Researchers' judgment criteria of high-quality answers on academic social Q&A platforms

Abstract

Purpose

Through a two-stage survey, this paper examines how researchers judge the quality of answers on ResearchGate Q&A, an academic social networking site.

Design/methodology/approach

In the first-stage survey, 15 researchers from Library and Information Science (LIS) judged the quality of 157 answers to 15 questions and reported the criteria that they had used. The content of their reports was analyzed, and the results were merged with relevant criteria from the literature to form the second-stage survey questionnaire. This questionnaire was then completed by researchers recognized as accomplished at identifying high-quality LIS answers on ResearchGate Q&A.

Findings

Most of the identified quality criteria for academic answers—such as relevance, completeness, and verifiability—have previously been found applicable to generic answers. The authors also found other criteria, such as comprehensiveness, the answerer's scholarship, and value-added. Providing opinions was found to be the most important criterion, followed by completeness and value-added.

Originality/value

The findings here show the importance of studying the quality of answers on academic social Q&A platforms and reveal unique considerations for the design of such systems.

Citation

Li, L., Zhang, C., He, D. and Du, J.T. (2020), "Researchers' judgment criteria of high-quality answers on academic social Q&A platforms", Online Information Review, Vol. 44 No. 3, pp. 603-623. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-05-2019-0186