Marketing for Scientists

The April issue of Nature Materials contains three articles that discuss marketing strategies for scientists. The Editorial (“The scientific marketplace”) introduces the topic and explains why scientists should consider marketing their work. The issue also contains an interview (“The m word”) with astrophysicist Marc Kuchner who published a book titled Marketing for Scientists. Finally, there is a commentary (“One-click science marketing”) by me discussing strategies and tools that scientists can use to promote their work. The commentary also includes links to pages by Phil Bourne (SciVee), Jonathan Eisen (Mendeley), Rosie Redfield (blog), John Hawks (blog), and Cameron Neylon (personal webpage).

Scientists may feel uncomfortable about marketing their work, but we all are doing it already. We know that giving a presentation at a key meeting can be a boost for our career, and we know about the importance of maintaining an academic homepage listing our research interests and publications. And people reading this blog will understand that a science blog can be a powerful marketing tool.

Feel free to add your thoughts and suggestions in the comments.

References

The scientific marketplace. Nature Mater. 2012;11(4):259-259. doi:10.1038/nmat3300

Martin C. The m word. Nature Mater. 2012;11(4):264-265. doi:10.1038/nmat3276

Fenner M. One-click science marketing. Nature Mater. 2012;11(4):261-263. doi:10.1038/nmat3283