# Asking questions

Q\&A is where you can get relevant and focused answers to your research questions from a unique community of experts, and where you can share your own knowledge with other specialists in your field. Before you ask a question or add an answer in Q\&A, please read our [Q\&A Guidelines](/community/q-and-a-guidelines.md).

#### How to Ask a Question

You can ask a question in a few simple steps:

1. Click on **Questions** at the top left-hand side of any ResearchGate page.
2. Click **Ask a technical question** or **Start discussion.**
3. Enter your question or title in the box provided.
4. In the second field, enter an explanation and provide as much contextual detail as possible to help other researchers answer your question or discuss your topic.
5. You can attach resources that support your question, such as publications, images, graphs, or links (this is optional). Attaching resources helps more researchers to see your question, so you're more likely to receive answers.
6. Click **Add** to post your question/discussion.

Please always remember to fully investigate and confirm that you have sufficient rights to publicly share any resources before you attach them to your question. As we do not have any information about rights you may hold, or any license terms or other restrictions which might apply to such resources, we necessarily rely on you to understand your rights and act accordingly.

The key to getting the answers you’re looking for is to keep your questions informative and concise. Always keep in mind that Q\&A is where you engage with other scientists on a professional level. Further tips can be found under [Tips to get the best answers](#tips-to-get-the-best-answers).

#### Who sees your question?

When you ask a question, it will be seen by your followers and researchers who we think can answer it based on their skills and expertise.

#### Tips to get the best answers

* **Provide context:** Give as many details as possible in the explanation field so researchers have enough information to answer your question.
* **Attach supporting resources:** Include resources that support your question, such as publications, images, graphs, or links.
* **Use clear English:** Formulate your question in clear, concise English, and make sure it’s phrased in the form of a question. This helps ensure your question stands out to the right researchers.
* **Add a photo:** Profiles with a photo receive an average of 150% more views, so [add a photo](/profile/profile-photos.md) to get your question seen by more researchers.

#### Finding Your Questions

To see all of the questions you’ve asked or followed:

* Click on **Questions** at the top left-hand side of any ResearchGate page and select **Questions you asked**.
* Click on **Questions** at the top left-hand side of any ResearchGate page, and select **Questions you follow**.

Alternatively, you can go to your **Research** tab and then filter for **Questions** on the left-hand side of the **Research** section.

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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://help.researchgate.net/q-and-a/asking-questions.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.