FAQs for Group Leaders

Here are a few common questions we receive from leaders and administrators of groups currently on Sosido. Any other questions? Email us at contact@sosido.com

 

How do we update our group’s member list on Sosido and what data fields do you require?

To update your group’s members on Sosido, please forward a spreadsheet of your members (Excel, .csv or Google Sheets) with the following data fields.

If the spreadsheet is in an Excel or .csv format, please email as an attachment to tanis@sosido.com. For security purposes, we suggest you add a password to the spreadsheet before emailing. If the spreadsheet is in Google Sheets, you can share the file with tanis@sosido.com.

Required fields are marked in bold with an asterisk (*). The other fields are helpful if you track the information.

  • Email address (jsmith@ahs.ca)*
  • Title (Dr.)
  • First Name (Jane)*
  • Middle Initial (B.)
  • Last Name (Smith)*
  • Credentials (MSc, MD)
  • Job Title and/or Department (Hematologist, Pediatric Oncology)
  • Institution/Centre (Alberta Children’s Hospital)*
  • City (Edmonton)*
  • Province/State (AB)
  • Country (Canada)*
When/how often should we update our group’s member list on Sosido?

We recommend sending membership updates to Sosido twice per year.

The exact timing is up to you, but we’d suggest a schedule something like the one below. (This schedule assumes your group’s membership year ends December 31st; if you have a different membership year, please adjust accordingly.)

> Update #1 at the end of your renewal period (e.g. May or June): Once your membership drive is over for the year and almost all renewals are in, send to Sosido a list of all current members (all members who have paid their dues for the current year, including new members and renewed members). At this time, we will compare your list to the members currently on Sosido, add any new members, and lapse (change from member to follower) any members who have not renewed.

> Update #2 for late renewals (e.g. October or November): Send to Sosido a list of only those members who have joined or renewed since the last update was sent at the close of your renewal period.

If your group doesn’t have a set membership year (e.g., no membership dues or deadline for renewal) then you can send us your updates whenever it works for you. We still recommend updates a couple times per year, but that’s not a strict rule, and you can pick the timing.

What’s the difference between a “member” and a “follower” on Sosido?

A member is a current, full member of your group. Members have full access to your group’s community on Sosido; their publications will be automatically tracked and featured in your group’s email digest, and they will have access to your group’s private discussion forum on Sosido. Members are added to your group only at your request or with your permission.

A follower is an individual on Sosido who is following the work of your group on Sosido, but is not a full/current member of your group. They may have been members of your group in the past (changed from a member to a follower when they did not renew), or they may be members of other groups on Sosido who have chosen to follow the work of your group. Followers receive the weekly Sosido email digest with your group’s news and notices, member publications and articles from journal sources. Followers do not have their own publications tracked or featured in your group’s email digest, and they do not have access to your group’s discussion forum.

How do we get our group’s news and updates featured at the top of our Sosido email digests?

Many of our groups feature news and updates for their members at the top of the weekly email digests. These are pulled automatically from your group’s blog, website or Twitter feed, so when you post or tweet, the updates are automatically featured in the digests.

If you would like to add your group’s news and updates to your Sosido digest, please email us at contact@sosido.com.

Our group’s news and updates are featured in the Sosido digests. What is the deadline for posting to make sure our posts are included in this week’s Sosido digest?

Sosido email digests are sent out between Tuesday and Thursday each week.

If your group’s news and updates are being pulled into Sosido and featured in the email digests (as described above), you will need to post your content on your blog/website/twitter (wherever we are pulling the content from) no later than Tuesday 9:00 am Pacific Time (5:00 pm GMT) in order to have your content featured in this week’s digest.

If you’re posting close to the deadline, and you want to be sure your post/tweet makes it into this week’s digest, send us an email. We’ll make sure it’s included.

Can we change our group’s default journal feeds in the Sosido email digests?

Yes, you can change your group’s default journal feeds at any time.

When your group first launched on Sosido, we worked with your group leaders to determine a few (4-5) default journal/knowledge feeds that all of your group members will receive in their Sosido email digests. You can remove or add default journal feeds at any time. If you’d like a list of the default feeds currently set for your group, or you’d like to change the default feeds, email us at contact@sosido.com.

Please note that individual members can change their feeds to customize their digests to suit their own interests. They can remove default feeds and add other journal feeds available to them from the Sosido feed library.

How does a member of our group get a password for Sosido?

Sosido members can set or reset their password instantly online anytime:

Step 1: Go to sosido.com/users/password/new

Step 2: Enter their email address. (If they have multiple email addresses, use the email address which their Sosido email digests are sent to.)

Step 3: An email will be sent to their inbox. (Check the spam box too.) They will click on the link in the email to set or reset their password.

One of our group’s members is trying to set their password for Sosido, but the system isn’t recognizing their email address.

This could be for a couple reasons:

  • Maybe we don’t have a Sosido account set up for them yet. Has the member recently joined your group? Feel free to forward us the member’s details – we’ll check and expedite the setup of their account.
  • Maybe their Sosido account is set up under a different email address. (Check which email address their Sosido email digests are being sent to – that’s the email address on their Sosido account.)

We’re happy to help. Email us at contact@sosido.com.

Do our group’s members have to set their password in order to receive the weekly Sosido email digests or have their publications featured?

No. Even if they don’t set their password on Sosido, your members will still receive the weekly email digests, and their publications will still be tracked and featured for your group.

Your members will have to set their Sosido password/log in to access your group’s discussion forum on Sosido, or to customize their email digests (e.g. change their journal feeds or follow other groups of interest).

One of our group’s members has notified us that their publication was not featured in the Sosido email digest.

Sosido automatically picks up articles authored by your group’s members as soon as the article is indexed on PubMed. If Sosido misses a publication, it might be because:

  • The author is not a current member of your group on Sosido. (Perhaps they have not renewed, or they have recently renewed and Sosido’s member list has not yet been updated.)
  • The publication is not indexed on PubMed. If the journal that the article is published in usually indexes on PubMed, it might just be a few days too early (as soon as the article is indexed on PubMed, our automatic scans will pick it up). If the journal that the article is published in does not usually index its articles on PubMed, then our automatic scans will not pick up the article – we are happy to add those articles to Sosido manually.
  • There might be an error in Sosido’s search algorithm for that member. This is a rare occurence – we pride ourselves on our search algorithms 🙂 – but if it happens, we’ll fix it right away.

Please forward us the inquiry with a link to the article online, and let us know whether the individual is a current member of your group. We’ll investigate, fix, and follow up with the member.

How can our group’s members access the full text of articles they see on Sosido?

Sosido provides the article title, authors, abstract and a link to access the full-text article on the journal site. However (unless the journal has published the article as “open access” or “free full text”) Sosido is prevented by the journal paywalls from posting the full text of articles.

Here are a few ways that members can access the full text of an article:

  • First, check the journal site to see if the article is open access (the journal will label the article as “Open Access” or “Free Full Text”, and will provide the full text in HTML and/or downloadable PDF).
  • If they have an individual subscription to the journal, they can log in to the journal site with their subscription details.
  • They can request a copy of the article through their hospital/university library.
  • If the article is authored by a colleague/member of your group, they can request a copy of the article directly from the author. (Many journals allow authors to share their article directly with colleagues.)
  • Purchase the article through the journal site.
I have more questions. How do I reach you?

We’d love to hear from you. Please email us at contact@sosido.com and we’ll get back to you right away.

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