[INDOLOGY] Discussing Academia.edu

[Dominik Wujastyk]

Many of us use Academia.edu as a shop-window for our publications and our
academic identity.

There was a piece by Sarah Bond published in Forbes on Monday
<http://www.forbes.com/sites/drsarahbond/2017/01/23/dear-scholars-delete-your-account-at-academia-edu/#39e520de2ee0>
this week that raises a number of criticisms of Academia.edu, and
recommends deleting your Academia.edu account.

I've read Bond's piece carefully, and I find its arguments extremely weak.
I don't wish to do a point-by-point rejoinder here.  But I do want to
signal to colleagues that Bond's alarmist critique of Academia.edu is
something that I personally will ignore.

I remain very happy with Academia.edu, while recognizing that there are
some issues that require vigilance and discussion.  I have written to
Richard Price the founder of Academia.edu and a former Fellow of All Souls,
Oxford, more than once in the past, and he has always answered personally
and discussed my concerns seriously.  Similarly with other staff members.
The areas where Academia.edu might need to watch its step are areas that
apply to all other similar services.  The benefits that Academia.edu offers
its users are substantial, for a combination of hosting research, for
subject-specific awareness alerts, for networking, and for analytics.  I
see no competitor out there that quite offers the same ecosystem with the
same combination of benefits.

Best,
Dominik Wujastyk


​
--
Professor Dominik Wujastyk <http://ualberta.academia.edu/DominikWujastyk>
​,​

Singhmar Chair in Classical Indian Society and Polity
​,​

Department of History and Classics <http://historyandclassics.ualberta.ca/>
​,​
University of Alberta, Canada
​.​

South Asia at the U of A:

​sas.ualberta.ca​
​​


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