An analysis of ResearchGate and Academia. edu as socio-technical systems for scholars’ networked learning: a multilevel framework proposal

Abstract

Academic social network sites (ASNS) like ResearchGate and Academia.edu are digital platforms for information sharing and systems for open dissemination of scholarly practices that are gaining momentum among researchers of multiple disciplines. Although ASNS are increasingly transforming scholarly practices and academic identity, a unifying theoretical approach that analyses these platforms at both a systemic/infrastructural and at a personal/individual level is missing. Moreover, despite there is an increasing amount of studies on social media benefits for scholarly networking and knowledge sharing, very few studies have investigated specific benefits of ResearchGate and Academia.edu for scholars’ professional development according to a networked learning perspective. This study focuses on academic social network sites as networked socio-technical systems and adopts a three-level analysis related to ASNS as platforms for digital scholarship and scholarly communication. The approach comprises: 1) a macro-level, which constitutes the socio-economic layer; 2) a meso-level, which comprises the techno-cultural layer; and 3) a micro-level, which constitutes the networked-scholar layer. The study reports on investigations into the technological features provided by ResearchGate and Academia.edu for networked learning that are based on the multilevel approach. The final aim is to exemplify how these digital services are socio-technical systems that support scholars’ knowledge sharing and professional learning.

Keywords

• Academic social network sites
• ResearchGate
• Academia.edu
• Socio-technical systems
• Networked learning
• Professional development