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My organisation is a research institute that publishes peer-reviewed research articles via its website. Further social media and digital communication channels are also utilised to extend the reach of the published research, and the researchers are individually able to further promote their researchers via networks such as ResearchGate or Academia.edu. In the latter case, these networks require the individual researcher to be authenticated, and so this cannot be done by my organisation on their behalf. That is my assumption and the basis for the problem that I wish to address.

The question is: Are there any research databases that my organisation can submit research articles on behalf of the research authors? The fields covered are in the social sciences such as economics and geography, and the number of articles published is approaching 1,000. The submission method could be manual or via an API or other indexing methodology.

So far, we have been unsuccessful in achieving indexing of the website content by Google Scholar (see related question). Some possible leads are the Bielefeld Academic Search Engine, DataCite, and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). I would be interested in any feedback on the potential suitability of these options for our situation.

By research database, I am referring to search engine or index containing listings or full PDF content of published research articles. The objective of this activity is to further extend the reach of the published research content to the wider community and also to the specific subject communities relevant to the research.

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    What do you mean by a "research database"? What is your organization hoping to achieve by submitting these articles to one?
    – ff524
    Commented May 29, 2017 at 1:56
  • Updated the question with additional information prompted by the comment from ff524.
    – Penanghill
    Commented May 29, 2017 at 2:52
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    To be honest, the researchers in my field use Google Scholar and we look at the few top-conferences themselves to see what is published every year. If you're not making an impact there, then you're not accomplishing anything. I would talk to the researchers in your target fields and ask how they search for relevant content, and try to target those avenues rather than just looking for random indexing websites.
    – David
    Commented May 29, 2017 at 3:12
  • I agree David, Google Scholar is the key, and the fact that we have not been successful this far is the core issue, therefore this question is somewhat peripheral. However, your suggestion to consult with the researchers is a valid one, that I will take on board to follow up. Thank you!
    – Penanghill
    Commented May 29, 2017 at 3:47
  • The first sentence is ambiguous. Your organization is a publisher?
    – Cape Code
    Commented May 29, 2017 at 12:08

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From Wikipedia:

The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) is a website devoted to the rapid dissemination of scholarly research in the social sciences and humanities.

SSRN allows you to submit full text papers (for example preprints) and abstracts (for example of published and paywalled articles). Setting up an account is free and requires only an email address and password. I am not aware of any API for mass uploads.

In my experience, papers on SSRN are quickly indexed by Google Scholar.

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  • It looks like this website does provide the solution I am looking for. It does provide the flexibility to post the work of other authors, not just my own.
    – Penanghill
    Commented May 31, 2017 at 0:41
  • Hi @henning, I have added a sample report (our most recently published article) to SSRN - do you know how long it will take to be indexed by Google Scholar?
    – Penanghill
    Commented Jun 2, 2017 at 2:14
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    Hi, I've since submitted a number of articles to the SSRN, and they have gone through the acceptance process and are now published, and are gaining some exposure, which is great news for our research.
    – Penanghill
    Commented Jun 9, 2017 at 4:01

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