Account Settings

Account Settings is the central configuration area for your ResearchArk account. Accessible at /settings from the user menu in the top-right corner of any page, it provides control over four distinct sections: Account, Notifications, Privacy & Security, and Data Management.

These settings apply across the main ResearchArk site at beta.researchark.eu. For identity-level settings such as your ARKU research identifier, ORCID integration, and organization management, visit ArkID at arkid.researchark.eu.

Settings Sections

The settings page is organized into four sections, each accessible via tabs:

• Account -- View your display name and email, configure your timezone and language, toggle between light and dark theme, and review the current privacy policy version. See Account & Profile Settings and Theme & Language for details.
• Notifications -- Control email notifications, push notifications, and periodic digest preferences for funding opportunities, connections, messages, and platform updates. See Notification Preferences.
• Privacy & Security -- Manage your profile visibility, control which personal information is shown to others, configure communication preferences, change your password, and set up two-factor authentication.
• Data Management -- Export your data, review storage usage, configure retention policies, request data erasure, or delete your account.

Privacy & Security

The Privacy & Security section gives you fine-grained control over who can see your information and how others can interact with you.

Profile Visibility

Choose who can view your researcher profile:

• Public -- Anyone can view your profile, including unauthenticated visitors.
• Connections only -- Only users you have accepted as connections can see your profile.
• Private -- Your profile is hidden from all other users.

Information Visibility

Toggle the visibility of individual profile fields independently:

• Show email address
• Show institution
• Show location
• Show research interests
• Show activity

Each toggle controls whether that specific piece of information appears on your profile when viewed by others.

Communication Preferences

Control how other users can reach you:

• Allow connection requests -- When disabled, other users cannot send you connection requests.
• Allow direct messages -- When disabled, other users cannot send you direct messages through the platform.

Change Password

Open the password change dialog to set a new password. Passwords must be at least 8 characters long. You are required to confirm the new password before submitting.

Two-Factor Authentication

Enable or disable two-factor authentication (MFA) for an additional layer of account security. ResearchArk uses email-based verification codes. When enabling MFA, you receive a verification code at your registered email address. The code has an expiration countdown, and a resend option becomes available after a timer elapses. The settings page displays your current MFA verification status.

Data Management

The Data Management section provides tools for exporting, reviewing, and deleting your data.

Export Your Data

Download a machine-readable JSON file containing your profile information, activity history, and any data subject access request (DSAR) receipts. The export is delivered as a single file named researchark-dsar-export.json.

Data Usage

View a breakdown of how much data your account stores:

• Profile Data -- Approximate size of your stored profile information (e.g. ~2.5 KB).
• Activity Data -- Approximate size of your stored activity history (e.g. ~15.8 KB).

Data Retention

Configure how long ResearchArk retains different categories of your data:

• Search History -- Automatically deleted after 1 year by default. This interval is configurable.
• Activity Logs -- Retained indefinitely by default. This is also configurable.

Danger Zone

The danger zone contains irreversible actions that require explicit confirmation.

Data Erasure Request -- Schedule the deletion of your social graph, ArkSphere activity, chat history, and network data. A safety window of approximately 14 days applies before erasure is executed. You must type "ERASE" to confirm the request. Once submitted, you receive an acknowledgment email and can track the request status (pending, completed, or cancelled). Requests can be cancelled within a 24-hour cancellation window.

Account Deletion -- Permanently and irreversibly delete your account, including all profiles, connections, and activity. You must type "DELETE" to confirm. Deletion can be cancelled within the cancellation window. This action removes all data associated with your account and cannot be undone.

Explore Settings