Examining the Lived Experiences of Researchers in Using Scientific Social Networks: A Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this research is to analyze the lived experiences of researchers of Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University in using scientific social networks. The current research was conducted with a qualitative approach and interpretive phenomenology method. The population of this research were academic staff members of the university, and 20 samples were selected by the criteria-based purposeful sampling method to obtain their experiences. The interviews were conducted in a semi-structured manner and continued until the theoretical saturation stage. Based on the findings of the research, 349 codes were extracted from the lived experiences of researchers which were placed in 180 semantic units and 29 categories. Finally, four themes were extracted from 29 categories. The themes were how researchers get to know scientific social networks, contexts and reasons for using these networks, the capabilities of scientific networks, and barriers and challenges of these networks. The capabilities and facilities provided in scientific social networks are the reason for using such networks. Researchers' further familiarity with the capabilities of these networks and strengthening and fixing their shortcomings will lead to broader usage of this online space of scientific community.