# Profile information and visibility

Your ResearchGate profile represents your researcher identity. It’s where others can see the details about your experience, achievements, and research that you’ve added.

#### **How to View Your Profile** <a href="#how-do-i-view-my-profile-.1" id="how-do-i-view-my-profile-.1"></a>

Click on your profile photo in the top right corner of any ResearchGate page and select **Your profile** from the dropdown menu.

To share a direct link, visit your profile and copy the URL from your browser's address bar, or find it under **Your public profile address** in your [Privacy Settings](https://www.researchgate.net/settings/privacy).

#### **Who Can See Your Profile?** <a href="#who-can-see-my-profile" id="who-can-see-my-profile"></a>

* **Logged-in ResearchGate members:** Your profile is always visible to all logged-in members.
* **Logged-out visitors:** When you sign up, your profile is automatically publicly visible to logged-out visitors. You can manage this by checking or unchecking the **Enable your public profile** checkbox in your [Privacy Settings](https://www.researchgate.net/settings/privacy).
* **Searchability:** Your profile is always searchable by other ResearchGate members. If you haven't made your profile private in your [Privacy Settings](https://www.researchgate.net/settings/privacy), it will also be searchable by non-members.

#### **How Much Information is Visible on Your Profile?** <a href="#how-much-information-is-visible-on-my-profile-.1" id="how-much-information-is-visible-on-my-profile-.1"></a>

* **Public Profile Enabled:** If your public profile is enabled, basic information like your primary affiliation, disciplines, and degree is visible to everyone.
* **Public Profile Disabled:** If you've disabled your public profile, this basic information is only visible to logged-in ResearchGate members.
* **Contact Information:** Details such as your email address, personal website, and X (formerly Twitter) profile are only visible to your "mutual followers" (people you follow who also follow you).
* **Customizing Visibility:** You can customize the visibility of other information (e.g., experience, skills, awards, memberships) in your [Privacy Settings](https://www.researchgate.net/settings/privacy), under **About you**. Here, you can choose to make it visible to everyone, mutual followers only, or ResearchGate members only.
* **Logged-out Viewers:** Under **Your public profile** in your [Privacy Settings](https://www.researchgate.net/settings/privacy), you can choose whether logged-out viewers can see your profile photo or Q\&A posts.

#### **Will Your Profile Show Up in ResearchGate Searches?** <a href="#will-my-profile-show-up-in-researchgate-searches" id="will-my-profile-show-up-in-researchgate-searches"></a>

Yes, your profile is always searchable for other ResearchGate members. Unless you have chosen to make your profile private in your [Privacy Settings](https://www.researchgate.net/settings/privacy), your profile will also be searchable by non-members.

#### **Will Your Profile Show Up in Search Engines?** <a href="#will-my-profile-show-up-in-search-engines-.1" id="will-my-profile-show-up-in-search-engines-.1"></a>

To make your profile visible in search engine results, you need to select two options in your Privacy Settings:

1. Go to your [Privacy Settings](https://www.researchgate.net/settings/privacy).
2. Under **About you**, select **Everyone** from the dropdown options.
3. Check the checkbox next to **Enable your public profile**.

Your changes will be automatically updated. Please note that publication pages are automatically publicly visible and indexed by search engines. Disabling your public profile does not prevent your research from being indexed.

#### **Importing Your CV to Your Profile** <a href="#importing-your-cv-to-your-profile.1" id="importing-your-cv-to-your-profile.1"></a>

Currently, direct CV uploads are not supported. However, you can add most of the information from your CV to your profile, including skills, affiliations, education, awards, and memberships, by manually entering it into the relevant sections.

### **How to Add or Update Information on Your Profile** <a href="#how-to-add-or-update-information-on-your-profile" id="how-to-add-or-update-information-on-your-profile"></a>

Here's how to manage different sections of your profile:

#### **Your profile name** <a href="#your-profile-name" id="your-profile-name"></a>

1. Go to your [profile](https://www.researchgate.net/go.Profile.html?pli=1) and click **Edit** next to your name.
2. Click **Edit name**.
3. Update your name and click **Save**.

Note: For security reasons, you can only change your name once every 30 days.

#### **Your Profile Photo** <a href="#your-profile-photo" id="your-profile-photo"></a>

You can easily [add, update or remove your profile photo](/profile/profile-photos.md) directly from your profile.&#x20;

#### **Your Degree** <a href="#your-degree" id="your-degree"></a>

To add or update your degree:

1. Go to your [profile](https://www.researchgate.net/go.Profile.html?pli=1) and click on **Edit** next to your name.&#x20;
2. In the **Degree** field, select or enter your latest degree.
3. Click **Save**.

#### **Your Affiliations** <a href="#your-affiliations" id="your-affiliations"></a>

You can find instructions on adding or updating your affiliations [here](/profile/your-institution-and-department.md).

#### **Your Contact Information** <a href="#your-contact-information" id="your-contact-information"></a>

Your contact details help researchers connect with you outside of ResearchGate. You can add a link to your X (formerly Twitter) profile, your contact email address, and a link to your personal or institutional website.

1. Go to your [profile](https://www.researchgate.net/go.Profile.html?pli=1) and click on **Add your contact information** or click on the pencil icon next to the **About me** section.
2. Fill in your contact details (X profile, email, personal/institutional website).
3. Click **Save**.

**Note**: Only your mutual followers can see your contact details. For more information, visit your [Privacy Settings](https://www.researchgate.net/settings/privacy) or read our [Statement on Privacy and Data Protection](https://www.researchgate.net/application.PrivacyPolicy.html).

#### **Your Education History** <a href="#your-education-history" id="your-education-history"></a>

You can find instructions on adding or updating your education history [here](/profile/your-institution-and-department.md).

#### **Your Grants, Awards, and Scholarships** <a href="#your-grants-awards-and-scholarships" id="your-grants-awards-and-scholarships"></a>

To add your first:

1. Go to [your profile](https://www.researchgate.net/go.Profile.html?pli=1) and click **Add your grants, awards, or scholarships.**
2. Select the award type and fill in the details.
3. Click **Save.**

To add more or edit existing:

1. Go to [your profile](https://www.researchgate.net/go.Profile.html?pli=1) and click the pencil icon next to the G**rants, awards, and** scholarships section.
2. Click the pencil icon to edit an existing award, or the "+" icon to add a new one.
3. Click **Save.**

#### **Your Disciplines** <a href="#your-disciplines" id="your-disciplines"></a>

To add disciplines to your profile:

1. Go to your [profile](https://www.researchgate.net/go.Profile.html?pli=1) and click **Add your disciplines.**
2. Fill in your disciplines and click **Save**.

To edit:

1. Go to your [profile](https://www.researchgate.net/go.Profile.html?pli=1) and click on the **pencil icon** next to the **About me** section.
2. Enter and select new disciplines, or click **x** to remove one.
3. Click **Save**.

**Note**: You can select up to 3 top-level disciplines and 3 secondary disciplines.

#### **Your Skills and Languages** <a href="#your-skills-and-languages" id="your-skills-and-languages"></a>

You can find instructions on adding or updating your skills and languages [here](/profile/skills-and-expertise.md).

#### **Your Memberships and ORCID iD** <a href="#your-memberships-and-orcid-id" id="your-memberships-and-orcid-id"></a>

To add or update your unique ORCID researcher identifier and scientific societies you’re a member of:

1. Go to your [profile ](https://www.researchgate.net/go.Profile.html?pli=1)and click on **Add your memberships and ORCID iD** or the **pencil icon** next to the **Memberships and ORCID iD** section.
2. Fill in your ORCID iD and memberships.
3. Click **Save**.

#### **Your Current Journal Roles** <a href="#your-current-journal-roles" id="your-current-journal-roles"></a>

To add your first current journal role to your profile:

1. Go to your [profile](https://www.researchgate.net/go.Profile.html?pli=1) and click on **Add your current journal roles.**
2. Select your role and enter the journals.
3. Click **Save**.

To add more or edit an existing one:

1. Go to your [profile](https://www.researchgate.net/go.Profile.html?pli=1) and click on the **pencil icon** next to the **Current journal roles** section.
2. Click the pencil icon to edit or the + icon to add a new role.
3. Click **Save**.

#### **Your Featured Research** <a href="#your-featured-research" id="your-featured-research"></a>

You can find instructions on featuring research [here](/research-and-publications/reviewing-editing-and-featuring-your-research.md).


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