Shameless spam from ACS publications

Occasionally I scan my Junk Mail folder because sometimes useful email does turn up. In amongst all the spam from Linked In, ResearchGate, administrators, Nigerian widows, conferences and journals I have never heard of... there was an email from American Chemical Society (ACS) Publications.

In the world of networked science, it isn't enough to be published — you have to be found.

Optimizing your papers for search isn't a skill taught in grad school. Ensure your research gets found by the right people. Download your free guide: Writing Scientific Manuscripts for the Digital Age. Your research is important. Help it get the impact it deserves.

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Guide Highlights:

• Optimizing your keywords and visuals for search
• The abstract: importance of your mini-manuscript
• Selecting the optimal journal to publish your research
• Broadening your reach with social media
• Measuring the influence of your article

This sounded great. I also thought it might be good blog fodder. 

First the catch: you can't directly access the article. When you click on the link there is a request for your email address and name.

They then send you an email giving you a link to the actual article.

I must say I was very disappointed. 

The "article" is really just a shameless marketing blurb for ACS journals and social media.

I found no real useful tips beyond the obvious: include keywords that may show up in searches in your title and abstract.