How to Register & Upload an entry for a Scientist

Below the basic steps to register as a user and to submit the details of a scientist.

STEP 1. If it is your first time using the directory, first register. Registration is a once-off process only and required in order to submit a new listing or flag an existing listing. A “listing” refers to the entry for an individual scientist.

STEP 2. Complete the brief form with a username, email address, and password. Retype and confirm the password. Then click on Register. Important: Confirm the email sent to your Inbox (also check the Spam/Junk folders).

STEP 3. Login, and go to Submit to enter the biographical details of the scientist. It can be on behalf of yourself, or someone else. Enter as many as you like. The scientist listing will not be published immediately since it will first have to be approved and verified by the database administrator.

STEP 4. Complete all details – fields with a * are mandatory. Registering a scientist is and will always be free of charge. Click on Complete Listing at the bottom of the form once done. An email will be sent to the database administrator, who will verify the data, after which it will be published on the directory. You will receive an email once the entry has been published. Please allow between 12 – 48 hours.

How Private and Safe are my Data on the Directory (Privacy Policy)?

  1. Data is submitted to the directory on a voluntary basis, and free of charge. When scientists submit their data, they further agree that it can be included in the directory and made searchable. The data in this directory will not be sold or made available to any third party, except for what can be accessed via the end-user interface.
  2. If the information requested at Create Listing/Submit is of a too personal nature for you, rather refrain from registering. We further comply with global data protection laws – especially the GDPR and the POPI Act.
  3. The following fields are mandatory when completing the listing form: research disciplines, surname, full first name/s, professional title (prof/dr), gender, age range, academic qualifications, brief biography, ORCiD, professional affiliation, job title, primary organisation, website for primary organisation, primary phone number, primary email address, African country, and African region.
  4. Optional information to be completed include: date of birth, LinkedIn, Twitter, date of employment, profile photo.
  5. The following fields can only be accessed by the database administrator, and will never be released publically or to any third party: phone numbers, email addresses, date of birth, age range, gender, other dates.
  6. The directory was built using WordPress. Additional measures taken to make sure the directory and the data it contains will remain safe, include:
    – WordPress core, plugins and the theme are kept up to date with the most recent versions running. This is crucial for the security and stability of the WordPress site.
    – Users – when registering – are required to use strong and unique usernames and passwords, and to keep those safe.
    – This website is hosted by xneelo, which continuously monitor the server on which the website is hosted for suspicious activity. xneelo further has tools in place to prevent large scale DDOS attacks. They keep their server software and hardware up to date to prevent hackers from exploiting vulnerabilities, and they have ready to deploy disaster recovery and accident plans which allows them to protect data in case of major events. Read more about security and reliability as applied to xneelo servers: https://xneelo.co.za/help-centre/products-and-services/security-and-reliability/
    – A full-site backup is made to a remote site (in the cloud), on a weekly basis.
    – A monitoring system keeps track of all activity on the website, including file integrity monitoring, failed login attempts, malware scanning, etc.
    – A web application firewall (WAF) blocks all malicious traffic before it reaches the website.
    – The website runs on SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)/HTTPS, which is a protocol that encrypts data transfer between the website and your browser. This encryption makes it harder for someone to sniff around and steal information from the website.
    – File editing has been disabled, through applying the hardening feature part of the monitoring system.
    – PHP file execution was disabled in directories where it’s not needed, through applying the hardening feature part of the monitoring system.
    – The number of failed login attempts have been limited.
    – A two-factor authentication technique has been implemented, for new users registering on the website.
    – Idle users are automatically logged out of the website, after a certain period of time.