Social Media Guidelines
An author's guide to social media
Social media tools and platforms have become an essential part of how we share information and ideas around the world. Over the last decade, OUP has established a dynamic and influential presence across many social media channels.
There’s a lot that you can do as an author to support the visibility of your work online, especially through social media and specially-created content. We hope that these guidelines will help you to make the most of any social media channels you currently use and to find out more about other channels.
For you as an author and researcher, social media offers many opportunities to disseminate your work in new ways, including:
- Reaching a wider audience, both within and outside your field.
- Opening up further opportunities for disseminating your research.
- Increasing the visibility, downloads, and citations of your work.
- Sharing ideas with other researchers, general readers, and policy-makers.
- Building up your professional network.
- Taking part in scholarly conversations online.
- Communicating your ideas in different forms.
- Discovering papers and other resources for research and teaching.
How do I know which social media channel to use?
While you don’t have to use every available channel, we recommend you start with one or two social media accounts. Before deciding which you want to be active on, consider why you want to use social media for your research. Different social channels have different strengths; you’ll find that what works on one channel doesn’t work elsewhere. You can use our at-a-glance guide to help narrow your options.
Social media | What do you want to do? | An example post |
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“I've just published an entry on #Shakespeare and dance as a part of the latest Oxford Handbooks update!" | ||
“Out now: The Oxford Handbook of Mobile Communication and Society! Thanks for all the moral support over the years!” | ||
Goodreads |
You might post a list of your favourite Oxford Handbooks. |
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You might post a picture of your lab, office, or coffee shop, with some text and hashtags: “Prepping for my publication of 'Elections in Spain' as a part of the Oxford Handbook of Spanish Politics! #SpanishPolitics" |
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“My publications include: The Oxford Handbook of Music and Medievalism.” |
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You might share an infographic. |
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“I am a political science professor and author of The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Persuasion… AMA (ask me anything)!” | ||
Tumblr |
You might find a great quote. |
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YouTube |
You might make a video about your work: “I’m an established scholar within the science field. In this video I’ll be discussing why climate change is such a problem. Subscribe to keep up to date on my other videos.” |