ResearchGate
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| URL | http://researchgate.net/ |
|---|---|
| Type of site | Social network service for scientists |
| Registration | Free |
| Owner | ResearchGate |
| Created by | Dr. Ijad Madisch, Sören Hofmayer, Horst Fickenscher |
| Launched | May 2008 |
ResearchGate is a free social networking site[1] for scientists and researchers. It provides members with a number of tools to facilitate global scientific collaboration [2]. Researchers can create professional profiles, discuss their work in topic specific Q&A forums, share papers, search for jobs and discover conferences in their field. A recent calculation of members shows that ResearchGate has so far assembled a user-base of over 1.4 million [3] researchers from 192 countries.[4]
Through their personal profile, ResearchGate members are able to give a summary of their research, experience and publications, as well as having the option to self-archive their work to make it accessible to the wider scientific community. Additionally, ResearchGate has developed a semantic search engine that allows users to simultaneously search through seven of the largest literature databases including PubMed, IEEE, CiteSeer, arXiv, RePEc, NASA Library and OAI (Open Archives Initiative), to find abstracts or download full-texts. More than 10 million full-text publications can now be accessed via the platform.[5]
Topics, ResearchGate’s Q&A forum, lets members ask questions, get answers and share interesting content with one another. Earlier this year, ResearchGate reported that approximately 12,342 questions were answered in their 4,000 topics in 2011 alone.[6]
Contents |
[edit] ResearchBlog
ResearchBlog is the official blog of ResearchGate. It was launched in November 2009.[7]
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.[8] 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.
[edit] Company
ResearchGate is based in Berlin, 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 investors 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.[9] Ex-Facebook exec and current Benchmark Capital general partner Matt Cohler along with Simon Levene and Joachim Schoss joined ResearchGate’s board of directors.[10]
[edit] References
- ^ "Pioneers", Science Magazine, 30 May 2008, Print Edition
- ^ "Professor Facebook - More connective tissue may make academia more efficient". 2012-02-11. http://www.economist.com/node/21547218. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
- ^ "Professor Facebook - More connective tissue may make academia more efficient". 2012-02-11. http://www.economist.com/node/21547218. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
- ^ "ResearchGate revolutionising social networking". The Daily Maverick. http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/article/2011-01-11-researchgate-revolutionising-social-networking-for-scientists/. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ "Professor Facebook - More connective tissue may make academia more efficient". 2012-02-11. http://www.economist.com/node/21547218. Retrieved 2012-02-11.
- ^ "Cracking Open the Scientific Process". 2012-01-17. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/science/open-science-challenges-journal-tradition-with-web-collaboration.html?pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
- ^ "ResearchGate offers new publishing tools to scientists". Admin. 2009. http://antropologi.info/bb/topic/researchgate-offers-new-publishing-tools-to-scientists. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
- ^ "Microarticles". ResearchGate. 2009-11-16. http://news.researchgate.net/index.php?/archives/109-Microarticles-New-publishing-tools-on-ResearchGATE-Public-News-Channel.html. Retrieved 2010-01-25.
- ^ "ResearchGate brings in strong funding round for 'scientific Facebook'". The Guardian. 2010. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2010/sep/08/researchgate-funding-round. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ "Benchmark And Accel Partners Reach Across The Atlantic To Fund ResearchGate". Techcrunch. 2010. http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/08/benchmark-capital-and-accel-partners-reach-across-the-atlantic-to-fund-researchgate/. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
