Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Shameless spam from ACS publications

Occasionally I scan my Junk Mail folder because sometimes useful email does turn up. In amongst all the spam from Linked In, ResearchGate, administrators, Nigerian widows, conferences and journals I have never heard of... there was an email from American Chemical Society (ACS) Publications.

In the world of networked science, it isn't enough to be published — you have to be found.
Optimizing your papers for search isn't a skill taught in grad school. Ensure your research gets found by the right people. Download your free guideWriting Scientific Manuscripts for the Digital Age. Your research is important. Help it get the impact it deserves.

Guide Highlights:
  • Optimizing your keywords and visuals for search
  • The abstract: importance of your mini-manuscript
  • Selecting the optimal journal to publish your research
  • Broadening your reach with social media
  • Measuring the influence of your article
This sounded great. I also thought it might be good blog fodder. 
First the catch: you can't directly access the article. When you click on the link there is a request for your email address and name.

They then send you an email giving you a link to the actual article.

I must say I was very disappointed. 

The "article" is really just a shameless marketing blurb for ACS journals and social media.
I found no real useful tips beyond the obvious: include keywords that may show up in searches in your title and abstract.

2 comments:

  1. ACS is shameless. I'm considering not renewing my membership in protest over their high costs for conferences & the fact that the ACS president makes >$400K/yr...as head of a non-profit professional organization.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Eric,
    I am sorry to hear the problem with ACS is wider than I thought.
    I too find it troublesome that heads of non-profit organisations (including universities) can make such excessive salaries.

    ReplyDelete