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ResearchGate

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ResearchGate
ResearchGate-Logo
Type of site
Social network service for scientists
OwnerResearchGate
Created byIjad Madisch, Sören Hofmayer, Horst Fickenscher
URLhttp://researchgate.net/

ResearchGate is a social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators.[1] The site has been described as a mashup of “Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn” that includes “profile pages, comments, groups, job listings, and ‘like’ and ‘follow’ buttons”.[1] Members are encouraged to share raw data and failed experiment results[a] as well as successes, in order to avoid repeating their peers’ scientific research mistakes.[2] Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is among the company's investors.[3] As of March 2014, ResearchGate reports to have 4 million members.[4]

The company was founded by Ijad Madisch, who has stated that he wishes to win a Nobel Prize through the site by disrupting the way in which science is conducted. Madisch envisions a future in which scientists will publish their positive and negative results and data on his site instead of paying to publish it elsewhere.[2]

Company

Ijad Madisch co-founded ResearchGate in 2008 in Boston. As of 2012, the company was based in Berlin[1] and had offices in Cambridge, Mass.[5]

On September 8, 2010, ResearchGate announced the completion of its Series A financing led by Benchmark Capital.[6] On February 22, 2012, ResearchGate announced the completion of its Series B financing led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund.[7] On June 4, 2013, it closed Series C financing for $35M from investors including Bill Gates.[8]

As of 2012, ResearchGate's board of directors consisted of Benchmark Capital general partner Matt Cohler, ResearchGate co-founder Madisch, and Founders Fund partner and PayPal co-founder Luke Nosek.[9]

Forbes reported in 2012 that ResearchGate was investigating ways to make money by providing job boards, conference boards for scientists and partnering with companies that manufacture and sell biotech lab equipment.[10][11]

Checking published results

ResearchGate has offered itself as a venue for researchers to publish their unsuccessful attempts to replicate published research.[citation needed] Several recent studies have shown that irreproducible research is a major problem,[12][13][14] but such double-checking of published research does not often lead to publications in traditional journals.[citation needed]

In March 2014, researcher Kenneth Lee used ResearchGate as the venue to post his attempts to reproduce a landmark stem cell study on the stimulation of ordinary cells to become stem cells.[15] Nature, which had published the original paper, declined to publish Lee's rebuttal, a decision that was criticized by prominent researchers.[16][17] An investigation into irregularities in that study pre-dated the action on ResearchGate by a month[18] and is expected to continue into 2015.[19]

Awards

ResearchGate received the 2014 "Digital Innovation of the Year" award from Focus magazine.[20]

Criticisms

Unsolicited email invitations

ResearchGate has been criticized for emailing unsolicited invitations to the coauthors of its users.[21] These emails are written as if they were personally sent by the user, but they are automatically sent to co-authors when a user posts an article in their profile unless the user takes active steps to opt out by unchecking a box in their user settings.[22][23]

RG score

Journalists and researchers have found that the "RG score," promoted by ResearchGate as a bibliometric rating of a user's "standing within the scientific community,"[24] and calculated by ResearchGate via a proprietary algorithm,[22] can reach high values under questionable circumstances.[25][22]

Automated activity

Researchers at Kennesaw State University found that an inactive user account was automatically updated with hundreds of publications, leading to hundreds of invitation emails and a spuriously high RG score.[22]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Similar to PLOS ONE (which also allows publishing negative results and discussions on published work, launched 2006) but ResearchGate does not require peer review and fees.

References

  1. ^ a b c Lin, Thomas (16 January 2012). "Cracking Open the Scientific Process". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  2. ^ a b Dolan, Kerry A. "How Ijad Madisch Aims To Disrupt Science Research With A Social Network". Lists. Forbes. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  3. ^ Levy, Ari (4 June 2013). "Bill Gates Joins $35 Million Funding in Startup ResearchGate". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  4. ^ "ResearchGate - About us". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2014-05-15.
  5. ^ "Get in touch with us". Contact Page. ResearchGate. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  6. ^ "ResearchGate brings in strong funding round for 'scientific Facebook'". The Guardian. 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
  7. ^ "Founders Fund invests in the Facebook for scientists: Founder Ijad Madisch on confidence, Luke Nosek, and what the world needs more of". VentureVillage. 2012-02-22.
  8. ^ "Bill Gates, Benchmark And More Pour $35M Into ResearchGate, The Social Network For Scientists". TechCrunch. 2013-06-04. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  9. ^ Empson, Rip (1 March 2012). "Armed With New Funding & A Global Mission, ResearchGate Adds PayPal Co-founder To Board". TechCrunch. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  10. ^ Knapp, Alex (15 March 2012). "ResearchGate Wants To Be Facebook For Scientists". Forbes. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  11. ^ Levy, Ari (January 8, 2013). "ResearchGate's 2013 Resolution: Make Money". Bloomberg.
  12. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124 instead.
  13. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1038/483531a, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1038/483531a instead.
  14. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0063221, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0063221 instead.
  15. ^ ResearchGate Press Office (2014-03-13). "Introducing Open Review - a new way to evaluate research". Retrieved 2014-05-15.
  16. ^ Morin, Monte (1 April 2014). "New hope for embattled STAP cell researchers?". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  17. ^ Knoepfler, Paul. "Nature Rejects Publication of Paper Reporting that STAP Does Not Work". Blog. Knoepfler Lab Stem Cell Blog. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  18. ^ Attention: This template ({{cite doi}}) is deprecated. To cite the publication identified by doi: 10.1038/nature.2014.14738, please use {{cite journal}} (if it was published in a bona fide academic journal, otherwise {{cite report}} with |doi= 10.1038/nature.2014.14738 instead.
  19. ^ Martin, Alexander (1 April 2014). "Japanese Institute Says It Found Misconduct in Stem-Cell Studies". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  20. ^ "Innovationen: ResearchGate, YouPickIt und SAP geehrt". January 21, 2014.
  21. ^ "Beware of enemies masquerading as friends: ResearchGate and co". Swinburne Library Blog. Swinburne University of Technology. Retrieved 10 April 2014. ResearchGate automatically emails invitations to your coauthors on your behalf. These invitations are made to look as if they were sent by you but are emailed without your consent.
  22. ^ a b c d Meg Murray (2014). "ANALYSIS OF A SCHOLARLY SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE: THE CASE OF THE DORMANT USER". Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Conference of the Southern Association for Information Systems (SAIS). {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "Introducing our FAQ - Part II". Web site. ResearchGate. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2014. If you'd like your co-authors to join you, just ensure that the "Invite my co-authors to ResearchGate box" is checked when you're adding publications, and where possible, an invitation will be sent. Invitations will only be sent if this box is checked.
  24. ^ "RG Score FAQ". Web site. ResearchGate. Retrieved 7 May 2014. The aim of the RG Score is to help you measure and leverage your standing within the scientific community. We want to provide you with a metric that is calculated based on how all of your research is received by your peers, not just the work you've published.
  25. ^ "Ein Vergleich für Forscher unter sich: Der Researchgate Score" (in German). 2012-10-09. Retrieved 2012-12-03.

Competitors

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