Holding the First Training Course for Faculty Members of the Faculty of Architecture and Art at Kashan University on Enhancing Research Identity

In line with enhancing the research capabilities of faculty members, increasing the visibility of scientific activities, and organizing the research information of researchers, the first course in a series of training sessions for faculty members of the Faculty of Architecture and Art at Kashan University was held under the title "Completing and Enhancing Faculty Research Profiles on Google Scholar and Familiarization with the Kashan University Scientometrics System."

Dr. Babak Alami, the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Art at Kashan University, emphasized the importance of strengthening research infrastructure and enhancing faculty members. He stated that under current conditions, scientific production can only have a more significant impact when, in addition to conducting valuable research, the processes of documenting, introducing, analyzing, and utilizing scientific achievements are carried out precisely and professionally. Completing research profiles plays a crucial role in showcasing the scientific capacities of the university and increasing researchers' presence in national and international scientific spaces.

He added that this course is the first program in a series of specialized training sessions designed and implemented to enhance the research skills of faculty members, familiarize them with scientific information databases, utilize research analysis tools, and improve research processes in the Faculty of Architecture and Art.

This training course was conducted by Dr. Mostafa Bagh Mirani, an expert in research empowerment from the Faculty of Architecture and Art. In this course, he introduced the concept of research identity and its main components, discussed topics related to creating and completing research profiles on Google Scholar, managing scientific works, bibliometric indicators, and the role of modern research tools in increasing the visibility of researchers' scientific activities.

In this workshop, the concept of research identity and its role in introducing and developing researchers' scientific status were highlighted. It was emphasized that a researcher’s identity is not limited to the number of articles but is a collection of their organized presence in reputable scientific databases and networks, which facilitates better identification, introduction, and evaluation of scientific activities.

In this context, five main components of research identity were introduced: Google Scholar, ORCID, Scopus Author ID, Web of Science Researcher Profile, and scientific research networks such as ResearchGate. The role of each in increasing visibility, managing scientific achievements, and developing research communications was explained.

Subsequently, topics related to the structure and capabilities of Google Scholar, creating and completing research profiles, standardizing researcher information, managing scientific works, and using bibliometric indicators were presented.

Among the topics discussed in this course were:
• Familiarization with the structure and capabilities of Google Scholar;
• Creating, completing, and optimizing research profiles;
• Standardizing researcher names and organizational affiliations;
• Selecting specialized keywords and introducing research areas;
• Adding and managing scientific articles, books, book chapters, theses, and research projects;
• Correcting information and removing duplicates in research profiles;
• Familiarization with bibliometric indicators including citation counts, h-index, and i10-index;
• Strategies to increase the visibility of researchers' scientific activities.

Given the nature of architecture and art disciplines, it was emphasized in this meeting that accurately registering and displaying all types of scientific achievements—including articles, books, book chapters, research projects, specialized projects, interdisciplinary studies, and other scientific-artistic activities—plays a vital role in presenting a comprehensive picture of the research capabilities of faculty members.

Additionally, another part of this program introduced the Kashan University Scientometrics System and explained its capabilities in monitoring faculty members' scientific activities, analyzing research indicators, and displaying researchers' scientific achievements. At the end of this meeting, it was decided that faculty members of the Faculty of Architecture and Art should complete and update their research profiles on Google Scholar as well as complete their research information in the ISC section of the Kashan University Scientometrics System so that researchers' scientific data can be recorded, monitored, and utilized more accurately.

Dr. Alami further mentioned that future specialized courses will be held for faculty members and graduate students at the Faculty of Architecture and Art aimed at enhancing research skills, familiarizing them with modern scientific tools, and strengthening international publication capabilities for their research.

He added: Among these programs, training on working with reputable international citation databases such as Scopus and Web of Science (WOS), familiarization with the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) ranking system, and understanding the status of reputable scientific journals can be mentioned.

The Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Art at Kashan University continued: There will also be courses aimed at empowering faculty members and graduate students in publishing scientific articles in English. In these courses, topics such as familiarization with reputable journals indexed in JCR, understanding the characteristics of credible scientific journals, examining journals with suitable peer review processes and a high acceptance rate, and introducing reputable journals that do not charge publication fees (No APC Journals) will be discussed so that researchers can select appropriate journals for publishing their scientific achievements with a more precise understanding.

He also referred to the training program on using the Gigalib database and stated: Familiarizing faculty members and graduate students with this database and how to access scientific articles, theses, and English books will be among the other planned programs in this series of courses.

Dr. Alami continued: One of the goals of holding these courses is to improve the method of compiling research backgrounds in theses and research proposals, so that researchers can identify main research trends, scientific gaps, under-researched topics, and new research opportunities using bibliometric analyses and mapping knowledge instead of traditional and scattered literature reviews.

He noted: In these courses, the use of specialized bibliometric software such as VOSviewer and Biblioshiny for analyzing and displaying scientific networks, examining the structure of knowledge in various fields, identifying influential researchers and works, analyzing thematic trends, and assisting in research policy-making will be taught.

This educational program marks the beginning of a series of specialized training courses at the Faculty of Architecture and Art at Kashan University, designed to empower faculty members and graduate students, develop the use of modern research tools, and enhance the scientific standing of the university on national and international platforms.