We want to support Deaf and DeafBlind authors… how can we boost readership or recognition of their work? Why should we read their articles?
1. More Visibility & Readers
- Each click means another scholar, student, or practitioner finds your work.
- Greater readership often leads to more citations in papers, presentations, and theses.
- Some publishers highlight “Most-Read” or “Most-Downloaded” lists — boosting your profile. Some platforms like ResearchGate, Academia.edu, institutional repositories) display view counts and downloads, so you get an idea of the paper’s reach.
2. Better Metrics & Recognition
- Altmetrics (alternative impact measures) track:
- Article views, clicks, downloads, PDF saves
- Social-media mentions (Twitter/X, LinkedIn)
- News/blog citations and policy mentions
- Strong altmetrics demonstrate broader impact — valuable for promotion, tenure, and grants.
3. Citation Advantage
- Research shows articles with high early readership often receive more citations later.
- More citations raise a scholar’s h-index and academic standing.
4. Institutional & Grant Benefits
- Universities track clicks and downloads in institutional repositories to report on research impact.
- High readership strengthens funding proposals and progress reports.
5. Career & Community Impact
- More engagement can lead to:
- Invitations to speak or collaborate
- Greater visibility for your department or program
- Evidence of public scholarship and community reach
Clicks drive discoverability, readership, altmetrics, and future citations — all of which matter for scholarly reputation, evaluation, and funding.
For the example listed below, search for this author's dissertation on Google Scholar and Google to see where it appears. Note any statistics if available on the site.
Example: García-Fernández’s (2014) Deaf-Latinx Critical Theory
