Symplectic Elements for publication management

*** Login to Symplectic Elements with your Raven ID here: http://ref.cam.ac.uk/ ***

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*** Symplectic Elements Quick Start Guide: https://ref.cam.ac.uk/resources/quick_start.pdf ***

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Symplectic publication data - update April 2011

A database of publications from the department has been assembled using the Symplectics system, and is available to the department on http://www-library.ch.cam.ac.uk/publications/ protected by a Raven password.

A trial version of this data has been generated for the new Research Interest Groups' webpages, and is available on http://www-jmg.ch.cam.ac.uk/cinf/rig/

A picture may be added for any publication with a doi on this site. Instructions for doing this are available here: http://www-library.ch.cam.ac.uk/wiki/index.php/Publication_pictures

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A new tool for collection and management of your research publications is now available.

Dept of Chemistry is participating in the university implementation of Symplectic Elements - a management tool which will provide a convenient and easy way for academic and research staff to maintain an up-to-date publications list.

A series of databases, including the Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus, are automatically searched for new papers. An e-mail is generated whenever a new publication is found, inviting you to approve or decline the inclusion of the new publication. It is also possible to add papers before they reach these databases. Once a paper has been claimed, it is counted as a research output, and added to the citation counts which are kept up to date automatically.

A presentation will take place on Wednesday, 19 January at 11.00 am in the Todd Hamied meeting room providing more information, an opportunity for questions and to activate the e-mail notification process. However the system is working now, and papers are already available for approval. All academic staff and post-docs are included in the system and you should be able to log on with your Raven ID and password to http://ref.cam.ac.uk/

The default search setting is for last name and initials. Further search settings, such as address, can be added to distinguish between frequently occurring names. Follow the link to pending publications from your summary page. (Select article checkbox and 'view details' if you would like to see the full record.) Publications can by approved or declined individually by clicking on the green tick or the red cross. Alternatively, select a number of publications and accept (or decline) by clicking on the tick (or cross) at the head of the list.

User tips and frequently asked questions (expanded March 2011)

WARNING 16 March 2011: Current incompatibility issue with Internet Explorer 9 may block management of publications. A patch is expected soon. Earlier versions of IE and other browsers are unaffected.

Q: My publication displays as a journal article - is it possible to change this?

A: Click on publication type 'Journal Article' in publication header bar. Choose the new type from drop-down menu, then click on save.
Examples other options: Book, Chapter, Conference, Patent, Report, Software, Other, Internet publication, Poster, Thesis ......

Shortcut for Cambridge co-authors of manually-added publications.

As book chapters are not indexed these must be added manually. However, it is not necessary for all the Cambridge co-authors of a book chapter to add the record individually to their own list.
Once the publication is in the approved list of one of the authors that author may identify other Cambridge authors in the Symplectic database.
Select 'Chapters' in publications list. The summary will display all authors. Select 'Cambrige users' tab to add Cambridge co-authors. As you start to type the surname suggested names will appear. Click on the blue plus sign to add the relevant author. The record will go immediately to the pending box of that author awaiting approval.

Q: Can I login to Symplectic Elements offsite?

A: Yes, it is possible to login to Symplectic Elements at http://ref.cam.ac.uk/ from any computer with an internet connection using your Raven ID and password.

Q: How often does Symplectic Elements search for publications?

A: A search is made every 2 weeks. However, if you change your settings an additional search will be made within an hour.

Q: Q: How can I speed up the approval process?

A: You can approve or decline in batches (ie one page at a time) rather than individually.

After selecting a number of publications on a page click on tick or cross at the top of the list before moving to next page or your selection will be lost.
It is possible to change the displayed number of publications per page which may speed up selection further. This applies to current session only and will revert to default setting of 10 per page after logging out.

From summary page follow link to 'pending publications'. On 'Publications- pending' page you will see the 'View' window at top of page.

Click on plus (expand this section) sign next to 'Unfiltered' at bottom of this window. There is an option to change the results per page display from 10 to 25, 50 or 100.

This will need to be reset at the start of a new session.

Q: All my papers haven't been found - what can I do?

A: If you have published at other institutions these will need to be added to the search settings.

On your summary page click on "search settings".
Click on plus sign next to "Default search terms".
In address field select "switch to advanced view". You will see that the search term "Cambridge" appears in quotation marks. In this box you can add any number of search terms in quotation marks (this ensures phrase searching). There is an implied 'OR' between these terms which will appear after you save them. Make sure that you enter search terms in the same way they appear in your publications.

Also consider whether your name has appeared differently in any of your publications. You can add variations in the 'name variants' field.

Q: How can I track citations of my publications?

A: You can download a spreadsheet of all information for PUBLICATIONS YOU HAVE ACCEPTED. This includes bibliographic information, citation counts, data source (eg WOS, PubMed, Scopus), journal impact factor. All this information is updated automatically so that you can easily track your citations.

On your summary page you will see your approved journal articles. Next to this in the 'Export' column click on the 'CSV/Excel' link to download this spreadsheet. The database synchronises citation counts for Web of Science and Scopus every hour so every time you export your approved articles file you will receive the latest information.

Your H index (using data from Web of Science only) is on your user profile page.

Q: My paper is in Web of Science but Symplectic doesn't display WOS as a datasource. Can I change this?

A: Consider whether you may have declined it. Records from different databases will not be merged if there are significant differences and the publication will be listed twice.
Select 'My elements' -> Publications.
Select declined publications list. If found click on green tick to accept publication.
If necessary search for a particular title by filtering by title (click on plus sign next to 'unfiltered' to open search page).

The 2 entries can be merged manually to capture all database information in one entry as follows.
Search for title in approved list by filtering as above. 2 titles should be retrieved.
Add both titles to the workspace (tag icon with green plus sign). The number next to the workspace icon at top of page will show the number of titles in the workspace. Click on this to open workspace. Select titles and click on the green arrows to join the selected publications.

Q: I use reference manager software can I import from this?

A: If you have a RefManager or Endnote database of publications it is possible to import this list into Symplectic Elements as an RIS file. A .bib (BibTeX)file may also be imported. However, it is not possible to import a Word or Excel file.

It is possible for your pending file to be reset by the system administrator before importing your library - please contact the Librarian if you would like to do this.

Then import as follows:

Export a .RIS or .bib file of your publications from your database. Upload this to Symplectic Elements via your home screen. Select 'My elements' ->'Import'.

A new window will open prompting you to browse for a file to import. Select Reference Manager/ Endnote or BibTeX -> Upload

This list should go straight into your approved file.

The next regular search will take place on 29 Jan so you may want to wait until after that date to reset your pending file to avoid repopulating it if you have not had time to import your own library.

If you have already approved some publications you will be asked whether the system should merge any duplicate records.

Q: I only have my publications in a Word/Excel file are there any other shortcuts?

A: It is possible to search on Web of Science and export results to your computer as a BibTeX file. Then follow instructions above for importing the .bib file into Symplectic.

Q: I don't have time to check my pending file can someone do it for me?

A: It is possible to delegate another individual to accept and decline publications on your behalf.

You can add a delegate yourself if that person is already on the database. If not the librarian can arrange for the name to be added. Please contact: library@ch.cam.ac.uk