Surveying the Iranian Chemists’ Attitude toward Membership in Social Research Networks

Background and Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate factors prompting Iranian chemists’ approach in joining scientific research networks (SSN). The study compares the demographic characteristics, academic status, academic degrees, and scientific productivity of the Iranian members and non-members of the most popular SSNs including Academia, Researcher ID and Research Gate. Method: Applying a survey method, the communication concentrates on a purposeful sample composed of Iranian first authors of the papers published in prestigious chemistry journals indexed by SCI database. The members are selected from those who shared at least one paper in the SSNs.  Results: According to the research results, the Iranian chemists are relatively low in their tendency to the SSNs. However, the members are annually growing in number. The members are, also, mostly found to be of high academic degrees, university ranks and scientific productivity level, compared to their non-member peers.  Conclusion: The Iranian chemists enjoying higher education degrees, academic ranks and scientific productivity are more likely to join the SSNs. To maximize the use of the social web facilities, Science policy makers and planners are, therefore, required to apply effective strategies to encourage academicians to partake in the SSNs and also consider how to evaluate them based on their activities in the networks