What is a publication page and what is a full-text?
A publication page is a page created either by a user or by ResearchGate using publicly available information. When created, publication pages contain information about particular content (e.g. the title and author names), but no full-text.
Generally speaking, a full-text is a full, readable version of the publication. Normally, proprietary full-text content can only be added to a publication page by an author. If a publication has multiple authors, any of those authors can upload content to the publication page. Publication pages can also contain more than one piece of content. This can happen because, for example, an author chooses to upload different versions of the work or other related content. In that sense, a publication page operates merely as a container for content.
Although only one full-text is displayed on a publication page at a time, there may be other full-texts available. If more than one full-text is available on a publication page, the total number of full-texts will be shown directly above the full-text on the left-hand side. There will be a downward-facing arrow next to the file name, allowing you to navigate between the different full-texts. The full-text that is displayed on a publication page can also change over time. In some cases, we may make a full-text available where a publication has a Creative Commons license.
What does it mean to confirm authorship of a publication?
We use advanced technology to identify content we believe is associated with particular authors on ResearchGate. At various points when using ResearchGate, you may be asked to confirm authorship of a publication. In such cases, we ask that you confirm that you are an author of the publication, and that you want the publication page to appear on your profile. If you are not the author or don’t want the publication to appear on your profile, you need only decline.
Once you have confirmed authorship of a publication, you can change the information on the page, such as the publication type, authors, and date. You can’t, however, delete the page from ResearchGate entirely (unless it is one you created yourself).
Sometimes, authors inadvertently confirm authorship of publications that are not theirs. If that happens, they can easily remove the publication from their profile. For more information about confirming authorship and what to when another researcher has confirmed authorship of your publications, visit the Authorship section of the Help Center.
What is private storage?
When you upload a full-text to ResearchGate, you can choose to share it publicly or store it privately. In either case, the content will be associated with the corresponding publication page. However, if you choose to store your full-text privately, it will only be available to you and the co-authors. In such cases, other users can only access the full-text by requesting it from you and the co-authors. Note that, even if you choose to store a full-text privately, the publication page displaying the publication information will still be available on your profile.
What are preprints, accepted manuscripts, and versions of record?
There can be many different versions of a scientific work as it develops from an early-stage draft into a fully published, final publication. In general, most publishers tend to use the following definitions when talking about different versions of a work:
| Preprint: | The author's draft or final version prior to any peer review or publication. Learn more about preprints here. |
| Accepted manuscript: | A final, post-peer-review version accepted for publication, but not yet published. |
| Version of record (VOR): | The final version appearing in a publication. |
It's important to familiarize yourself with these definitions because the different versions of your work can sometimes be subject to different rules around sharing and copyright. For more information about the rules that may apply to your work, see the Copyright section in the Help Center.