Verification FAQs
What the Verified Badge means
A Verified Badge appears next to your name to show that you have successfully confirmed your primary institutional affiliation through our verification process.
Important: The badge does not mean that your personal identity has been verified. We do not assess or confirm a person’s identity during the verification process.
Managing your verified institutions
Your ResearchGate profile can only have one primary affiliation verified at any given time.
The verified status applies to the affiliation displayed at the top of your profile.
You can change your primary affiliation at any time.
If you change your primary affiliation, your Verified Badge will be removed until you verify the new one.
If you verify a new affiliation that is not currently your primary one, the new entry will be added to your profile. Your previous primary affiliation will remain on your profile as an additional affiliation that you can edit.
Controlling your Verified Badge's visibility
You can choose whether your Verified Badge is visible to others.
To manage the visibility of your badge:
Go to the top of your profile.
Click Edit.
Check or uncheck the 'Show my Verified Badge' checkbox.
Who will see your badge if you choose to display it:
All logged-in ResearchGate members.
Non-members and logged-out users if you have enabled your public profile.
Privacy Note: While people viewing your profile will see that you used an institutional email address for verification, we will not display the details of the specific email address you used.
Troubleshooting verification issues
If you encounter a problem during verification, here are the steps to follow:
1. Your Institution is Not Available for Verification
Our system covers a wide range of higher education and research institutions. If your institution is not listed, you will see an option to request that we add it.
When submitting a request:
Provide your institution’s ROR ID (Research Organization Registry ID).
Include any other information that helps us confirm your institution is involved in research.
Please note: Some institutions that meet the requirements may still not be compatible with our verification system.
2. Your Institutional Email Address is Not Recognized
To verify your affiliation with a recognized institution, you must enter an email address with a matching domain.
If your institutional email address is not recognized as belonging to your institution:
You can send us a request to add the missing domain.
In your request, please include proof that the domain is associated with your institution.
Please note: Some domains are not compatible with our verification system and cannot be used for verification.
What happens to my current primary affiliation if I verify a different affiliation?
If the affiliation you choose to verify isn’t already your profile’s primary affiliation — or if you change your position or location — a new affiliation entry will be added to your profile once you complete your verification. Your previous primary affiliation will stay on your profile as an additional affiliation, which you can edit at any time.
Using your institutional email for verification
When you verify your affiliation, we send a confirmation link to the institutional email address you provided.
You must click the link to complete your verification.
If the email you entered is not already linked to your account, it will be automatically added as an additional login email once you click the confirmation link.
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