Google Scholar Says I’m Important

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Clarissa

January 7, 2014

Oh my God, people, get this: I never used Google Scholar because I always suspected that nobody ever cited my research and didn’t want to have my feelings hurt by being reminded of that. But I just put my name through Google Scholar and it turns out that I’m cited all over the place. OK, maybe not all over the place, but still. People are using my research.

It’s totally cool to see people write things like “American literary scholars such as [ME, ME, ME] have analyzed [THIS AND THAT AND SOMETHING ELSE].”

I’m like seriously important now.

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10 responses to “Google Scholar Says I’m Important”

J. Otto Pohl

January 7, 2014

Congratulations, back when I was unemployed for years in the desert I compiled a list of works that cited me to include with my job applications. It didn’t do any good. I am pretty sure none of the search committees ever read it and I still never got an interview. I try every couple years to update it. But, since it went over 100 I haven’t had as much enthusiasm for keeping it current.

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  January 8, 2014
  
  Man, that is beyond impressive. Wow. Really amazing.
  
  But WTF is going on in your field that you didn’t get interviews??? This makes no sense to me. Everybody should be killing for a scholar with this citation index.
  
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  1. J. Otto Pohl
    
    January 8, 2014
    
    I have been told it was a combination of factors. But, basically it boiled down to having a British PhD not from Oxford or Cambridge, no teaching experience (this was due to having British degree), and unorthodox opinions. All of these factors still apply really since I have only taught in Central Asia and West Africa, so it doesn’t count for anything in North America. Also I found out that in the US teaching experience will always trump publications. You can get hired with no publications, but not without teaching. In fact you can not even get an interview no matter how many books and articles you have without having been a TA in the US first. When I applied for the job here in Ghana I told the head of the department that I had a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies. His reply was that there was no need to interview me then since SOAS is very highly regarded in Africa. When I applied to US universities most of them had never heard of SOAS. Maybe things will change in 15 years when I plan to make my next round of North American applications, but I doubt it.
    
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    1. bloggerclarissa
      
      January 8, 2014
      
      “All of these factors still apply really since I have only taught in Central Asia and West Africa, so it doesn’t count for anything in North America.”
      
      – That sounds racist. Not on your part, of course, but on that of the limited people who dismiss a good scholar because of some very formal requirements.
      
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J. Otto Pohl

January 7, 2014

Here is the last blog entry I have on updating the citation bibliography. I last up dated it almost three years ago. I am not sure whether it has any practical value. But, putting together one is not difficult.

http://jpohl.blogspot.com/2011/02/citation-bibliography-update.html

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Sister

January 7, 2014

Totally true!! And different people, from different countries. Very cool!

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n8chz

January 8, 2014

Congratulations. Glad to hear you’re getting the recognition you deserve.

A little comic relief that seemed apropos:

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1. bloggerclarissa
  
  January 8, 2014
  
  That’s exactly how I feel. 🙂
  
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musteryou

January 8, 2014

Excellent news!

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Pika

January 8, 2014

Congratulations! You could build a google scholar profile and have it linked from your university webpage.

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