Ajay Kumar at 14:28, 16 August 2023

2023-08-16T14:28:18Z

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{{short description|Commercial social networking website for academics}}
{{redirect|Academia, Inc|other companies|Academia (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Academia, Inc.
| logo = Academia.edu logo.svg
| screenshot = Screenshot of Academia.edu (26 Dec 2017).PNG
| collapsible = no
| location = [[San Francisco]], [[California]]
| founder = [[Richard Price (entrepreneur)|Richard Price]]
| url = {{URL|academia.edu}}
| registration = Required
| users = 71 million<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/hiring|title=Hiring|author=Academia.edu|access-date=2018-12-15|archive-date=October 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023161011/http://www.academia.edu/hiring|url-status=live}}</ref>
| language = English
| launch_date = September 2008
| company_type = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| area_served = Worldwide
| num_employees = 53<ref name=About>{{cite web |url=https://academia.edu/hiring |title=Our Mission |publisher=Academia.edu |access-date=2018-12-15 |archive-date=December 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210130333/http://www.academia.edu/hiring |url-status=live }}</ref>
| website_type = Platform for sharing research papers
| current_status = Active
}}

'''Academia.edu''' is a [[For-profit education|for-profit]] open repository of academic articles free to read by visitors. Uploading and downloading is restricted to registered users. Additional features are accessible only as a paid subscription. Since 2016 various social networking utilities have been added.<ref name="Duffy">{{cite journal |last1=Duffy |first1=Brooke Erin |last2=Pooley |first2=Jefferson D. |title="Facebook for Academics": The Convergence of Self-Branding and Social Media Logic on Academia.edu |journal=Social Media + Society |date=January 2017 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=205630511769652 |doi=10.1177/2056305117696523|doi-access=free }}</ref>

The site was registered in the [[.edu|.edu top-level domain]] in 1999 when that domain was not limited to educational institutions. It is operated as a for-profit company under the name Academia Inc. Since the launch of the site in 2008, the number of users has grown rapidly, reaching about 10 million daily visits in early 2022. At that time the numbers of registered users was 180 million and 40 million papers were available on the site.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/about|author=Academia.edu|title=About|access-date=2022-04-21|archive-date=November 27, 2020|archive-url=https://archive.ph/20201127173938/https://www.academia.edu/about|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History==

Academia.edu was founded by [[Richard Price (entrepreneur)|Richard Price]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Price|first=Richard|title=Richard Price|url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/author/richard-price|access-date=2022-02-03|website=Entrepreneur|language=en|archive-date=February 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203165353/https://www.entrepreneur.com/author/richard-price|url-status=live}}</ref>

On its filings with the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]], the company uses the legal name Academia Inc.<ref name="UC">{{cite web|title=A social networking site is not an open access repository|date=December 2015|url=http://osc.universityofcalifornia.edu/2015/12/a-social-networking-site-is-not-an-open-access-repository/|publisher=University of California Office of Scholarly Communication|access-date=7 July 2016|archive-date=July 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711021056/http://osc.universityofcalifornia.edu/2015/12/a-social-networking-site-is-not-an-open-access-repository/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://ijcsmc.academia.edu/IJCSMCJournal|title=Most followed account on Academia.edu|publisher=Academia.edu|access-date=18 July 2021|archive-date=July 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718075015/https://ijcsmc.academia.edu/IJCSMCJournal|url-status=live}}</ref>

Months after its acquisition of Academia.edu competitor [[Mendeley]], [[Elsevier]] sent thousands of [[takedown notice]]s to Academia.edu, a practice that has ceased since then, following widespread complaint by academics, according to Academia.edu founder and chief executive Richard Price.<ref name="Parr2014">{{cite journal|last1=Parr|first1=Chris|title=Sharing is a way of life for millions on Academia.edu|journal=Times Higher Education|date=June 12, 2014|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/sharing-is-a-way-of-life-for-millions-on-academiaedu/2013839.article?nopaging=1|access-date=14 September 2015|archive-date=February 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208173402/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/sharing-is-a-way-of-life-for-millions-on-academiaedu/2013839.article?nopaging=1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Howard2013">{{cite journal|last1=Howard|first1=Jennifer|title=Posting Your Latest Article? You Might Have to Take It Down|journal=The Chronicle of Higher Education|date=December 6, 2013|url=http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/posting-your-latest-article-you-might-have-to-take-it-down/48865|access-date=14 September 2015|archive-date=September 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908075810/http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/posting-your-latest-article-you-might-have-to-take-it-down/48865|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2022 the company announced plans to launch ten “open access” journals "to swiftly review and publish their work, in a fresh disruption to the sector".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Jack|first=Andrew|date=2022-02-21|title=Tencent-backed academic network to launch 'open access' journals|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/338e7d86-4a42-46cf-a0e9-9081b136bec7|access-date=2022-02-23|archive-date=February 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223103735/https://www.ft.com/content/338e7d86-4a42-46cf-a0e9-9081b136bec7|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Competitors==

Critics mention several alternatives for free access publications for people who want to make their work freely available. Many universities and educational consortia have their own institutional repositories, including the [[Big Ten Academic Alliance]]. [[Zenodo]] (funded by The [[OpenAIRE Consortium]]) and [[Humanities Commons]] both work to keep humanities scholarship online without monetizing it.{{CN|date=June 2023}} Academia.edu's competitors include [[ResearchGate]], [[Google Scholar]] and [[Mendeley]].<ref name="THE">{{cite web|url=https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/do-academic-social-networks-share-academics-interests|title=Do academic social networks share academics' interests?|last1=Matthews|first1=David|date=7 April 2016|website=[[Times Higher Education]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160417100025/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/do-academic-social-networks-share-academics-interests|archive-date=2016-04-17|url-status=live|access-date=2016-04-22}}</ref> In 2016 Academia.edu reportedly had more registered users than ResearchGate (about 34 million versus 11 million<ref name="Bloomberg2016">{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-15/bill-gates-backed-research-network-targets-advertising-revenues|title=Bill Gates-Backed Research Network Targets Advertising Revenue|last1=Satariano|first1=Adam|date=15 November 2016|access-date=2016-11-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130040113/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-15/bill-gates-backed-research-network-targets-advertising-revenues|archive-date=2016-11-30|url-status=live|website=[[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]]}}</ref>) and higher web traffic, but ResearchGate had substantially more active usage by researchers. In 2020, the traffic ranks had reversed, with ResearchGate ranked in the top 150–200 websites globally according to [[Alexa Internet]], whereas Academia.edu was positioned in the 200–300 range.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

[[Unpaywall]], which collects data about [[open access]] versions of academic publications and provides easy access to them, is considered a competitor to Academia.edu for the users who prefer more legally sound [[green open access]] hosts.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Kerry|last1=Dhakal|title=Unpaywall|journal=Journal of the Medical Library Association|date=15 April 2019|volume=107|issue=2|pages=286–288|pmc=6466485|doi=10.5195/jmla.2019.650}}</ref>

== Criticism ==

Academia.edu is not a university or institution for higher learning and so under current standards it would not qualify for the "[[.edu]]" [[top-level domain]]. However, since the domain name "Academia.edu" was registered in 1999, before the regulations required .edu domain names to be held solely by accredited post-secondary institutions in the US, it is allowed to remain active and operational. All .edu domain names registered before 2001 were [[.edu#Grandfathered uses|grandfathered in]], even if not an accredited USA post-secondary institution.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://net.educause.edu/edudomain/eligibility.asp |title=edu Policy Information |publisher=Net.educause.edu |date=2001-10-29 |access-date=2012-02-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130421074131/http://net.educause.edu/edudomain/eligibility.asp |archive-date=2013-04-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=Atlantic>{{cite web|author=McKenna, Laura|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/12/the-convoluted-profits-of-academic-publishing/421047/|title=The Convoluted Profits of Academic Publishing|work=The Atlantic|date=17 December 2015|access-date=March 5, 2017|archive-date=December 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219233404/https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/12/the-convoluted-profits-of-academic-publishing/421047/|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to the [[University of Oklahoma]] libraries, when interacting with Academia.edu, users should keep in mind that "you are not the customer," but rather "you are the product that these services seek to monetize and/or "offer up" to advertisers," that "you might be breaking the law," even if you are uploading your own work," and finally that "there are privacy implications," because a commercial site does not follow professional standards and "may share information about you".<ref>[https://libraries.ou.edu/content/understanding-academiaedu-and-researchgate Understanding Academia.Edu and Researchgate] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220419100740/https://libraries.ou.edu/content/understanding-academiaedu-and-researchgate |date=April 19, 2022 }} University of Oklahoma University Libraries</ref>

A critic, [[Kathleen Fitzpatrick (American academic)|Kathleen Fitzpatrick]], the director of scholarly communication at the [[Modern Language Association]], said she found the use of the ".edu" domain name by Academia.edu to be "extremely problematic", since it might mislead users into thinking the site is part of an accredited educational institution rather than a for-profit company.<ref name=Atlantic/>

Academia.edu claims it supports the [[open science]] or [[open access]] movements and, in particular, instant distribution of research, and a [[Peer review|peer-review]] system that occurs alongside distribution, instead of before it.<ref>{{cite web |author=Richard Price |url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/02/05/the-future-of-peer-review/ |title=The Future of Peer Review |publisher=TechCrunch |date=2012-02-05 |access-date=2012-02-22 |archive-date=April 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430233927/http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/05/the-future-of-peer-review/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Accordingly, the company stated its opposition to the proposed (since withdrawn) 2011 U.S. [[Research Works Act]], which would have prevented open-access mandates in the U.S.<ref>{{cite web |author=Richard Price |url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/02/15/the-dangerous-research-works-act/ |title=The Dangerous "Research Works Act" |publisher=TechCrunch |date=2012-02-15 |access-date=2012-02-22 |archive-date=March 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312102036/http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/15/the-dangerous-research-works-act/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

However, in the view of critic [[Peter Suber]], Academia.edu is not an [[open access repository]] and is not recommended as a way to pursue [[green open access]]. Peter Suber instead invites researchers to use field-specific repositories or general-purpose repositories like [[Zenodo]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Open Access book §10 self help |url=https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/hoap/?title=Open_Access_%28the_book%29&oldid=5242#Chapter_10:_Self-Help |author=Peter Suber |date=2016 |access-date=May 19, 2016 |archive-date=July 1, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701201606/https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/hoap/?title=Open_Access_%28the_book%29&oldid=5242#Chapter_10:_Self-Help |url-status=live }}</ref>

In early 2016, some users reported having received e-mails from Academia.edu where they were asked if they would be interested in paying a fee to have their papers recommended by the website's editors.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.chronicle.com/article/Scholars-Criticize/235102|title=Scholars Criticize Academia.edu Proposal to Charge Authors for Recommendations|date=2016-01-29|newspaper=The Chronicle of Higher Education|access-date=2017-01-26|archive-date=August 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805083718/http://www.chronicle.com/article/Scholars-Criticize/235102/|url-status=live}}</ref> This led some users to start a campaign encouraging users to cancel their Academia.edu accounts.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2016/02/01/should-you-deleteacademiaedu|title=Should you #DeleteAcademiaEdu? On the role of commercial services in scholarly communication.|date=2016-02-01|newspaper=Impact of Social Sciences|language=en-US|access-date=2017-01-26|archive-date=May 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507031227/https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2016/02/01/should-you-deleteacademiaedu/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Other criticisms include the fact that Academia.edu uses a [[vendor lock-in]] model: "It's up to Academia.edu to decide what you can and can't do with the information you've given them, and they're not likely to make it easy for alternative methods to access".<ref name=":0"/> This is in reference to the fact that, although papers can be read by non-users, a free account is needed in order to download papers: "you need to be logged in to do most of the useful things on the site (even as a casual reader)".<ref name=":0" />

In December 2016, Academia.edu announced new premium features that includes data analytics on work and the professional rank of the viewers,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/@academia/how-do-people-find-your-papers-academia-edu-introduces-a-new-premium-feature-8b221176f57f|title=How do people find your papers? Academia.edu Introduces a New Premium Feature|last=Team|first=The Academia edu|date=2016-12-20|website=Medium|access-date=2017-01-26|archive-date=February 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202075646/https://medium.com/@academia/how-do-people-find-your-papers-academia-edu-introduces-a-new-premium-feature-8b221176f57f|url-status=live}}</ref> which have also received criticism.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.plannedobsolescence.net/academia-not-edu/|title=Academia, Not Edu|date=2015-10-26|newspaper=Planned Obsolescence|language=en-US|access-date=2017-01-26|archive-date=January 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128171339/http://www.plannedobsolescence.net/academia-not-edu/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.diggitmagazine.com/column/end-academiaedu-how-business-takes-over-again|title=The end of Academia.edu: how business takes over, again|date=2017-04-26|work=diggit magazine|access-date=2017-05-02|language=en|archive-date=May 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501075033/https://www.diggitmagazine.com/column/end-academiaedu-how-business-takes-over-again|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
*{{Official website}}

{{Wikidata property|P5715}}
{{Commons category}}

{{Online social networking|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Internet properties established in 2008]]
[[Category:American social networking websites]]
[[Category:Professional networks]]
[[Category:Social media companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Companies based in San Francisco]]
[[Category:Privately held companies based in California]]
[[Category:Scholarly communication]]
[[Category:Aggregation-based digital libraries]]

Academia.edu - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 14:28, 16 August 2023