Talk:Academia.edu

Importance
The topic certainly not less important than, e.g., of ResearchGate. Dr Oldekop (talk) 20:15, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

List of competitors
Do we really need a competitor's list on here? Those links may be better listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites — Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.103.240.135 (talk) 21:18, 31 March 2011‎ (UTC)

How is this open access?
The papers posted are only available to those with academia.edu accounts, and as far as I can tell judging from the terms, the accounts require connections with one or another academic institution. The papers are not available to lay scholars, hobbyists, or the general public. 71.191.238.237 (talk) 18:47, 16 May 2012 (UTC)
 * That is just not true - the papers are available to anyone that goes to their site. Just type in the keywords you are interested in and you can get to the articles if they authors have uploaded them. --Smithyour (talk) 02:58, 30 December 2012 (UTC)
 * No "connections with one or another academic institution" are required to register with Academia.edu.Simha (talk) 16:41, 27 January 2014 (UTC)
 * There is a paid premium account, but the basic, free account does offer basic search functionality and allows access to the articles and downloading of individual articles.Tail Hook TailHook (talk 05:41, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

criticisms, controversies
Feels like the article needs a section like this. There surely must be plenty of criticism and controversy since academia.edu is a for profit corporation and other for-profits, e.g. academic journals, might be losing part of their market since some authors are posting their articles here for free. Refer to sources on the Elsevier case... http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/posting-your-latest-article-you-might-have-to-take-it-down/48865 http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2013/12/11/has-elsevier-signaled-a-new-era-for-academia-edu-and-other-professional-networks/

108.35.251.135 (talk) 01:52, 25 April 2014 (UTC)R.E.D.


 * See also #DeleteAcademiaEdu, with reporting at http://chronicle.com/article/Scholars-Criticize/235102 . 129.120.178.54 (talk) 23:44, 29 January 2016 (UTC)


 * I got my first piece of spam from Academia.edu today: "[Co-author name]'s co-author tag is pending your approval. Hi [My name], [Co-author name] tagged you as a co-author on: [Article name]. To approve this tag, please visit the link below: [url]. You can opt out of receiving these kinds of emails from Academia.edu with the link below: [url]." So very similar to the researchgate spam, though at least this one doesn't have my co-author as the from address, like researchgate does. This spamming practice should be mentioned in a criticism section, if someone can find a secondary source about it. Amaurea (talk) 19:43, 25 August 2016 (UTC)


 * Yes, they are just spammers. 179.236.45.107 (talk) 01:40, 7 February 2018 (UTC)


 * I signed up just to read óne paper, I was remotely interested in. Suddenly my Dutch, relatively rare name, is getting mentioned in papers in just about any field imaginable. According to their emails anyway. I can check them out if I júst pay for premium. I never even published a paper for school, let along be an active scientific researcher. Going just by the name and the website extension, I expected better. I guess that's part of their game plan. I wish people started using some common sense, rather than getting a hard-on in seeing their name might have a mention, and give liars their money. 87.209.236.59 (talk) 13:21, 28 May 2020 (UTC)

Yes, it started out as a free, open-access website and was awarded a .edu domain name. I think the publicity initially said that the founder was a philosophy PhD student at Oxford, and I thought he'd wanted to do some good for the world. Not long after I joined, it became a spam site. It offers paid access to scholarship and your supposed metrics (which are inflated, misleading etc etc). No one can read the papers unless they too join. Luckily ResearchGate still exists which has become what Academia.edu falsley claimed to be. It is really awful that Academia got a .edu domain name on false pretnses and went to town to profit from it.Createangelos (talk) 22:12, 7 June 2020 (UTC)


 * I've been getting spam from Academia.edu too, saying I need to sign in and acknowledge myself as the co-author of a paper. Since (a) I'm not a co-author, and in fact have never published anything in an academic journal, and (b) the principal author's name is misspelled (and may not be a real person), it's hard to understand who Academia.edu thinks it's fooling. I know Wikipedia is supposed to be dispassionate, but I think it's worth emphasizing that Academia.edu is a fraud.Danlittman (talk) 17:55, 26 June 2020 (UTC)

Spamming? Identity theft?
I clicked on a link to this site by accident. Later, I started to receive emails from them that were sent to an email address that I rarely use and certainly never provided to them. I have never had an account with Academia.edu. Xxanthippe (talk) 22:50, 8 June 2020 (UTC).

Watch Out for Very Impolite Feedback
When one downloads an article from Academia, a pop-up invites one to explain why one is interested in the paper. That seems quite reasonable. The problem is that many of the authors which are to be found on Academia are a little 'dissident' in nature and, if that author suspects that you might be planning to critique his work in some way, you are likely to receive a very abusive message. That does not seem to be consistent with normal academic behavior.

"Academy.edu" listed at Redirects for discussion
The redirect [//en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Academy.edu&redirect=no Academy.edu] has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at  until a consensus is reached. ThadeusOfNazereth(he/him)Talk to Me! 15:48, 1 May 2023 (UTC)