General Questions
Profile
Group pages/spaces
Journal hosting
Search
Networking: Sociologists and social scientists can create individual profiles and manage research projects, pre-registrations, and publication lists. A special feature is the ability to join or create groups to collaborate and/or share research results. Numerous modules are available for this purpose.
Open Science: SocioHub makes an important contribution to promoting open science culture, among other things by providing access to open access content via the SSOAR repository. In addition, the FID Sociology supports the establishment of new open access journals and the relocation of existing ones with its journal hosting service.
Research data management (RDM): SocioHub provides comprehensive information on publishing quantitative and qualitative data. Social science research data can be found specifically via the SocioHub search function. In addition, SocioHub offers comprehensive information and further links on RDM in cooperation with forschungsdaten.info, the information portal for research data management.
Literature search: Users can search for specific social science literature and access open access texts directly via the search portal. The portal also provides access to sociological research data, groups, and personal profiles.
Further information about the Sociology Subject Information Service (FID) can be found here.
The SocioHub collaboration portal is primarily aimed at sociologists, social scientists, and researchers from ethnological disciplines (social and cultural anthropology, empirical cultural studies, etc.). The platform is also open to researchers from related disciplines, students, employees of other specialist information services, and subject specialists at academic libraries. However, use by individuals with commercial interests is not desired.
Unlike other (commercial) platforms, SocioHub is specifically designed for sociological research. With SocioHub, you have access to a comprehensive, subject-focused platform that helps you organize your group collaboration and achieve your research goals more effectively.
SocioHub offers a variety of features specifically tailored to the requirements of research and collaboration in sociology, such as personalized news, collaborative modules, journal hosting, pre-registration of research projects, and publication lists. Instead of managing information across different websites, newsletters, and mailing lists, you can access all relevant information and news via the SocioHub news feed.
In addition to a wide range of networking, information, and communication options, SocioHub also offers a comprehensive literature search function.
The design and implementation of the FID Sociology is carried out in close consultation with a scientific advisory board consisting of representatives from professional associations as well as research and infrastructure institutions in the field of sociology. There is close cooperation with the German Sociological Association (DGS) and the Academy of Sociology (AS).
SocioHub is continuously developed through regular needs assessments, interviews, and usability tests in order to optimally meet the requirements and wishes of its users.
In german:
2018: sociohub-fid.de/p/Bedarfserhebung_2018
2021: sociohub-fid.de/p/Bedarfserhebung_2021 / Publication@SSOAR
2024: https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-96526-2
We welcome your feedback, questions, and suggestions at any time. Please send them to mail@sociohub-fid.de. Please also let us know if you have any suggestions for improving our services or are interested in testing potential new features.
You can write your own messages to all members via the “SocioHub Community” group. Once you have successfully registered, you will be automatically added to the group.
Select the group in the navigation bar under My Spaces, enter your text in the “What would you like to share?” text field, add files, images, or videos, and click Submit.
Your post will then be displayed in the news feed of more than 3,700 people registered with SocioHub. In addition, email notifications will also inform users who are not logged in about your post.
For logged-in members, the SocioHub news feed is the central home page, providing up-to-date information and an interactive community experience. The news feed includes the dashboard stream and a sidebar with personalized news, keeping users up to date at all times:
On your profile page under “Edit user account,” you can set which groups and events you want to receive notifications about in the ‘Notifications’ section. In addition, under “Email summaries,” you can specify how often you want to be notified about activities in SocioHub.
If you encounter inappropriate behavior on SocioHub, please report it to the SocioHub team: mail@sociohub-fid.de. Send a short message with a description of the incident and the name of the person involved.
The support team will review the incident and take appropriate action, which may range from a warning to account suspension, depending on the case. All reports are treated confidentially to ensure a safe and respectful environment for all SocioHub members.
We also consider the use of the portal for commercial advertising to be inappropriate and warranting a report to us.
All SocioHub services are, of course, free of charge for you.
For publications that we do not link to directly as open access, we offer an availability search in a library at your institution or in your vicinity and, if necessary, a link to the document delivery service SUBITO or to interlibrary loan. Orders placed via these services are usually subject to a fee.
After successfully registering on SocioHub, a personal account with its own profile page is automatically created for each person. Initially, the profile only contains the first and last name and the name of the specified institution.
You have full control over which information about your scientific activities and your person is visible in your profile. You can also customize numerous account settings, such as notifications, visibility, or language.
On the home page, click on “Sign up and get started” or “Log in | Register.” In the next window, select the “New user?” tab, enter your email address, and follow the instructions.
All new accounts are reviewed before activation. In some cases, the review process may take several days. You will receive an email notification as soon as your account has been approved and you can start using SocioHub.
On the home page, click on “Log in and start” or “Log in | Register” and log in with your access data. You can log in using your email address or username registered with the FID and your password, which must be entered correctly in the respective fields. Then click on “Log in”.
With the ORCID link, you can log in using your ORCID credentials and import the publications stored in your ORCID profile directly into your SocioHub profile.
How to activate your ORCID link:
Note: You can remove the link to your ORCID account at any time.
Click on your name in the navigation bar and select “Account settings.” Alternatively, you will find the “Edit user account” button on your profile page. The settings menu offers several categories for settings and entering profile details. In the ‘Profile’ category, select the “Change password” tab. Fill in the corresponding text fields and click on “Save.”
To reset your password, click on “Sign in and get started” or “Sign in | Register” on the home page. Select “Forgot your password,” enter the email address you registered with SocioHub, and click on the “Reset password” button. You will receive an email with a link to reset your password.
The following categories are displayed in the profile menu on your profile page:
Your profile stream on your profile page displays your activities, your published posts, and new or updated publications, pre-registrations, and research projects.
After successful registration, the “About” category only contains your first and last name and the name of the specified institution.
To complete or change your personal information, click on the “Edit account” button. In the first parent tab, “General,” you can customize information in the categories “General,” “Communication,” or “Social Media.”
This feature allows you to register your ongoing or planned research projects in advance and share important details with the scientific community.
The module was developed specifically for sociological research and offers a suitable input mask depending on the type of study (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods). In addition to basic information such as title and description, various selection fields help you specify your research approach, sampling procedure, and data collection and analysis methods.
You can add other researchers and grant them permission to edit your pre-registration. A saved pre-registration is initially stored as a draft. Once you publish it, it will appear on the “Preregistrations Overview” page (in the navigation bar under Home).
The module makes an important contribution to transparency and traceability in sociological research. It supports the quality and reproducibility of scientific work and promotes exchange by facilitating the assignment of research ideas to their authors.
You can find the Preregistration module both in the navigation bar under “My Research” and in the profile menu of your profile page.
Use this feature to give visitors to your profile an insight into your published works.
Select “Publications” in your profile menu or alternatively in the navigation bar under “My Research.” These are your options:
More visibility for your publications:
You can highlight your saved publications with the star icon (⭐). Highlighted publications are displayed at the top of the respective publication list and shared with the SocioHub community as a post in the news feed. No email notification is sent.
This feature allows you to document your research projects in your profile and create a detailed overview of your work. SocioHub members can follow other projects to stay informed about project updates.
To add a new research project:
To change the language, click on your name in the navigation bar and select “Account settings.” Alternatively, you will find the “Edit account” button on your profile page.
Then go to the account settings and select between German and English under the “Language” option. Confirm your selection by clicking on “Save.”
Click on your name in the navigation bar and select “Acoount settings.” Alternatively, you will find the “Edit account” button on your profile page.
The settings menu offers several categories for settings and entering profile details.
In the first parent tab, “General,” you will first find options for entering your profile details (in several child tabs). Other parent tabs allow you to:
Email summaries keep you regularly informed about current and relevant activities in SocioHub. You can customize both the content and frequency of these summaries.
Notifications are sent immediately and independently of email summaries to keep you informed about new activity in your SocioHub network. You can choose which events you want to receive notifications for and whether these should only be sent within SocioHub or also by email. In addition, you can select groups from which you would like to receive notifications, even if you do not follow them or are not a member.
Here you can manage basic settings such as language, time zone, profile visibility, and blocked users. You can also add “tags” (keywords) to describe yourself, making your profile easier to find in searches. You will also see an overview of the topics you have added and linked accounts, such as ORCID.
Decide which elements of your profile other users should have access to.
Under the “Users” tab, you can set permissions for registered SocioHub members, while the “No registered users” tab is intended for people without a SocioHub account.
If necessary, you can also activate modules, which are primarily intended for use on group pages, for your profile page. A description of the modules can be found in the section “Which modules can be activated to support group work?”.
Group pages/spaces
The “SocioHub News” group serves as a means of communication between the SocioHub team and SocioHub members. All important announcements, such as current information and technical innovations, are published here by the SocioHub team.
You can use the “SocioHub Community” group to write your own messages to all members. This group is often used to announce job vacancies, calls for papers, conferences, and workshops. Messages within these groups reach over 3,700 SocioHub members.
Note: The collaboration platform is configured so that members of a group are informed about group activities by email without having to log in. Each SocioHub member has the option to disable email notifications in the settings.
An overview of existing SocioHub groups can be accessed in various ways:
Group members can use the “What's on your mind?” text field to write messages, add files or photos, and publish them. These posts are displayed in the group stream so that members can follow activities chronologically. Depending on the group settings, the stream may also be visible to non-members.
Depending on the individual notification settings of the members, an email notification about new posts within the group is also sent.
Activities within the group — such as calendar entries, task assignments, or new wiki entries — also appear in the group stream and, depending on the individual settings of the members, are additionally announced by email.
Note: The “Group message” feature is only visible to group owners and administrators in the group menu.
This feature allows you to start targeted conversations with all or selected members and followers of the group. It is ideal for messages that are only intended for certain people or are particularly urgent.
Recipients are notified by email and can reply directly in the SocioHub chat. The messages do not appear in the group stream, but only in the SocioHub chat area. There, they can be found again via the group name and subject line and are identifiable as group notifications.
Important: Group members cannot disable email notifications for group messages.
Instead of having to scroll through the entire group stream, you can search for specific content:
Create a group
Click on “My Spaces” in the main navigation bar. There you will find the option “Create new Space.”
Group description and access settings
Enter the desired name of the group and a short description (max. 100 characters). This information will appear in the group's cover photo. Then set the advanced access settings (visibility and membership policy).
Select modules
In the next step, select the desired modules (tools for your group). These modules can be activated or deactivated at any time. Please note that when you deactivate a module, all content created in it will be irrevocably deleted.
Invite users
In the last step, you can invite your first members — even people without a SocioHub account can be invited by email.
Click on the “Invite” button on the group page.
Note for group administrators:
By default, all group members can invite additional people. However, this permission can be adjusted in the settings. Detailed instructions can be found in the “Security” section.
The settings icon (gear) on the group page gives you access to various customization options.
The “Settings” option allows you to configure basic settings in the following areas:
“Basic” tab:
“Advanced” tab:
“Topics” tab:
The “Security” option allows you to configure basic settings in the following areas:
“General” tab:
“Permissions” tab:
Here you can customize the rights for different user roles. This overview shows which functions are enabled or restricted for which roles and allows you to assign specific permissions (e.g., “allowed” or “denied”):
The “Members” option allows you to configure basic settings in the following areas:
“Members” tab:
Here you can search for group members, adjust their role within the group, or remove them from the group. For more information about the available roles and their permissions, see the “Security” section.
“Owner” tab:
Here you can change the owner of the group — useful if you want to leave the group or delete your SocioHub account but want the group to continue to exist. Please note that only users with administrator rights can be designated as owners.
The “Modules” option allows you to activate the tools you need for your collaboration.
For more information about the available modules and their functions, see the section “Which modules can be activated to support group work?”.
Group owners and administrators can select modules that meet the specific requirements of the group. Activated modules are displayed in the group's space menu and can be customized at any time. In our example group "SocioHub Presentation", you will find all available modules as well as sample information pages.
Important: Please note that when you deactivate a module, all data stored in it will be lost. For example, deactivating the calendar module will delete all previously entered appointments.
All activities within the group are displayed in the group stream so that members can follow the activities chronologically. The search function allows you to efficiently find content within the group. In addition, posts and activities can be actively accompanied by comments and likes.
In File Manager, group members can archive, share, and collaboratively edit Office files such as Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. The module uses OnlyOffice software, which works similarly to Google Docs: multiple users can work on a document at the same time, with each other's activities displayed directly. SocioHub members particularly appreciate this alternative to Google Docs because OnlyOffice is hosted on its own server in Germany, offering a privacy-friendly, non-commercial solution in Germany.
Important: To work collaboratively on files, the “Manage files” permission must be enabled for members in the group security settings (see the “Security” section for details).
To start collaborative editing of an Office file:
Additional information:
The calendar function allows group members to view, create, and edit appointments.
The Tasks module facilitates efficient organization and structured management of tasks within the group. Group members can create task lists, define specific topics, and assign tasks to individual group members. Adding checkpoints and attachments serves to document task progress, which improves traceability and information exchange within the group.
The survey tool allows group members to create and complete surveys within the group.
Instructions for creating a survey:
The Wiki module enables group members to discuss content and organizational issues in detail and to record shared ideas in a structured manner. The module can be used to build a collaborative knowledge database by quickly and easily adding new pages on various topics. This promotes knowledge sharing and creates a dynamic discussion platform where group members can actively participate and support each other.
Features at a glance:
The video module allows workshop and conference recordings as well as other topic-related videos to be stored and shared within the group, creating a central video library.
Supported video sources: Currently, only links from YouTube, Vimeo, and TIB AV-PORTAL can be added.
Instructions for adding videos:
This module can be used to conduct votes and elections within a group, e.g., for content-related opinion polls (such as best paper awards or votes on scientific issues) and for elections of individuals (e.g., to fill positions or roles in research groups).
Note: Only individuals who have a SocioHub account and are members of the group at the time the election is created can participate in the election. Adding eligible voters after the election has been initiated is only possible in individual cases. Please contact the FID team for more information.
Election procedure:
Requirements of the electoral process:
Group administrator: How to initiate a vote/election
If the voting and election module is not yet activated, go to the group settings by clicking on the gear icon, select “Modules,” and activate “SocioHub Elections” by clicking on the “Activate” button.
Election administrator: Enter election details and start the election
Important: If you are unable to start the election, check that all required fields have been filled in (e.g., you must have entered at least one position and one candidate).
The FID Sociology offers you the opportunity to host your own sociology journal using the technical infrastructure of the Cologne University and City Library (UBS). A concise overview of our services is available here: Journal Hosting.
Yes, it is possible to transfer an existing journal to our OJS instance. It does not matter whether your journal is already published digitally or has been published in traditional analog form up to now. When migrating an existing journal, it must be clarified whether the rights situation for previous issues and for the use of the journal title allows this.
Apart from that, we are also happy to support you in setting up a new journal.
Our experts will be happy to help you optimize the organization and use of editorial work in OJS. Benefit from the extensive expertise that we have built up over many years as a team at USB Cologne.
In the SocioHub research portal, you can search specifically for literature, research data, people, and research groups (including DGS sections). The search results are displayed in the categories “Literature & Research Data” and “People & Research Groups.”
Note: If you do not have a SocioHub account or are not logged in, the watch list and detailed profile information will not be available to you.
Home page (without login)
You can also search if you do not yet have a SocioHub account or are not logged in. A SocioHub account is required to view full details of publications, profiles, and research groups.
Navigation bar (with login)
If you are logged in, you can start a search using the main navigation bar.
Since February 2025, SocioHub has been using the research index of the Political Science Information Service. This index covers the entire spectrum of social sciences and contains over 13.9 million data records, including:
In the research portal, you can create new lists, manage existing ones, and view an overview of your saved lists under “Watchlist.” You also have the option to cite entire lists.
To add literature or research data to a watch list, click on the “Bookmark” button next to the desired content. If you have multiple lists, you can select the appropriate list when saving.
Note: This feature is only available to registered users on SocioHub.
