Researcher checklist
Boost your visibility with simple, high-impact actions.
Whether you're new to research promotion or looking to sharpen your strategy, this checklist offers practical steps to help you raise your profile, share your work more widely, and support the University’s research reputation. From quick wins like updating your email signature to high-impact activities like writing for The Conversation, these actions are grouped by time commitment—so you can start small or go big.
Instant wins: boost your visibility in minutes
Quick, impactful actions you can take right now to make your research more discoverable.
Make sure your research gets the credit - and funding it deserves. Complete this quick checklist before you publish:
- Confirm the correct UoM affiliation (include all relevant roles)
- Acknowledge all funders with grant numbers
- Credit any supporting facilities or centres
- If part of an institute, include both affiliations (UoM and institute)
- Ensure acknowledgements meet funder requirements.
Benefits to your research:
- Your citations are visible to funders, who increasingly use citation analysis to assess major funding applications (e.g. NIHR, MAHSC)
- Helps capture outputs accurately in institutional systems
- Your outputs are counted in global university rankings via citation databases like Scopus and Web of Science
- Strengthens your profile for funding applications, where citation analysis is often used.
Once uploaded, the Library team will check your publication meets open access criteria and upload it to Pure.
- Upload your AAM to the Open Access Gateway with required details
- Include any required metadata (e.g. title, journal, funder details).
Benefits to your research:
- Boosts visibility and citation potential
- Meets funder and REF open access requirements
- Library deposits it in Pure for you.
When uploading your paper to the UoM Open Access Gateway, tick the box to alert the Media Relations team that you would like your paper to be considered for a press release.
- Be prepared to provide additional context or quotes if your paper is selected
- You would have final approval of the press release draft before publication.
Benefits to your research:
- Alerts the Media Relations team to your upcoming publication.
- Increases the chance of your research being promoted through a press release and other comms channels
- Enhances visibility and public engagement with your work
- Supports broader impact and media coverage, which can strengthen funding bids and academic reputation.
- Add a link to your latest publication (with DOI and full references) in your email signature
- Update the link regularly to reflect your most recent work.
Benefits to your research:
- Increases exposure of your work with every email you send
- Encourages citations from colleagues and collaborators
- Highlights your research profile.
Notifying key institutional and publishing accounts can increase the chances of resharing by official channels, which can significantly boost visibility.
- Amplify reach by connecting your work to broader institutional and disciplinary conversations
- Use relevant hashtags on social media to increase reach
- Include a link to your publication (e.g. DOI) in the post.
Benefits to your research:
- Increases visibility and engagement with your research
- Helps your work reach wider academic, media, and public audiences
- Strengthens your research profile and online presence
- Encourages collaboration and citation opportunities.
15-Minute Fame: Small Steps, Big Reach
Short tasks that pack a punch in raising your research profile
- Write a 50-word lay summary of your paper in plain, accessible language
- If using MS Copilot or ChatGPT to help draft it, review the summary for accuracy and clarity.
Benefits to your research:
- Makes your research more understandable to non-specialist audiences and time-pressed colleagues
- Increases the chances of media coverage and public engagement
- Supports broader impact and visibility beyond academia.
Uploading a lay summary to your Pure profile is a simple but powerful way to increase the visibility and accessibility of your research.
- Upload your 50-word lay summary to your Pure profile
- Add the DOI to the record once the paper is published.
Benefits to your research:
- Pure feeds into public-facing platforms like the University’s Research Explorer, making your work more visible to journalists, policymakers, funders, and the public
- A lay summary helps non-specialist audiences understand the significance of your research
- Clear summaries make it easier for communications teams to promote your work
- Broader visibility can lead to citations, collaborations, and real-world applications.
Keeping your academic profiles accurate and linked ensures correct attribution of your publications and makes your research easier to find.
- Review and remove any duplicate profiles or publications across platforms
- Keep your identifiers and publication lists up-to-date
- Use tools like the Scopus Author Wizard to easily request corrections or merge profiles
Benefits to your research:
- Ensures accurate attribution by consolidating all your publications under the correct profiles
- Increases the visibility and discoverability of your research outputs
- Makes it easier for collaborators, funders, and institutions to find and assess your research
- Improves the accuracy of citation tracking and research metrics.
Web of Science corrections must be made by claiming your profile and manually adjusting it, or by contacting Clarivate support for more complex issues. Please contact the Office for Open Research for further guidance.
As the University’s central research information system, Pure plays a key role in connecting your research across systems and supporting institutional reporting. Ensuring that all systems are linked creates a more streamlined and accurate research profile across platforms. Pure should act as your institutional hub, while ORCID, Scopus, and Web of Science aid global discoverability and citation tracking.
- Link your ORCID, ResearcherID, and Scopus ID to your Pure profile
- Ensure the information is accurate and up-to-date
- Regularly review and remove duplicate records across all systems.
Benefits to your research:
- Improves discoverability of your research across systems like ORCID, Scopus, and Web of Science
- Ensures accurate attribution of your publications and metrics
- Supports automated syncing of outputs between systems like ORCID and Pure
- Strengthens your research profile for funders, collaborators, and REF submissions
- Reduces admin time by streamlining updates across systems.
Engage with your personal and professional networks directly by sending a short message asking them to share your paper.
- Provide them with the DOI and a lay summary to include in their post.
Benefits to your research:
- Expands the reach of your publication to new audiences and networks
- Increases visibility and potential engagement with your work
- Boosts citation potential and research impact through wider sharing
- Strengthens your professional profile and encourages collaboration.
Posting a lay summary on social media can create excitement about the paper.
- Include a DOI link to the publication
- Include a lay summary that uses plain language
- Tag relevant institutions, collaborators, and use appropriate hashtags to increase reach.
Benefits to your research:
- Sparks interest, discussion, and collaboration by making your work understandable and relatable
- Encourages engagement, including shares, comments, and potential media interest
- Strengthens your research profile and supports broader impact and citation potential
- Promotes collaboration by making your work more discoverable to peers and stakeholders.
Engage and amplify: Build your research network (30+ mins)
Medium-effort actions to connect with your community and amplify your message.
Your Faculty’s research comms team can help align your research with strategic priorities and wider promotional opportunities increasing its chances of being spotlighted.
- Share your 50-word lay summary and publication details (e.g. title, DOI, journal)
- Provide any relevant context or impact that may support promotion.
Benefits to your research:
- Boosts your research profile and the visibility of your work
- Teams can identify opportunities such as trade press coverage, social media campaigns, and speaking opportunities at events or on panels
- They can advise on tone, format, and channels for different audiences (e.g. public, policymakers, funders)
- Teams can make your research more accessible to non-specialist audiences.
Engage with your personal and professional networks directly by sending a short message asking them to share your paper.
- Provide them with the DOI and a lay summary to include in their post.
Benefits to your research:
- Expands the reach of your publication to new audiences and networks
- Increases visibility and potential engagement with your work
- Boosts citation potential and research impact through wider sharing
- Strengthens your professional profile and encourages collaboration.
Blogs are open-access and easily shareable, helping your research reach wider audiences. They improve your discoverability via search engines and help shape your academic identity online.
- Let your comms team know when you’ve written a blog so they can help amplify your post
- Share a link to your papers and remember to mention co-authors
Benefits to your research:
- Posts can be cited, shared, and referenced, contributing to your digital footprint and citation potential
- Demonstrates communication skills and a commitment to open scholarship
- Blog posts often lead to invitations for talks, co-authorships, consultancy, or media engagement
- They foster dialogue with peers, policymakers, and the public, supporting knowledge exchange.
- Contact your Faculty communications team for tailored support or advice
- Choose a platform that suits your audience (e.g. Bluesky for academic peers, LinkedIn for professional networks)
- Set up or update your profile with a clear biography, photo, and links to your research
- Start engaging with others by commenting, liking, and resharing content
- Share updates about your research, publications, events, or media coverage
- Use relevant hashtags and tag collaborators or institutions to increase reach.
Benefits to your research:
- Increases visibility of your work among academic and non-academic audiences
- Helps build your professional reputation and online presence
- Encourages collaboration and networking opportunities with policymakers, funders, and the public
- Enhances discoverability of your publications and expertise.
Power moves: Go big with your research story
High-impact activities that take more time but can significantly elevate your research.
Writing for The Conversation offers university researchers a powerful way to amplify your work and connect with global audiences. Articles attract millions of readers worldwide, increasing exposure far beyond traditional academic circles.
- Identify a timely or topical angle related to your research that would appeal to a general audience
- Draft a short, accessible article (typically 600–800 words) using plain language and avoiding jargon
- Include real-world relevance, policy implications, or public interest hooks
- Submit your idea or draft via your Faculty Media Relations team or directly through The Conversation pitch form (link below)
- Be prepared to respond promptly to editorial feedback and be available for follow-up questions or media interest.
Benefits to your research:
- The Conversation is good training in writing for general audiences and you get final approval on what’s published
- Sharing your expertise in accessible language helps inform public debate and policy
- Journalists often use The Conversation as a source, which can lead to interviews and broader media coverage
- Appearing in The Conversation positions you as a thought leader in your field and strengthens your academic profile
- Your contribution helps raise the profile of the University and our research strengths.
Presenting at a conference is an ideal opportunity to share a list of your publications because it places your research directly in front of a relevant, engaged audience.
- Prepare a slide with a link to your Research Explorer profile
- Include DOIs or a QR code to link directly to key publications
- Ensure your profiles are up-to-date with recent outputs and affiliations.
Benefits to your research:
- Including a slide with your Research Explorer profile and DOIs gives people a direct path to access your publications (no searching required)
- Making it easy to find and cite your work can lead to more citations
- Sharing your outputs helps spark conversations and potential collaborations during and after the event
- Linking to your profile ensures your broader body of work is visible, not just the paper you’re presenting.
Do you want to explore any of these ideas in more depth? Visit the promoting your work section.
Have these tips worked for you? We’d love to hear about it. Please share your feedback with research.comms@manchester.ac.uk.