would like to be treated.
 Occasional analysis of how papers are used

32.  Do not have to do anything once set up
 Useful to check ‘cites’ and do searches, no frills

33.  Highs.. When someone else blogs on our papers, journalist writes
about work
 When a rare disease parent finds you
 When you start a new collaboration via Twitter
 Lows.. When you get people stalking your science and writing
really nasty things on blogs,Twitter etc.
 Journalists that totally twist your words / waste time
 When you realize that you still have >100 papers to summarize in
Kudos
 When you get introduced to a new tool and realize you have to
repeat weeks of work that you have already done elsewhere

34.  Multiple levels of tools
 1 – data sources = Slideshare, figshare, blogs, journals etc.
 2 – compilers = Google Scholar, Research Gate, Academia,
GrowKudos
 3 – tools that provide scores of output= altmetric, Research
Gate
 There are too many tools you need to use – adds to stress
 Select carefully – many duplicate / overlap in function
 Unclear benefits of some tools – time wasting
 LinkedIn may not be enough

35.  Poor design
 Unclear whats in it for me
 Spurious results

36.  Barely use it..a couple of times a year – provide reprint
requests – get many annoying email alerts

39.  None of these people were my co-authors??

40.  I do not know these authors

41.  Do something:
 If you are a new scientist starting out building your network and
needing visibility
 Because the sooner you start the easier maintenance will be
 Do nothing:
 If you are an older scientist, retired, with no time
 If you really do not want to be visible
 If you cannot face hours setting up, uploading papers,
preprints, summarizing papers etc.

42.  Fame and wealth
 Hard to determine if it helped with funding from NIH etc
 Job offers
 Having a webpage / CV alone definitely has lead to consulting jobs
 More free time
 I think maintaining all the tools suck up free time
 More relaxed
 I am probably less relaxed because I wonder what I am missing or need to
improve
 Still opportunities for new tools
 Make it easier on the scientist, integrate more of the functions, show clear
benefits of participating