# Following research

### Page contents

* [Overview](#overview)
* [How to follow research items](#how-to-follow-research-items)
* [Managing and unfollowing research items](#managing-and-unfollowing-research-items)
* [Is my following activity public?](#is-my-following-activity-public)
* [When are items followed automatically?](#when-are-items-followed-automatically)

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

Following a research item, like a publication or a Q\&A post, means you will receive updates about new activity. For example, you'll be notified if an author adds a full-text to a publication or if a new answer is posted to a Q\&A discussion.

#### How to follow research items <a href="#how-to-follow-research-items" id="how-to-follow-research-items"></a>

**To follow a publication:**

1. Go to the publication's page.
2. Click the **More** button on the right-hand side.
3. Select **Follow** to get updates from the drop-down menu.

You can also follow a publication directly from your feed, search results, or a profile by clicking the **Follow** button beneath the author list or abstract preview.

**To follow a Q\&A post:**

On the question or discussion page, click the **Follow** button located directly under the post.

#### Managing and unfollowing research items <a href="#managing-and-unfollowing-research-items" id="managing-and-unfollowing-research-items"></a>

**To view or manage the items you follow:**

* Visit the [Following tab](https://www.researchgate.net/go.Profile.interest.html?pli=1) on your profile. This is where you can keep track of all the research items, journals, and people you follow.

**To unfollow an item:**

Go to the specific publication or Q\&A post page and click the **Following** button. Clicking it again will immediately unfollow the item.

#### Is my following activity public? <a href="#is-my-following-activity-public" id="is-my-following-activity-public"></a>

Yes, in most cases, your activity is public:

* **Individual Items:** When you follow a publication or Q\&A post, your follow is publicly visible. It may be shown in others' home feeds or on the research item itself.
* **Your profile's Following Tab:** When others view your profile's [Following tab](https://www.researchgate.net/go.Profile.interest.html?pli=1), they can see lists of people and journals you follow, and people who follow you. However, individual research items and Q\&A posts are not displayed publicly on this tab.

#### When are items followed automatically? <a href="#when-are-items-followed-automatically" id="when-are-items-followed-automatically"></a>

Some items are followed automatically to improve your ResearchGate experience and keep you informed:

* **Full-Text Requests:** If you request a full-text for a research item, you will automatically follow it.
* **Q\&A Activity:** You automatically follow any question or discussion that you post, comment on, recommend, or share.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://help.researchgate.net/getting-started/following-research.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.