Visibility & Impact

Academic Search Engine Optimization (ASEO) is designed to help ensure that your publication can be found in the best possible way via search engines and databases. This involves optimizing publication metadata such as title, abstract and keywords. This is always done in accordance with good scientific practice. Over-optimization" must not take place, as otherwise expectations of content and relevance are raised that are not met.

This and other detailed information on the principles and objectives of ASEO can be found in the articles Increasing visibility and discoverability of scholarly publications with academic search engine optimization by Lisa Schilhan, Christian Kaier and Karin Lackner and Sichtbarkeit und Auffindbarkeit wissenschaftlicher Publikationen (German language only) by Lisa Schilhan.

The title of a publication is the most important element for findability. The terms it contains have the highest relevance in searches - for people and search engines. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the following aspects:

• The title should be short and concise
• If possible, the result of your work should be included in the title
• Place key terms at the beginning so that the content of the text can be quickly understood
• Subtitles are considered less relevant by search engines - if possible, do not "hide" any relevant information in subtitles
• Avoid funny titles, quotes or pop culture references
• Write out all relevant terms and avoid hyphens as supplementary characters
• Avoid special characters and formulas as far as possible

Please note: if there are certain standards and conventions for title design in your specific field of research, please observe these and use ASEO as a supplement.

This and other detailed information and examples of title optimization can be found in the articles Increasing visibility and discoverability of scholarly publications with academic search engine optimization by Lisa Schilhan, Christian Kaier and Karin Lackner and Sichtbarkeit und Auffindbarkeit wissenschaftlicher Publikationen (German language only) by Lisa Schilhan.
 

Abstracts should be formulated informatively and contain the research design or research method as well as the research results. In addition, all important terms describing the content of the article should be included. Further aspects for optimizing an abstract are the following:

• Use synonyms to enable a more variable search and at the same time avoid your article not being found just because a certain term is missing
• Place key terms at the beginning of the abstract
• Abbreviations that appear frequently in the text should appear in the abstract in the full and abbreviated form

You can find this and other detailed information as well as examples of abstract optimization in the articles Increasing visibility and discoverability of scholarly publications with academic search engine optimization by Lisa Schilhan, Christian Kaier and Karin Lackner and Sichtbarkeit und Auffindbarkeit wissenschaftlicher Publikationen (German language only) by Lisa Schilhan.
 

Keywords describe the content of documents and are therefore essential for their findability. When assigning keywords, standardized terms from thesauri should always be used. Further aspects for optimizing keywords are as follows:

• Use "narrow" and "broad" terms - if the title contains a very specific term, use a superordinate term as a keyword
• Always enter keywords in the singular
• Avoid general terms such as "analysis" or “criticism”
• Assign few keywords (approx. 3 to 7) and avoid “keyword spamming”
• Take the perspective of the searcher and ask yourself how you would search for your publication

You can find this and other detailed information as well as examples of abstract optimization in the articles Increasing visibility and discoverability of scholarly publications with academic search engine optimization by Lisa Schilhan, Christian Kaier and Karin Lackner and Sichtbarkeit und Auffindbarkeit wissenschaftlicher Publikationen (German language only) by Lisa Schilhan.
 

Scientific publications are usually published in PDF format. Metadata such as the title, author details and keywords, which are evaluated by search engines, can be added to the properties of the file. The file name is also important and should be meaningful.

If you use images, you should bear in mind that search engines can only evaluate the text they contain if they are vector graphic formats. Texts in other graphic formats are not machine-readable and should be entered in the metadata of the file. A detailed caption is also advisable.

Use formatting in your text, e.g. headings should be formatted accordingly. Name your list of sources "Bibliography" or "References" so that it can be evaluated. A classic structure of your publication with a large headline, author details and a list of sources after the text means that search engines will classify it as a scientific article and it will appear in Google Scholar, for example.

Make sure that a persistent identifier (PID), e.g. a digital object identifier (DOI), is assigned to your publication to ensure that it can be found permanently.

You can find this and other detailed information as well as examples of abstract optimization in the articles Increasing visibility and discoverability of scholarly publications with academic search engine optimization by Lisa Schilhan, Christian Kaier and Karin Lackner and Sichtbarkeit und Auffindbarkeit wissenschaftlicher Publikationen (German language only) by Lisa Schilhan.
 

SCHILHAN, L., 2020. Sichtbarkeit und Auffindbarkeit wissenschaftlicher Publikationen [online]. In: K. LACKNER, L. SCHILHAN und C. KAIER, Ed. Publikationsberatung an Universitäten: transcript Verlag, S. 237-258. ISBN 9783839450727. Available at: https://www.doi.org/10.1515/9783839450727-013

SCHILHAN, L., C. KAIER und K. LACKNER, 2021. Increasing visibility and discoverability of scholarly publications with academic search engine optimization [online]. Insights: the UKSG journal, 34. ISSN 2048-7754. Available at: https://www.doi.org/10.1629/uksg.534