Academia.edu is a website dedicated for education institutions. It allows users to share papers and findings to make it accessible for others to read. In 2008, the website becomes a virtual network that more than 30 million scholars, academics and students are using.
Academia.edu is a platform for academics and the counterparts. The website analytic identifies daily 'log in' from both, which means, it seems that general public also want to read research papers. Aside from its social networking benefits, Academia.edu is doubted whether it is suitable for all. If you are a student and looking for some papers for sale, first of all, check out this resource.
1. Academia.edu is shifting to a private business model
According to the Atlantic, the website owns 26 employees in 2015 and received capital of $17.7 million. The for-profit company is doubted whether it will sit well with some institutions.
2. The research-sharing network has no affiliate in educational sector
The University Affairs reported that, as a business model, the website does not mirror to what it's dedicated for. Jonathan Sterne writes in his account profile that he doesn't trust Academia.edu. He is doubtful whether Academia.edu is a trusted company to provide the service.
Furthermore, the media scholar also refuses to publish any of his paper to the website as he questions the unknown purpose of the knowledge sharing. Encouraging colleagues to do so; he also says that the papers are 'being monetized by parasitic third parties'.
3. It may require users to pay for subscribe or upload their research
With the website being a profit organization, this may lead to subscription fees or limited number of options in order to earn revenue so the website could still run. Kathleen Fitzpatrick her thought in Planned Obsolescence of how Academia.edu might request contributors to pay to access its features because the purpose is no longer about academics but a mind on sales and ads; but 'to provide trending data to improve decision quality for researchers'.
Now the question is, do you trust Academia.edu?