Changing Trends In Research Discovery And Consumption In A Digital World
The scholarly publishing industry has been undergoing a rapid transformation over the past couple of decades. The internet has moved nearly all journal use to the digital space, with most publishers having over 90% of their content available online and many dropping their print versions. We’re also seeing a change in how research is being ‘published’ and disseminated. The mounting popularity of preprints and social networks are enabling academics to get their research to the world much faster, while the vision of open access is quickly becoming a reality.
These changing norms mean today’s researchers have access to more research than ever before, which has made discovering the latest, most relevant content in a sea of published research a critical skill for researchers. Amid these changes, speed, efficiency, and ease of use have emerged as the need of the hour, giving rise to a host of content discovery platforms, apps and smart tools for researchers. Let’s look at why and how these AI-led solutions are redefining the future of research discovery.
The swelling tide of published research
Research output is increasing, and fast. By 2018, over 3 million articles were being published every year, and this number is growing at an average rate of 4% every year.¹ There was an explosion in the volume of scientific data last year, with more than 23,634 articles related to COVID-19 being indexed on major databases in the first six months alone.² What’s more, research output is no longer confined to a few centers of excellence or even specific regions. As the world comes together, international research collaborations are becoming more common, with just over 20% of published articles having coauthors from multiple countries.³
The rise in research output, especially localized research, brings with it a need for improved research discovery as well. While researchers continue to use their institute’s access to search for content, this is no longer enough. Even using digital libraries and specialized search engines like Google Scholar to find relevant content comes with certain limitations; you can only look for what you know exists. So how can researchers make the best use of this growing super-continent of scholarly content? The answer lies in new-age content discovery portals and smart reading apps!
The increase in technology-led innovations
There has been a tectonic shift in the kind of technologies available to us today, and it’s developing at an exciting pace. In the publishing arena, many journals are already using AI-led tools for content personalization, predictive analytics, and automated reporting.⁴ On the other hand, more researchers across the world are turning to content discovery portals and reading apps, which run on new-age recommendation engines to keep up with relevant research. Based on a mix of AI, machine learning and deep learning, recommendation engines are offering researchers a seamless experience, with personalized suggestions on the most relevant content to read. Much like getting direct one-to-one recommendations from an expert or peers who know you well, there is no time wasted searching for research. By making research discovery as easy as reading the news online, these smart solutions are fast becoming a welcome addition to a researcher’s toolkit.
Changing digital habits with a focus on convenience
Our world is being reshaped by technology, which not only connects the world but also shrinks it down for us. Research that could once only be accessed in libraries is now available in the palm of your hand. Scientists are increasingly turning to content discovery platforms and smart apps to read research, seeing it as an extension of their daily habit of browsing the news or viewing content online. This is supported by a recent study that shows about 70% of healthcare practitioners look for information online, with more than 63% using their tablets or smartphones to access data.⁵
Moreover, many online products around the world today are integrated. One Google ID, for example, allows you to sign in to and keep track of your preferences and online history, across related products. This has made life simpler and more efficient for all, including researchers, who now want a similar experience in academia. The question being raised now is, ‘Is there a way to integrate my daily research activities through one account?’ Are there any single sign-on platforms that allow you to access products for researchers, or a tool where I can input my preferences once to get personalized research reading? These changing digital habits focused on convenience have raised some pertinent questions, which are being addressed by smart reading apps, with powerful recommendation engines that deliver the right content at the right time.
Recommendation engines are revolutionizing research discovery
It wasn’t too long ago that researchers had to comb through libraries and flip through several journals to find the information they needed in their field of research. However, smart reading apps, based on intuitive recommendation engines, are flipping this process by presenting articles to the researcher.
Today, researchers don’t have to search for scientific data. With smart reading apps like R Discovery, you get notifications on your device or an email in your inbox telling you that a new item has been added to your curated reading list. And to ensure you maximize every minute spent reading, articles now come with summaries that let you evaluate their relevance before you read the full text. What’s more, you don’t have to start from scratch every time. Once you input your topics of interest, you are ready to receive the most relevant content recommendations, which you can then read anywhere at any time. Using and offering your feedback allows the recommendation system to further fine-tune your requirements, optimizing your research reading experience.
And the information is not limited to specific journals or sources that researchers know about. Content discovery apps and portals scrawl through preprints, conference notes, policy documents and articles from all over the world to bring you relevant information. R Concept, a global repository of research and information on COVID-19, is great example of the importance and usefulness of content discovery platforms. Developed as a response to the ongoing global epidemic, R Concept presents researchers across disciplines and geographies with the data they need to understand, team up, and find solutions to tackle the COVID-19 crisis.
For more personalized recommendations, researchers are turning to reading apps like R Discovery that ensure you get a dose of relevant content every day. With over 80 million articles across more than 5 million topics and 32,000+ journals, R Discovery is a free app for researchers. Add to this an easy-to-use interface, convenient search filters, a smart reading option, and the chance to import your reading library from Zotero and Mendeley, and you have an app that checks all the must-haves on a researcher’s wish list. R Discovery allows users to keep up with new developments by recommending reliable research that matters, which is critical to not just drive but accelerate scientific innovation.
To conclude, changing dynamics in research dissemination, open access and content licensing norms, and the use of social networks are helping to transform research as we know it. New-age semantic recommendation systems can now suggest research even before the reader reveals their interest,⁶ which is a huge leap from the more traditional methods of research discovery. AI-powered content discovery portals and apps, which need just a single set up, throw up new opportunities for smarter search, discovery and content curation in the future. Ready to take the first step and let the right research discover you? Click here to know more about R Discovery, or download the free app from Google Play or the App Store.
REFERENCES
- Johnson, A. Watkinson, M. Mabe — The STM Report: An overview of scientific and scholarly publishing. October 2018.
- COVID-19 research update: How many pandemic papers have been published? Nature Index, August 2020
- White — Publications Output: U.S. Trends and International Comparisons. Science and Engineering Indicators, National Science Board, December 2019
- Michael — Ask The Chefs: AI and Scholarly Communications. The Scholarly Kitchen, April 2019
- Embracing a Digital Future: The Role of Digital-Led Advancements in Published Research. The Wiley Network, December 2018
- Imagining the Post-COVID World of Scholarly Communication. Cactus Communications, January 2021.
Originally published at https://researcher.life on April 1, 2021.
