We take personal data policies very seriously. For more information, read our Privacy Policy.
How much information is visible on my profile?
ResearchGate gives you the option to choose how much of your information is displayed – both publicly and to other ResearchGate members. To customize who sees what, follow these steps:
- Go to your Privacy Settings
- Select the drop-down menu underneath Your research
- Choose who can see your Researcher info by selecting Everyone, ResearchGate members (including recruiters) or Mutual followers
- The settings will be updated automatically.
Is my ResearchGate profile visible to search engines?
When you sign up to ResearchGate your public page is automatically enabled, so most of your profile information will be visible to search engines. To manage your public page:
- Go to your Privacy Settings and scroll to the section Your public profile
- Choose whether you want to enable or disable your public page
- You can also choose whether your profile photo and questions and answers are displayed on your public page
- Your changes will be saved automatically.
My profile isn’t appearing in search engines
ResearchGate pages are automatically visible in search engines. However, due to the speed that search engines manage and index changes to web pages, it can sometimes take a while for public ResearchGate profiles to appear in search results.
My profile is still appearing in search engines
It can often take a few weeks for public profiles to disappear from search engines due to the speed they manage and index changes to web pages. However, as the original page has been removed from ResearchGate, any URLs shown in web search results will instead redirect to a generic ResearchGate page, as per our policy.
Who can see my contact details?
Only your mutual followers (researchers who are following you and you’re following back) can see your personal contact details, including address and phone numbers.
How can I block someone on ResearchGate?
You can block a ResearchGate member through these steps:
- Go to the profile of the researcher you want to block
- Select the three dots on the right-hand side of the page and select Block researcher from the dropdown menu.
When you block a ResearchGate member, they won't be able to follow you or message you. Blocking works both ways, so your contact with them will be limited in the same way.
ResearchGate members that you've blocked will see limited updates about your activity. Except for co-authors, who'll still get updates about your shared publications.
Note: ResearchGate members that you block will not be notified that you blocked them.
Email address security
It is our policy to never share email addresses used on our site with external parties. The only way this could have happened through ResearchGate is if you made your email address publicly available on your profile, e.g. in your About me section, or if it features on a full-text that has been made public. We use email addresses associated with your account only to send you ResearchGate-related emails.
How do I log out of ResearchGate?
You can log out of ResearchGate in two simple steps:
- Click on your profile image on the top right-hand corner of any page
- Click Log out.
To log back in to your ResearchGate account, visit researchgate.net.
Security Settings
ResearchGate is committed to ensuring the security of your account. We notify you of all logins to your account that look out of the ordinary. This can happen when you sign in for the first time from a new device, use your browser's private browsing function, or if someone else gained access to your account. For more information about security and privacy on ResearchGate, see Security and privacy.
On the Security Settings tab of your Settings, you can review a list of all the devices which logged into your account, along with the time, date, and approximate location.
Why am I receiving these notifications?
You will be sent an email if an attempt was made to log into your account from a device you haven't used before. Clicking on Recently used devices in the email takes you to your Security Settings, where you can review all logins to your account.
How do I turn on/off these notifications?
- Go to your Security Settings
- Check or uncheck the box under Email login alerts
How do I log out of a device?
The Other devices section of your Security Settings shows you a list of devices and browsers that have been used to log in to your ResearchGate account recently. Each entry includes the date, time, and approximate location when logging in, as well as the type of device used to access your account.
To log out of ResearchGate on another computer, phone, or tablet:
- Go to your Security Settings
- Find the session you want to log out from, click on it, and select Log out
Note: This will only log you out of the session on that particular device. Any sessions which are grayed out are already logged out.
I don't recognize a login
If you ever receive a login alert from an unfamiliar browser or location, follow the instructions here to reset your password and secure your account.