It has a big negative effect on how this website operates and to science on the Internet, in general. I recall that something like 46% of users had a positive response to the announcement of comments being disabled. Disabling comments is one thing; deleting all comments is quite another. To those who support this measure, I would be interested to know why. Feel free to add your perspective on why you support the stopping and deletion of comments. My own personal theory is that the old concensus physics reality is unravelling and in an effort to stem the inevitable blowback and the lack of any real solutions or response some have opted for censorship.

But to answer your question about reading articles here, I would say 'yes'. Reading an article is different from commenting, so it should be possible to still read and create your own rebuttal and post a paper on that. That is how science is supposed to operate anyway. You could also post a question like you have done here, deliberately asking people to review and to try and disprove your research and if enough people were to engage with your questions, the result could be quite positive and possibly even more rewarding and interactive. However, I'm certain if something like that were to take off and become popular, R^G would just simply remove and delete all questions, just like they did with comments and with projects before that. It is almost like they want the site to fail and become unuseable.

I took the liberty to safekeep all comments on my papers for prosperity before the deadline arrived - weather they were hostile or congenial - as both are relevant in the academic sense.

So at a hindsight, weather hostile or congenial, those old comments will become instrumental in constructing new work.

However, the hostility in comments were borderline character assassinations - so perhaps we are entering a new era, where politeness and compassion is the new rule of the game - as does not any new idea deserve a second thought ?

GKO

I guess that one of the reasons for the decision to remove the Comments function was the misuse by scammers. For more information, see my contribution to this discussion: https://www.researchgate.net/post/RG_discontinued_Comments_on_research_items/1. See also https://www.researchgate.net/post/Where_should_the_soon-to-be-deleted_ResearchGate_comments_go_and_where_should_we_translate_them_What_are_your_thoughts_on_this_unfortunate_decision/1.

I also regret that the Comments function was removed. Hower, personally I used ResearchGate not so much to comment on publications, but 1) to find publications that I would not have noticed otherwise, and 2) to draw the attention of others to my publications and to offer full texts not available elsewhere. Finally, 3) I also take part in discussions.

Here is a selection of older discussions on the usage of ResearchGate:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_important_is_the_ResearchGate_to_you/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Do_you_participate_in_RG_to_share_your_research_or_to_gain_prestige_as_a_researcher/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_does_the_Research_Gate_portal_support_research_projects_and_analytical_work_carried_out_in_the_field_of_research/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Can_RG_become_a_research_tool/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/I_consider_it_one_of_the_most_important_academic_website_for_scientific_researchers_Research_Gate_What_do_you_think/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Researchgate_is_an_essential_option_in_Coronavirus_time_for_researchers_What_do_you_think_and_suggest/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Boosting_research_impact_can_ResearchGate_increase_article_citations/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_much_time_do_members_spend_on_RG_perday/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_first_thing_you_see_in_an_RG_member_profile_page/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Institutional_repositories_versus_researchgate/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Which_interaction_do_you_like_best_in_the_Research_Gate_platform_When_do_you_often_online_daily_weekly_How_much_time_to_spend/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Can_you_evaluate_the_performance_of_Researchgate_as_a_scientific_platform/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Does-the-Research-Gate-research-portal-offer-the-most-information-services-for-researchers-that-researchers-and-scientists-need/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_importance_of_recommendation_in_RG/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Which_interaction_do_you_like_best_in_the_Research_Gate_platform_When_do_you_often_online_daily_weekly_How_much_time_to_spend/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Do_you_think_RG_can_increase_your_brainpower/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_are_most_academics_registered_at_RG2/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_Research_Gate_Academic_Platform_was_important_for_you_to_build_up_your_academic_life_up_to_the_current_state/1

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Researchgate_is_14_years_what_are_your_likes_dislikes_or_comments/1

A lot of members got unjustifiable abused and threatened by other members about IP copyright and similar and also sometimes leaded to "heated debates".

Gerd is correct, if the other member does not follow you there is no way to communicate and inform this member via RG PM either nor a RG question or discussion thread. Just find the email from the paper or possible other contact info given on RG for a specific member.

Has the number of recommendations also decreased for you? This is probably due to the deletion of comments on articles that also contained recommendations.