Relevance in Social Science Networks: The Case of ResearchGate Science Network

Scientific exchanges and easy access to the required information are necessary for the scientific growth and dynamism of society. Scientific social networks as platforms for scientific exchanges can play important role in the development of scientific communities. Today, with the expansion of the applications of information and communication technology in everyday life, we are witnessing the formation of a new generation of Internet tools that have provided countless possibilities for mutual relations, negotiation, dialogue and, in general, two-way communication. Scientific social networks are an environment for the introduction and promotion of scientific activities and in fact, the more relevant information they can provide, the more they will be welcomed by experts, and the gathering of more experts in these networks means more scientific dynamism. The purpose of this study is to describe the experience of information science professionals about the relevance of information in ResearchGate scientific network.

This research is a qualitative research with a conceptual phenomenological design. The reason for choosing this method is because experiences of people requires a deep description of a certain phenomenon to a specific group of people and also one of the suitable fields for conducting research. Interpretive paradigm of phenomenological method is research in the field of information retrieval, which is important in information science and epistemology. Participants in present study are 22 experts and faculty members (9 males and 13 females) in the field of information science and epistemology in Iranian universities who are members of the research social science network. Participants were selected using purposeful sampling. Data was collected from semi-structured interview method, then coded and analyzed using Dickelman method.

The results of the interviews analysis led to the extraction 551 initial code and four categories: Relevance of the document, relevance of the successor to the document, the relevance of the requests and questions, and the lack of relevance feedback.

The results emphasize showed that Researchgate network plays an important role in meeting information needs of users. The network is not an information system, a forum for meeting scientific needs and promoting science.