ResearchGate
Encyclopedia
ResearchGate is a free social networking site and collaboration tool aimed at scientific researchers from all disciplines of science. It provides web applications including semantic searching (whole abstract searching), file-sharing, publication database sharing (e.g. endnote
libraries), forums, methodology discussions, groups etc. Members can create their personal blog within the network. A recent calculation of members shows that ResearchGate has so far assembled a user base of over a million researchers from 192 countries.
Among other tools, ResearchGate has developed a semantic search engine that browses internal resources and major external research databases, including PubMed
, CiteSeer
, arXiv
, NASA Library and others to find research papers. The search engine was developed to analyze a larger string of terms than is used in standard keyword searches – it will analyze entire abstracts – with the idea that more terms will allow more precise results.
The same kind of semantic matching is also used by the platform to support member networking. Through analyzing the information provided by the user on his or her profile page, the platform will suggest groups, other members and literature with similar research interests that the user might be interested in. In total, more than 1,100 groups have been created within ResearchGate. These can be open to all users or are set up as private groups, and any member can create a new group at anytime. Every group also has collaborative software; for example, a file-sharing tool allows users to collaborate with colleagues on writing and editing documents. Other tools include an appointment scheduler and a polling/survey option.
Several scientific organizations and conferences use ResearchGate as a meeting place to list details, collaborate and communicate. The platform has also developed private Subcommunities for larger organizations, open only to members of the respective institution.
The platform has set up a job board for scientists that lists international research jobs. The jobs can be filtered by keyword, position, field and country.
In 2009, ResearchGate also entered the open access scene when it developed a tool to help researchers upload previously published papers while respecting copyright agreements. The uploaded papers are among the internal resources that are searched by the semantic search engine. Users can read and download these publications for free.
of ResearchGate. It was launched in November 2009.
Members of the scientific network can submit postings from their individual ResearchGate profile - blogs to contribute to this larger, official blog
. The highest-quality submissions are then selected and published. Made up of these postings, ResearchBLOG is a reputable source for science news, commentary, research and innovation from all academic disciplines.
In addition to writing articles for their individual blogs, all members can use the new microarticle template to summarize a published, peer-reviewed article or to present recent findings and important concepts. The “micro” of microarticle refers to the 306 character maximum that is allowed for these pieces. Similar to microblogging
. These pieces are likewise posted by authors on their personal ResearchGate blogs and can be submitted to ResearchBLOG. The goal of these microarticles is to make the dissemination of research results faster in the scientific community
. In light of this, each article must refer to a publication either found in the ResearchGate database, linked through an external URL or uploaded by the author. This way, users can access the cited article immediately after reading its review.
The individual ResearchGate blog entries and microarticles can be subscribed to via the newsfeed, enabling members of the network to keep up on their peers’ latest entries.
An RSS feed is used to publish frequently updated work.
, Germany and Cambridge
, Massachusetts. On 8 September 2010 ResearchGate announced the completion of its Series A financing. The round was led by Benchmark Capital
from Silicon Valley, who have also invested in twitter
and ebay
. Accel Partners’ Silicon Valley office who are investors of facebook
; in addition to various prominent UK angel investor
s including former Accel partner Simon Levene; Bebo
founder Michael Birch and Rolf Christof Dienst the general partner at Wellington Venture Capital have all invested in ResearchGate. Scout24 founder Joachim Schoss, idealo.com co-founder Martin Sinner, Sedo.com co-founder Ulrich Essmann and MyVideo.de founder Christian Vollmann have all joined the funding round. Ex-Facebook exec and current Benchmark Capital general partner Matt Cohler
along with Simon Levene and Joachim Schoss joined ResearchGate’s board of directors.
EndNote
EndNote is a commercial reference management software package, used to manage bibliographies and references when writing essays and articles. It is produced by Thomson Reuters.- Features :...
libraries), forums, methodology discussions, groups etc. Members can create their personal blog within the network. A recent calculation of members shows that ResearchGate has so far assembled a user base of over a million researchers from 192 countries.
Among other tools, ResearchGate has developed a semantic search engine that browses internal resources and major external research databases, including PubMed
PubMed
PubMed is a free database accessing primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health maintains the database as part of the Entrez information retrieval system...
, CiteSeer
CiteSeer
CiteSeer was a public search engine and digital library for scientific and academic papers. It is often considered to be the first automated citation indexing system and was considered a predecessor of academic search tools such as Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Search. It was replaced by...
, arXiv
ArXiv
The arXiv |Chi]], χ) is an archive for electronic preprints of scientific papers in the fields of mathematics, physics, astronomy, computer science, quantitative biology, statistics, and quantitative finance which can be accessed online. In many fields of mathematics and physics, almost all...
, NASA Library and others to find research papers. The search engine was developed to analyze a larger string of terms than is used in standard keyword searches – it will analyze entire abstracts – with the idea that more terms will allow more precise results.
The same kind of semantic matching is also used by the platform to support member networking. Through analyzing the information provided by the user on his or her profile page, the platform will suggest groups, other members and literature with similar research interests that the user might be interested in. In total, more than 1,100 groups have been created within ResearchGate. These can be open to all users or are set up as private groups, and any member can create a new group at anytime. Every group also has collaborative software; for example, a file-sharing tool allows users to collaborate with colleagues on writing and editing documents. Other tools include an appointment scheduler and a polling/survey option.
Several scientific organizations and conferences use ResearchGate as a meeting place to list details, collaborate and communicate. The platform has also developed private Subcommunities for larger organizations, open only to members of the respective institution.
The platform has set up a job board for scientists that lists international research jobs. The jobs can be filtered by keyword, position, field and country.
In 2009, ResearchGate also entered the open access scene when it developed a tool to help researchers upload previously published papers while respecting copyright agreements. The uploaded papers are among the internal resources that are searched by the semantic search engine. Users can read and download these publications for free.
ResearchBlog
ResearchBlog is the official blogBlog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
of ResearchGate. It was launched in November 2009.
Members of the scientific network can submit postings from their individual ResearchGate profile - blogs to contribute to this larger, official blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
. The highest-quality submissions are then selected and published. Made up of these postings, ResearchBLOG is a reputable source for science news, commentary, research and innovation from all academic disciplines.
In addition to writing articles for their individual blogs, all members can use the new microarticle template to summarize a published, peer-reviewed article or to present recent findings and important concepts. The “micro” of microarticle refers to the 306 character maximum that is allowed for these pieces. Similar to microblogging
Microblogging
Microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregate file size...
. These pieces are likewise posted by authors on their personal ResearchGate blogs and can be submitted to ResearchBLOG. The goal of these microarticles is to make the dissemination of research results faster in the scientific community
Scientific community
The scientific community consists of the total body of scientists, its relationships and interactions. It is normally divided into "sub-communities" each working on a particular field within science. Objectivity is expected to be achieved by the scientific method...
. In light of this, each article must refer to a publication either found in the ResearchGate database, linked through an external URL or uploaded by the author. This way, users can access the cited article immediately after reading its review.
The individual ResearchGate blog entries and microarticles can be subscribed to via the newsfeed, enabling members of the network to keep up on their peers’ latest entries.
An RSS feed is used to publish frequently updated work.
Company
ResearchGate is based in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany and Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, Massachusetts. On 8 September 2010 ResearchGate announced the completion of its Series A financing. The round was led by Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital
Benchmark Capital is a venture capital firm responsible for the early stage funding of some very successful startups. In 1997, the firm invested $6.7 million in eBay, which became worth more than $5 billion by the spring of 1999. Other high-profile investments include Ariba, Juniper Networks, Red...
from Silicon Valley, who have also invested in twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
and ebay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
. Accel Partners’ Silicon Valley office who are investors of facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
; in addition to various prominent UK angel investor
Angel investor
An angel investor or angel is an affluent individual who provides capital for a business start-up, usually in exchange for convertible debt or ownership equity...
s including former Accel partner Simon Levene; Bebo
Bebo
Bebo is a social networking website launched in July 2005. It is currently owned and operated by Criterion Capital Partners after taking over from AOL in June 2010....
founder Michael Birch and Rolf Christof Dienst the general partner at Wellington Venture Capital have all invested in ResearchGate. Scout24 founder Joachim Schoss, idealo.com co-founder Martin Sinner, Sedo.com co-founder Ulrich Essmann and MyVideo.de founder Christian Vollmann have all joined the funding round. Ex-Facebook exec and current Benchmark Capital general partner Matt Cohler
Matt Cohler
Matt Cohler is an American venture capitalist based in Silicon Valley. He worked as Vice President of Product Management for Facebook until June 2008 and is currently a general partner at Benchmark Capital....
along with Simon Levene and Joachim Schoss joined ResearchGate’s board of directors.