ABSTRACT
Thomson Reuters, one of the largest publishers in the world, has been involved in what it calls the 'Global Institutional Profiles Project', in association with the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Thomson Reuters' project is connected to providing comprehensive data in ranking institutions and disciplines within institutions in order to establish that its data are the most reliable for the sector and valuable for those 'using' the sector such as students, corporations and governments who want to know where best practices can be located. This pilot project provides insight into the complexity of producing and maintaining an online academic persona. A key aim of the pilot project was to give the participants access to and information about a wide range of possible platforms that can be used in the development of an academic persona. The academics who participated in this pilot study were those who had participated in a range of professional and/or social networking platforms.
