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After a rough few months, I was finally offered a tenure-track job this week (US, Computer Science). In those months I have formed a habit of checking my Google Scholar profile dozens of times a day. Whenever I have a free moment, my first instinct has become to pull up my Scholar profile. The hope for that tiny hit of dopamine (on getting a new citation) is taking away small chunks out of my day, and causing undue stress (such as when I don't see a citation I am expecting).

I don't like this feeling and I don't want to have to care about these metrics. The obvious solution is to get rid of my Scholar. The problem is, like I mentioned, I am starting on the tenure-track soon and I have heard that committees often consider Google Scholar metrics in their evaluations (eg. here).

I am hoping that others here might be able to give me a sense for the kind of impact deleting my Google Scholar might have on my career, and if there were ways to mitigate those risks if I were to go ahead with the deletion anyway.

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    There being a great diversity of colleges and universities in the US, please pick one of the following institutions (all in Michigan) that your new institution best resembles: Alma College, Cornerstone University, Kalamazoo College, Michigan Technological University, Saginaw Valley State University, University of Michigan, Western Michigan University. Commented 2 days ago
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    Dozens of time a day? Does GS even update profiles half as often? Commented 2 days ago
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    You might consider a browser add-on to block or delay that single webpage: DelayWebpage on Firefox or Delay on Chrome for instance. You set it up so that whenever you try to access a specific URL, it is delayed for (say) 30 seconds before it shows up. In my experience, that is enough to lose the habit of visiting a page too often. It has no impact on other URLs. Commented 2 days ago
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    I suspect that deleting or blocking one page would simply lead to you obsessively checking something else (perhaps Academia StackExchange?) -- at least that's how my brain tends to work. In other words, I don't think your approach will actually fix the underlying issue of lack of focus. (That said, I sympathize -- I think many of us have these sorts of issues.) Commented 2 days ago
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    You can probably get google scholar to mail you when you receive a new citation. Then you know the update automatically, and you also know that there is no point in checking, since scholar will tell you the same detail anyway. Does that work? Commented 2 days ago

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You write:

I don't want to have to care about these metrics... The problem is, like I mentioned, I am starting on the tenure-track soon...

You are going to have to care about these metrics (albeit on a much longer-term timeline) if you intend to get tenure. When you go up for promotion, you'll want to be able to show that you have many citable works and that they are indeed being cited. You may be asked to (or wish to) include such metrics in your personal statement or other parts of your tenure dossier.

But if you did delete your Google Scholar profile, what would be the actual downsides?
Honestly, probably not that huge.

  1. As @Significance said, it will be slightly harder for readers & reviewers to find your collected body of work.
  2. It will be slightly harder for you to look up your metrics when you prepare your tenure dossier.

And how to mitigate these downsides?

  1. Keep a clear, up-to-date personal website which lists all of your publications in one handy place, so readers and reviewers can easily find them. Or use another site/service to do this, such as ORCiD or ResearchGate.

  2. If you've deleted your Google Scholar profile, it will be harder for you to collect your own metrics via that particular site, but:

  • You'll still be able to cobble it together by looking up your papers individually there. (Deleting your profile won't delete those papers from Google Scholar, just prevent your name from linking all your papers together in one place.)
  • Or you might end up looking up your citation metrics on another site. Google Scholar is not the only one out there.

For that last reason alone, I don't really see the point of deleting your Google Scholar profile. If you did, you could still pivot to another site and obsess over that one instead.

But you're not me, and maybe you'd genuinely find it helpful to delete it. (Related but different example: I can't stop wasting time on social media on my home desktop, but I manage to completely avoid it on my work laptop. Go figure.) If so, knock yourself out.

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  • See my answer for an alternative which doesn't require OP actually deleting the thing. I believe you're being too cavalier in condoning that deletion. Commented 48 mins ago
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The question seems to be "should I delete this profile that may be professionally helpful in order to control my obsessive behavior?"

The answer is, of course, no, not if you can help it.

As a new faculty member there will be many stresses and many demands on your time. If obsessive behavior is a problem it needs to be addressed. Maybe through counseling, maybe through your institution or maybe outside. Maybe mindfulness (whatever that is), maybe letting off steam with your colleagues.

If you have a problem, deal with it. If it's a minor thing that gets you through the day then maybe it's not an issue. Decide which one of these is the case, as best you can.

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    Tough, but fair. I guess I can look into CBT? Commented 2 days ago
  • @principles-investigator I think it would be unwise for anyone, even (especially?) a licensed psychologist to answer that for you. Commented 2 days ago
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    @Ian I know that - but they won't do it on an anonymous website. Commented 2 days ago
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    @ÆzorÆhai-him- it was a rhetorical question. Commented 2 days ago
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    I don’t disagree with the overall conclusion, but I think this answer is a bit too dismissive of OP’s impulse to delete GS. Absolutely, the compulsive behaviour needs addressing more broadly — but blocking the stimulus can often be a very useful step in addressing a compulsive habit. Deleting an ex’s phone number, pouring one’s bottles down the sink, requesting a voluntary ban at the bookies… Not the whole solution, but potentially a good part of one. Commented yesterday
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To directly address "why is it a bad idea", we need to consider why a Google Scholar profile might be helpful to your career. When might people look you up on Google Scholar?

  • When they see one of your papers and want to see what else you have written on the topic. They are then more likely to read more of your work and cite it.
  • When they are assessing your grant proposal and want to check your track record. The grant format for your CV will have some info, but the Google Scholar profile makes it easier for them to look at your full body of work. If you don't have a Scholar proposal, some reviewers will look you up on Scopus instead, which might be less complete. Some will review the proposal on the merits of what is in front of them, as they should. Some will assume that no profile means you are hiding a weak track record.
  • When they are asked to review a paper you've submitted and they are making up their mind whether they want to. If they see you've published good work before, they are more likely to say yes. In the ideal world, each paper is assessed on its own merits, but in the real world, some reviewers don't want to spend time on papers that have a low chance of being good.
  • When you have made some public claim -- in a news article, for example -- and they want a quick way to assess your credibility on the matter. A relevant Scholar profile might enhance your credibility.
  • When they are obsessing over their own Google Scholar record and comparing themselves with peers or those ahead of themselves on the career ladder. This is neither to your advantage nor disadvantage.
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    Also: when they have to write a tenure or promotion letter on your behalf. Commented 16 hours ago
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Do NOT delete your google scholar. A plumber doesn't throw away his/her wrench.

I feel your problem is not with google scholar, but with obsessively checking. I can relate to this a little bit. I sometimes get into these "checking cycles" where I religiously check out a certain metric every day. For example for me I checked infection numbers during covid or now I check metrics regarding the US since the whole Trump deal started. At some point I get bored of checking these metrics and then it stops or I get into something else.

If it is a big problem, I think a therapist would be able to help with this. In your case self help might also suffice. Tips that apply to OCD would be helpful here, even if you don't have it. Checking your google scholar offers some relief from anxiety, but only temporarily. This temporary relief then inforces the behaviour. Identify where your anxiety is coming from and see if there are ways to reduce it.

Also the first google result for "obsessive online checking" gives some nice practical tips. Change them so they work for you personally. I like the friction one because it gives you time for your "conscious brain" to kick in and say "do I actually want to do this?"

  • Schedule "Checking" Windows: Instead of mindlessly opening apps all day, schedule specific 10-15 minute periods (e.g., at 10 AM, 1 PM, and 5 PM) to check emails, news, or social media. Outside of these times, close the tabs or put your phone on airplane mode.
  • Alter Your Environment: Make checking less frictionless. Turn off non-essential notifications, use website blockers for distracting sites, or keep your phone in another room while you are working.
  • Create Friction: Remove social media apps from your phone temporarily or set complex passwords that you have to type out manually, making the "impulse" harder to fulfill.
  • Replace the Behavior: When the urge hits, give your brain an alternative activity. Do a 5-minute stretch, get a glass of water, or step outside for a breath of fresh air.
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I don't like this feeling and I don't want to have to care about these metrics. The obvious solution is to get rid of my Scholar.

I wouldn't say that.

First, the obvious solution is emotional/psychological self-work. Even if you were to delete your Google Scholar somehow, that doesn't resolve the problem, it mostly avoids it. And it is not unlikely that you will develop some other obsessive behavior pattern to compensate. Also - I said self-work, but it is perfectly legitimate, and common, for academics to confide in a psychotherapist for issues regarding their career: Anxiety, fear of failure, impostor syndrome etc. Obsessing over Google Scholar is certainly something that an experienced professional, someone you can trust with more sensitive information than what you share on the Internet, may be able to help you with.

Second, if you want a "band-aid" for this particular pattern - try replacing the DNS record for scholar.google.com on your machine to direct the browser elsewhere (e.g. your own computer). That doesn't "solve" anything of course, but it makes it a bit more difficult to get there, which my allow you to resist the urge. See this page, for example, on how to do that, on Linux and on Windows. The obvious benefit is that other people can still see your Google Scholar page and there is no "career impact" whatsoever.

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