# Contacting other researchers

### Page contents

* [Overview](#overview)
* [How to send a private message](#how-to-send-a-private-message)
* [How to delete a private message conversation](#how-to-delete-a-private-message-conversation)
* [How to contact another researcher when not a member](#how-to-contact-another-researcher-when-not-a-member)

#### Overview <a href="#overview" id="overview"></a>

ResearchGate's private messaging feature is a great way to communicate with your peers and colleagues. You can use it to stay in touch with relevant researchers, share interesting findings, discuss your work, and even connect with potential collaborators.

#### How to send a private message <a href="#how-to-send-a-private-message" id="how-to-send-a-private-message"></a>

At ResearchGate, we want to ensure that interactions between our members remain professional and useful. To protect your privacy and reduce unwanted messages, we have limited the messaging feature: you can only send a private message to people who follow you.

If you are followed by the researcher you wish to contact, you have two ways to send a message:

1. **From your Messages inbox:**
   1. Click the envelope icon at the top right-hand side of any page.
   2. Select **Send message** at the top right-hand corner of the dropdown menu.
   3. Compose your message.
2. **From a researcher's profile:**
   1. Go to the profile page of the researcher you'd like to message.
   2. Click the **Message** button to compose your message.

Note: Private messages are only visible to the sender and recipient

#### How to delete a private message conversation <a href="#how-to-delete-a-private-message-conversation" id="how-to-delete-a-private-message-conversation"></a>

To delete a conversation from your inbox:

1. Click the envelope icon at the top right-hand side of any ResearchGate page and then click **View all**.
2. Click on the conversation you would like to delete to open it.
3. Click on the three dots you see above the message thread.
4. You will have the options to **Archive conversation** or **Delete conversation**. Select **Delete conversation**.

#### How to contact another researcher when not a member <a href="#how-to-contact-another-researcher-when-not-a-member" id="how-to-contact-another-researcher-when-not-a-member"></a>

For privacy reasons, messaging on ResearchGate is only available to logged-in members. We are unable to share the personal contact details of any researcher, nor can we forward messages to them on your behalf.

If you are a researcher and would like to join the community, you can sign up [here](https://www.researchgate.net/signup.SignUp.html).


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