The Research Sidekick: Elevate Your Research through the SOM Library!

This post is a continuation of the scholarly identity post from last month. In that post, I mentioned that employers have been checking social media to see what is posted about or by a prospective employee for years. After I wrote the post, I came across an article about a medical student who behaved unprofessionally, which ultimately cost him his residency at a particular institution. A quote from the article caught my attention: “The temptation remains to make impulsive online communication decisions when anonymity is assumed.”

The article is cited below:

Kaushik R, Sattler M, Bhamidipati V, Statzer H, Vu J, Wolfe AD. To Catch a Catfish: A Cautionary Tale of Internet Unprofessionalism. J Grad Med Educ. 2025 Feb;17(1):20-22. doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-24-00629.1. Epub 2025 Feb 14. PMID: 39980968; PMCID: PMC11838069.

After reading the article, I decided to do some research to see what else is in the literature about medical students and/or residents and social media. I wanted to share this information with you in an annotated bibliography—not that I think any of you are engaging in such behaviors. It’s always good to be knowledgeable about a topic that may affect your life. I also want to clarify that this search was not an all-encompassing literature review.

Most of the articles below can be found in PubMed using their PMID or PMCID.

Annotated Bibliography (Modified):

Lee YM, Lee J, Rhim HC, Park H. A Preliminary Study on Uncovering Medical Students' Unprofessional Behaviors from YouTube Videos. J Korean Med Sci. 2021 Nov 1;36(42):e296. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2021.36.e296. PMID: 34725980; PMCID: PMC8560317.

This is an interesting article on uncovering medical students’ unprofessional behavior in YouTube videos. When we add a YouTube video, how many of us consider the “potential negative impact on the medical profession of easily accessible public online videos”?

The table below is taken from the Lee YM article listed above.

Pronk SA, Gorter SL, van Luijk SJ, Barnhoorn PC, Binkhorst B, van Mook WNKA. Perception of social media behaviour among medical students, residents and medical specialists. Perspect Med Educ. 2021 Aug;10(4):215-221. doi: 10.1007/s40037-021-00660-1. Epub 2021 Apr 7. PMID: 33826108; PMCID: PMC8368941.

Conclusion from the paper above:

“Social media use among medical students, residents, and medical specialists is common. The majority of participants use social media to gather and share information that otherwise would be missed and to keep in contact with others. Among the three groups, medical students spent the most time on social media. Participants acknowledged that inappropriate information was commonly posted on social media, but they were more likely to perceive it as inappropriate when posted by peers and colleagues than by themselves. Addressing colleagues about unprofessional online behavior is most likely to occur when patient privacy and confidentiality are breached. However, the respondents mentioned that this is difficult in practice. Medical educators should thus equip trainees with the skills to provide feedback to address such issues in a constructive manner by using already existing (online) guidelines on professional behavior in the undergraduate and postgraduate medical curriculum.”

Nilsen K, Walling A, Dooley P, Krohn K, Kellerman R, Antoun J. To Post or Not to Post: Does Applicants' Social Media Affect Family Medicine Resident Recruitment? Fam Med. 2021 Oct;53(9):766-772. doi: 10.22454/FamMed.2021.292421. PMID: 34624124.

Great table below from the article cited above showing how many social media sites are checked for applicants. There may be more now, as the article was written in 2021.

Economides JM, Choi YK, Fan KL, Kanuri AP, Song DH. Are We Witnessing a Paradigm Shift?: A Systematic Review of Social Media in Residency. Plast Reconstr Surg Glob Open. 2019 Aug 19;7(8):e2288. doi: 10.1097/GOX.0000000000002288. PMID: 31592016; PMCID: PMC6756642.

This article discusses how residents and program directors use social media to evaluate residents applying to their programs.

Barlow CJ, Morrison S, Stephens HO, Jenkins E, Bailey MJ, Pilcher D. Unprofessional Behaviour on Social Media by Medical Students. Med J Aust. 2015 Dec 14;203(11):439. doi: 10.5694/mja15.00272. PMID: 26654611.

This is an older study about Australian medical students, but I believe it remains highly relevant to today’s medical students. It’s easy to lose judgment when away from school, intoxicated, or when you don't think your social media will be seen by anyone who could harm you professionally.

Garmon EH, Morris KC, McAllister RK. Preserving Medical Professionalism in the Age of Social Media. JCA Advances [Internet]. 2024;1(3):100055. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950553424000558.

Quote from the Garmon article: “The increasing frequency of unprofessional behavior on social media platforms makes it more important than ever that faculty mentors uphold medical professionalism and teach trainees how to exercise discernment and good judgment in what will be shared publicly.”

The table below is from the Garmon article cited above.

Murphy, B. How M4s Can Make Social Media an Asset During Residency Applications. American Medical Association. 2022. Available at: https://www.ama-assn.org/medical-students/preparing-residency/how-m4s-can-make-social-media-asset-during-residency (Accessed: 04 April 2025).

Great advice on how to manage your social media during residency applications.

Sterling M, Leung P, Wright D, Bishop TF. The Use of Social Media in Graduate Medical Education: A Systematic Review. Acad Med. 2017 Jul;92(7):1043-1056. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000001617. PMID: 28225466; PMCID: PMC5487290.

Quote from Sterling article: “The effect of social media platforms on residency education, recruitment, and professionalism is mixed, and the quality of existing studies is modest at best.”

Vukušić Rukavina T, Viskić J, Machala Poplašen L, Relić D, Marelić M, Jokic D, Sedak K. Dangers and Benefits of Social Media on E-Professionalism of Health Care Professionals: Scoping Review. J Med Internet Res. 2021 Nov 17;23(11):e25770. doi: 10.2196/25770. PMID: 34662284; PMCID: PMC8663533.

Findings from the reviewed studies indicate the existence of both benefits and dangers of social media (SM) on e-professionalism among health care professionals (HCPs). Even though some barriers are recognized, this review highlights existing recommendations for incorporating e-professionalism into the educational curricula of HCPs. Based on all the evidence provided, this review offers new insights and guidance for future research in this area. There is a clear need for robust research to investigate emerging SM platforms, the effectiveness of guidelines and educational interventions, and the specific needs of each profession regarding their SM potential and use.

University of the Incarnate Word, School of Osteopathic Medicine, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Student Handbook.
Available at: https://osteopathic-medicine.uiw.edu/_docs/student-handbook/do-student-handbook-2425.pdf
Social Media Policy, pages 47-49.

While at the SOM, this is the primary resource for information on the social media policy.

American Osteopathic Association’s (AOA) Social Media Guidelines –

https://osteopathic.org/about/leadership/social-media-guidelines/#:~:text=Never%20post%20identifiable%20patient%20information,if%20you%20are%20posting%20anonymously.&text=Use%20strict%20privacy%20settings%20to,sure%20to%20confirm%20settings%20regularly.

AOA’s Code of Ethics -

https://osteopathic.org/about/leadership/aoa-governance-documents/code-of-ethics/

AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (2019) – Professionalism in the Use of Social Media - https://code-medical-ethics.ama-assn.org/sites/default/files/2022-08/2.3.2%20Professionalism%20in%20the%20use%20of%20social%20media%20--%20background%20reports.pdf

AMA Policy: Professionalism in the Use of Social Media - https://code-medical-ethics.ama-assn.org/sites/default/files/2022-08/2.3.2%20Professionalism%20in%20the%20use%20of%20social%20media%20--%20background%20reports.pdf

The two AMA links above discuss the positive and negative issues physicians and medical students face when becoming involved with social media. This quote caught my attention: “Physicians must recognize that actions online and content posted may negatively affect their reputations among patients and colleagues, may have consequences for their medical careers (particularly for physicians-in-training and medical students), and can undermine public trust in the medical profession.”

Please consider this information as helpful. Make decisions about your own lives as you see fit.
Should you wish for me to present this topic, or any other, to your group or to you individually, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I would be glad to assist.

Happy Searching! 

Dawn Field, Your UIWSOM Librarian

Additional Alternative Data sites:

Harvard Law School's library has preserved federal websites in a digital archive so that the information can still be available to researchers. 
      Data Vault Project -  aims to preserve and authenticate vital public government datasets by archiving data from sources like data.gov, federal GitHub repositories, and PubMed, making them accessible for research, policymaking, and public use. 

Data Rescue Project - The Data Rescue Project is a coordinated effort among a group of data organizations, including IASSIST, RDAP, and members of the Data Curation Network. Our goal is to serve as a clearinghouse for data rescue-related efforts and data access points for public US governmental data that are currently at risk. You can read more about our efforts on our Resources about the Data Rescue Project page.
       Data Rescue Tracker - is a collaborative tool built to catalog existing public data rescue efforts so that we can coordinate better across initiatives. At this stage, you can use the tool to help reduce duplication of rescue efforts. The Data Rescue Tracker aims to provide a consolidated overview of who is backing up which dataset from which government websites.
      Resources - There are many individuals, organizations, and community-based resources that document and assist with rescuing efforts. Below is the list of tools, data sources, library guides, and articles we are aware of and their associated scopes.
               Checklists for Data Rescue
             Tools for Data Rescue
             Existing Alternative Data Sources
                              - Economic Indicators
                              - Public Health 
              Library Guides to Data Rescue

In this post, I will discuss Scholarly Identity and ORCID ID.

Almost everyone has an identity online, but it's even more pronounced now that we have social media. Our identity can be positive or negative, depending on what we have shared about ourselves or what others have shared about us. As professionals, you will want to control that identity as much as possible. Your professional life may depend on it. For the past 15-20 years, employers have been checking social media to see what is posted about a prospective employee. They even check your credit and driving history. If you haven’t started taking control of the information out there about you, please start now. You don’t want to be turned down for your first-choice position because something negative is out there about you.

A definition of scholarly identity encompasses an individual's presence, reputation, and the way they are perceived within the academic world, shaped by their training, research interests, expertise, publications, and online presence.

Whether you are publishing to improve your CV for residency or for the love of research and publishing, an ORCID ID will help you.

A little story from my past: When I worked at Texas Biomedical Research Institute, the library kept track of everyone’s publications. Occasionally, we would get a PI (Principal Investigator) whose name was the same as another researcher at a different institution. This time, the name was the same, down to the middle name. Next, we would look at where they worked and what they were researching. Unfortunately, our new PI and the other person had worked in the same places, researching the same thing. We had to sit down with them, and they would pick out which citations were theirs. If that PI would have had an ORCID ID, all we would have needed was that ID. But that’s only if they had attached the ID to every citation they were a part of by adding the citations to their ORCID ID profile. So, you can see, the sooner you have an ORCID ID, the better. Attach it to your articles when you publish, your letters to the editor, your CV, and even your email signature.

What is ORCID ID?

https://orcid.org/

From the ORCiD site: “ORCiD, which stands for Open Researcher and Contributor ID, is a free, unique, persistent identifier (PID) for individuals to use as they engage in research, scholarship, and innovation activities. We provide ORCiD to researchers free of charge so that we may realize our vision of connecting all those who participate in research, scholarship, and innovation, ensuring they are uniquely identified and connected to their contributions across disciplines, borders, and time”. 

You create a profile on the ORCID website, linking your research activities, publications, grants, and other professional information.

It is very easy to sign up for an ORCID ID—it only takes a few minutes. There are over 16 million people listed on the ORCID site, spanning over 55 countries. You can enter information about Employment, Education and Qualifications, Professional Activities, Funding, and Works.

This is NOT sponsored or purchased by SOM, UIW Libraries or UIW. You can use whatever email and password you want.

I signed up for one, so you can see what it looks like.

PROS:

Author Disambiguation: 

ORCID IDs help distinguish researchers with common names, ensuring proper attribution of their work. 

Improved Discoverability: 

ORCID profiles can increase the visibility of research outputs, making it easier for others to find and connect with a researcher's work.

Lifelong Identifier: 

ORCID IDs are designed to remain consistent throughout a researcher's career, even if their name changes, or they move institutions.

Comprehensive Record: 

Researchers can use their ORCID profile to create a comprehensive list of their publications, datasets, and other research activities in one place. 

Integration with Other Systems: 

ORCID integrates with various platforms and databases, allowing for automatic updates and linking of research outputs.

Free and Easy to Use: 

ORCID is free for individuals to register and use, and the process is relatively straightforward. 

Control over Data: 

Researchers have control over the visibility and accessibility of their ORCID profile, choosing what information to share and with whom. 

CONS:

Interface Not User-Friendly: 

Some researchers find the ORCID interface to be not very user-friendly. 

Effort Required for Maintenance: 

Researchers need to actively maintain their ORCID profile by adding and updating information, which can be time-consuming. 

Not Always Required: 

While some publishers and funding agencies require ORCID IDs, not all do, so the benefits may not be universally applicable.

Potential for Data Privacy Concerns: 

Some researchers may have concerns about sharing their research data publicly, even with the privacy controls in place. 

May Not Be the Primary Search Method: 

Searches for a scholar's name or publication title on a search engine like Google may not display ORCID results prominently.

Fees for Institutions: 

While free for individuals, institutions may incur costs for ORCID membership. 

Below are an article and a chapter that provide more information on this topic:

Aguilar, S. J. (2018, July 26). Shaping a scholarly identity that helps you do what you want in academe (opinion). Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs. https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2018/07/26/shaping-scholarly-identity-helps-you-do-what-you-want-academe-opinion

Buljung, B. (2022, July 1). Scholarly identity. In Buljung, B., Bongiovanni, E., & Li, Y. (Eds.) Navigating the research lifecycle for the modern researcher. Pressbooks. https://pressbooks.pub/researchlifecycle/chapter/chapter-x-scholarly-identity/

Should you wish for me to present this topic, or any other, to your group or to you individually, please don't
hesitate to reach out. I would be glad to assist.  

Happy Searching! 

Dawn Field, Your UIWSOM Librarian

Finding alternative data websites for missing data.

Federal government websites have made changes to comply with the President's orders, effective January 31, 2025. Some data that you may have accessed previously may no longer be available. Due to federal funding, some state and local government websites may also have undergone changes.

You may see this banner or something similar across some of the government websites you visit.

Because many websites are being modified, it started me thinking about alternative places to find data you may have used or searched for in the past. I’m fortunate to have a network of librarians, including myself, who are exploring other avenues.

This is the link to the Data Sets tab currently on Medical Library homepage - https://libguides.uiwtx.edu/c.php?g=1323635&p=10788884

Here are some suggestions of non-government data alternatives (where you may locate the missing data):

Internet Archive Wayback Machine – I used terms like 'government,' 'health,' and 'data' in the  search box. If you have a specific website in mind, I recommend using the URL.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); PSNET (Patient Safety Network) – Has toolkits and measurement tools.

Harvard Dataverse – Has COVID-19 Data Collection and Medicine, Health and Life Sciences datasets.

ICPSR (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research – Find Data - Acts as a central repository for large-scale social science datasets. 

Kaggle Datasets – A popular platform for data science where users can find and share datasets, including many from government sources. 

Pew Research Center – Pew is a nonprofit organization that covers research topics that include Demographics & Politics, Political issues, Immigration and Migration, Race & Ethnicity, Religion, Gender & LGBTQ, and more. It also offers resources such         as Dataset Downloads, Survey Question Search, and the National Public Opinion Reference Survey.

UCLA Williams Institute - Data Collection
The Williams Institute produces research on several issues, including COVID-19, Demographics, Discrimination and Violence, Education, Economics and Poverty, Health and HIV/AIDS, Relationships and Parenting, and more. The Institute also provides data for key sub-populations, including older adults, people of color, same-sex couples, transgender people, and youth.

There is an article, along with three other external library (non UIW) websites, that you may find useful. 

The Journalist’s Resource: Article below has many helpful websites and archives.

Miller, N. S. (2025, February 3). As the US government removes health websites and data, here’s a list of nongovernment data alternatives and archives. Journalist’s Resource. https://journalistsresource.org/home/as-the-us-government-removes-health-websites-and-data-heres-a-list-of-non-government-data-alternatives/ (Downloaded February 10, 2025) 

American University, University Library – Government Information Data Rescue: 
The website contains many links to trusted repositories that have preserved U.S. government data. It also features Data Rescue Activist Tools.

Butler University Libraries – Alternative Sources for Archived Government Data:
The website includes a few new links of Government Health Information and Climate and Environmental Data Repositories that were not previously mentioned.

University of Minnesota Libraries – Finding Government Information during the 2025 Administration Transition:
The website includes additional information on Data & Website Rescue Efforts, Existing Alternative Data Sources, and Tools for Data Rescues.

If you would like to read the Executive Orders yourself, you can find them here:
https://www.federalregister.gov/presidential-documents/executive-orders/donald-trump/2025

As I come across additional websites, I will update this post.

If you’re having trouble finding what you’re looking for, please contact Dawn Field, SOM Librarian, and I’ll do my best to locate it for you.

If you’d like me to present this topic, or any other, to your group or individually, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I’d be happy to assist.

Happy Searching! 
Dawn Field, Your UIWSOM Librarian

It has come to my attention that some may not know about the free software that UIW Office of Teaching, Learning, & Technology provides.  For those conducting statistical analysis, SPSS is available for data analysis. Additionally, a wide range of other programs are accessible. Whether you are a student, staff member, or faculty, I encourage you to explore these valuable resources.

For Students - https://my.uiw.edu/tlt/available-software1/available-software-for-students.html

For Faculty and Staff - https://my.uiw.edu/tlt/available-software1/available-software-for-faculty-and-staff.html

Let's have some fun and name the Research Sidekick. Please send me suggestions. The picture is of a whimsical skeleton dressed as a doctor or researcher. Add your suggestion, your name and UIW email to the comments. I would like a first name and last name for our sidekick.

Thanks to all that participated. 
Winners:
1st place - Dr. Skully Spinewick by Phoebe Lay/Dr. Julie La Barba 
2nd place - Dr. Tibia Turner by Anna Ranabijuli
3rd place - Dr. Skelly Scholar by Amethyst Garcia 

Welcome to “The Research Sidekick”, the School of Osteopathic Medicine Library Blog. At least once a month, you will have a new post with topics concerning research whether you are faculty, staff, and/or students. I will post some useful tips that will assist you, but I would like to know what you want to see here. It can be for class research, faculty publications or everything in between. What do you find difficult or confusing about research? Please post your ideas or thoughts in the comment section.

Be sure to subscribe if you want to see what comes out next.

Look forward to working with you all,
Dawn Field, MSIS, AHIP
Medical Informatics Librarian

All logos and pictures were made by using AI, Google Gemini website. - https://gemini.google.com/app.