academia-edu:

by Richard Price

Today Academia.edu is announcing that users can embed data-sets and code onto their Academia.edu profile pages. Data-sets and code can be attached to papers, or can be uploaded in a stand-alone way.

Historically researchers have only shared their ideas in the form of…

Extremely glad to see this. I’ve always thought that the fundamental thing holding back many of the startups seeking to fix research is that sharing of data and protocols are not easy enough.

Still think there’s more to be done here. I think Academia has a chance to reshape research, but in order to do that, more incentives need to be aligned for researchers to post their data. Reputation alone isn’t enough- look at Github. You need to provide an actual tool or software that makes research easier. When you do that, you’ll naturally see more users hopping on board, which will enable more sharing and more overall value that the system provides.

Curious to see how this evolves, but still extremely happy to see this. Good job Academia team!

Agree with the premise of the article but do think that if you look at a venn diagram of people who are motivated by doing meaningful work with those who are motivated to change the world, the overlap is where the real game-changers (Gates, Jobs, Page/Brin, Zuck, Musk) are.

More people need to pursue these ideas with that type of ferocious passion and we’ll truly see a better world.