To start connecting and collaborating with researchers around the world:
- Go to www.researchgate.net
- Click Join for free
- Select which type of researcher you are
- Enter your name, institutional email address, and choose a password
- To finish creating your account, you will need to click the link in the activation email you receive.
My email address isn’t recognized. Can I still sign up?
ResearchGate is a professional network where scientists and researchers can share and access scientific content, knowledge, and expertise. We ask that you sign up with your institutional email address so that we can verify that you are a researcher – you can always change it after sign-up.
If you have an institutional email address that we don’t recognize, please follow the normal registration procedure to request an account. The request will be sent to us for manual processing.
If you’re a published researcher or in higher education but don’t have an institutional email address, we’re happy to consider your account request. Please contact us with a detailed description of your present and past institutional affiliations, field of research, and publications, or a copy of your student ID - preferably with supporting links. Please send all relevant information in your initial message, otherwise, your request could be delayed or even denied.
If you’re not a researcher you can still browse ResearchGate and discover content such as publications, jobs, and questions without being registered.
Why has my account request been denied?
If your account request has been unsuccessful, this means that we are having trouble confirming that you are a researcher. ResearchGate is a professional network for researchers, which means that membership is reserved for those who are involved in scientific research. If you feel your membership request was denied by mistake, you can try submitting more information. Here are some examples of what we consider as proof of research:
- Authoring peer-reviewed scientific or academic publications
- Presenting at a scientific conference
- Being registered as the inventor of a patent
- Evidence of research activity in commercial R&D
- A scanned copy of your current student or academic ID, or PhD enrollment certificate
Please also include your full name, and do not send a CV.
Why haven't I received the activation email?
If you haven’t received your activation email within 24 hours you can try the following:
- Make sure the email did not end up in your junk mail folder
- Check all of your email folders (some email clients have an automatic filtering option where emails can be sent to different types of folders and are easily hidden)
- Add ResearchGate to your address book (find out how here)
- Contact your email administrator to ensure all emails from @researchgate.net and @researchgatemail.net can be received (for more information see Managing your email settings)
Once you’ve tried all of the above options, you can request another activation email here. Please fill in your email address, and click Submit. You should receive a new activation email within 5 minutes. If you have requested the activation email multiple times, please note only the latest link will be active. If you've tried all of these options and still haven't received the email, please contact us.
What can I do if the link in my activation email doesn't work?
Links in emails can often be blocked by the security settings of your email client, such as Outlook or Apple Mail. Normally, there is an option at the top of the email to allow links or pictures from the sender address. If there isn't, there is most likely a security setting that must be changed in your email client.
We also suggest that you add ResearchGate to your address book to prevent this from happening in the future. You can find out how to do this here.
As a workaround, you can also forward the activation email to any other email account you own which is not experiencing this issue, and click on the link there.
How can I change my login email address?
It is possible to use a deactivated email address to log in to your ResearchGate account, as long as you can remember your ResearchGate password. This is how you can change the email address associated with your ResearchGate account:
- Log in to ResearchGate using your current login email address
- Select your profile image at the top right-hand side of any page
- Select Settings, and then Account settings
- Under Email address, click Add additional email
- Type in the email address you want to use as your primary login email and enter in your password
- Click Add
- A confirmation email will be sent to your new email address. Click the link in this email to complete the verification process. If you encounter an error message "Oops! We couldn't find that token in our database", please make sure you are using the link in the latest email, as all previous links are invalidated. Check your spam folder and filters if you can't find any others.
- Then go back to your Account settings
- Click the Set as primary button next to the email address you've just added to make it the primary email address for your ResearchGate account.
What should I do if I entered the wrong email address during signup?
If you signed up with an incorrect email address, please sign up again with the correct email. We cannot change the email address associated with your signup. You may need to clear your cookies in order to sign up again.
Can I access ResearchGate content without an account?
We strongly believe that scientific results should be accessible to everyone. That's why you're still welcome to browse ResearchGate and discover content such as publications, jobs, and discussions if you aren't a researcher without being registered. Just go to Publications, Jobs, or Questions.