Digital and Social Media Tools

Don’t post anything to social media or websites if somebody else owns the copyright of it. Permission is required for this just as with more traditional academic writing. Social media websites are not able to prevent you from doing this, although they may remove the content and block your access if they become aware of it. The licence that you agreed to when you registered will indicate that the responsibility for this is yours and not theirs.

See our Copyright guide for further information on copyright issues.

Please consider this guidance when using social media for research dissemination and discussion:

1. Consider not restricting your account if you wish to have the maximum potential reach to promote and share your research. If you like to share more personal matters on social media that you do not wish to be openly visible then it may be wise to have one account for professional purposes and another for personal use.

2. Think carefully about sharing anything that might be better to remain confidential – for example anything that might have commercial value.

3. Do not share any information that is sensitive to any third party, such as a company or research participant.

4. Do not share personal information such as telephone numbers, email addresses, etc. If you wish to establish a closer connection with someone it would be wise to use the private messaging function of the social media channel you are using. Otherwise you risk being the victim of identity fraud.

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