While citations using standard citation styles are usually extracted accurately on ResearchGate, there are some instances where they cannot be extracted – for example, for full-text PDFs that have been created from scanned hard copies. PDF as a format is not particularly standard, and therefore creating algorithms to extract this information is an ongoing process, with varying levels of success.

Please also note that citations that do not have complete publication dates may not be included in your citation counts, as this is an important piece of information when it comes to matching citations to publications correctly. Additionally, if the citing paper is not on ResearchGate, this can also hinder our efforts to add the citation. Our citation data is regularly updated and we are working hard to improve how we extract and match citations, so if you notice some are missing, they may be added soon.

A read is counted when somebody:

A read and a full-text read are counted when somebody:

• Views or downloads a publicly available full-text file. 

To make sure reads gives you an accurate picture of the attention your research is getting, a read isn't counted when you access one of your own publications. It is also not counted when your work is accessed by an artificial traffic source.

For publication pages, a read is counted when somebody views the publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure linked to the publication (either directly on the publication page or via the home feed), or views or downloads the full-text, if there is one.

The full-text reads metric measures how many of those "reads" were from researchers viewing or downloading the full-text.

We’ve introduced full-text reads to show you the level of engagement the work you’ve added on ResearchGate is receiving. Full-text reads shows how many of your "reads" come from views and downloads of your full-texts.

We're continuously working on improving our ability to detect different sources of artificial traffic to make sure we show you accurate metrics.

You can find out how many citations your publications on ResearchGate are getting, where they were cited, and by whom. Where possible, you will also be able to see exactly what was said about your research and view the citation in context in the publication where it was cited.

Stats on ResearchGate help to show that your work matters. 

By giving you a range of insights and information, your stats are a great way to understand the wider impact of your work and track your achievements. On ResearchGate you can also see the people behind the stats, giving you the opportunity to find out more about the people interested in your work and even connect with them. 

See who's interested in your work

Stats are not just about numbers: they also represent actual researchers who are interacting with and learning from your research. On your Stats tab, you can see the profiles of your readers (provided that you've both chosen reader visibility settings that show authors when you've read their research), as well as the researchers citing and recommending your work. And you'll get demographic information about your audience by country, institution, seniority, and discipline. 

Understand the bigger picture

Your Stats tab provides a range of metrics to help you get a comprehensive overview of the impact of your work.

The Research Interest Score combines, reads, recommendations, and citations to give you a convenient way to help track the impact of your work within the scientific community. You can look at other people's scores to get an idea of their impact too. 

We show you citations of your work to give you a more detailed way to understand and track how your work is being referenced by others. You can also see your h-index, which gives you an idea of your impact based on your citations in relation to your publishing activity.

The time it takes for researchers to finally start citing your work can be long — anywhere between several months to several years. This is why reads are a great way to see early interest in your work by both ResearchGate members and non-members. You can also see which of your publications are read the most each week. 

Recommendations by other ResearchGate members give you an idea of the relevance of your work and tell you that people find your work useful.

Keep up with your stats each week

We provide you with a weekly stats report to help you keep track of your impact. You can access your report directly from your Stats tab – we also notify you each week as soon as your report is ready.

Celebrate your success

We think it's important to stop and enjoy your achievements, which is why we notify you when you reach certain milestones for your stats. It's also easy for you to share your achievements with others via social media, so they can help celebrate your accomplishments with you.  

You can get an overview of your stats on your stats page.