ResearchGate

ResearchGate is a social networking platform for scientists and researchers that enables members to share publications, discover research, and collaborate with peers. The site combines profile pages, manuscript uploads, and a range of interaction tools to facilitate communication and dissemination of scholarly work. Founded in 2008 by Ijad Madisch, Sören Hofmayer, and Horst Fickenscher, the platform is headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and operates worldwide.

Users create profiles detailing their affiliations, publications, and research interests. They can upload papers, figures, datasets, and methods, request or provide full texts, and participate in discussion threads, Q&A, and project collaborations. ResearchGate also provides discovery features, citations and reads metrics, and a user-driven feed to follow topics, authors, and ongoing projects. A notable but controversial feature is the RG Score, a composite metric intended to measure scientific reputation based on activity on the site; its methodology has been criticized for not aligning with traditional scholarly impact measures.

Access to content is governed by copyright; open-access materials may be shared where permissions allow, while publisher policies may restrict distribution. Researchers can contact authors directly through the platform to request copies of articles not freely available. The platform is free to use for individual researchers, with revenue drawn from advertising, data services, and enterprise partnerships.

Critics have raised concerns about privacy, data use for commercial purposes, and the reliability of on-site metrics. Proponents argue that ResearchGate increases visibility, accelerates collaboration, and helps researchers locate relevant work. Overall, it remains a prominent, if sometimes debated, component of the academic social landscape.