You can upload lots of documents to Academia, be they a research paper, book, poem, citation, or any other piece of literature you can imagine. Follow the steps in this article to upload your document to your Academia profile. Academia accepts .pdf, .docx, and many other file formats.
How do I upload a document or file?
This process will show you how to upload a paper to Academia. You can use this process to upload anything you want; it doesn't have to be a paper!
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Click the Upload button to begin uploading your document. There are two places where you can find this button:
- In the navigation bar at the top of the website
- On your profile page under your information
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Next, add the full text of the document, paper, or academic work that you'd like to share with the world. Click Choose a File to find its location on your computer, or drag and drop your document into the designated box on your screen. You can add as many files as you want at once!
💡 Tip: Don't have a document to attach? Click "No file to upload?" to skip this step. - Wait for your papers to upload. You can see the progress bar of each paper above the name of the file or paper name.
- Complete the CAPTCHA if requested. We might ask you to complete a CAPTCHA to help avoid spam from being uploaded to the site.
- When you're done uploading your documents, click Continue.
- Next, we'll ask you to provide additional information about your paper. Here you can add the abstract, co-authors, tag your paper with research interests, and share the final product. The Paper Title is mandatory.
- When you're done completing this form, scroll to the bottom and click Save Paper Details.
- Finally, we'll ask you to provide a few sentences about your paper. Write whatever your heart desires in a way that you feel will capture your audience. Typically, we suggest you add a short summary, your primary thesis, or how your document is related to the greater literature surrounding the subject.
- Click Post when you're finished.
After completing these steps, we'll take you back to your profile, where you can confirm your document is added to your profile. Still have questions about uploading? Let us know!
Related questions
Why wasn't my document uploaded correctly?
The most common issues uploading a file are caused by:
- File sizes too large. Files must be 100MB or less.
- Incompatible file format. Try converting your file to an accepted file format compatible with Academia.
- Password-protected or encrypted file(s). Remove passwords or encryptions from your files.
If your document still failed to upload, or the preview looks different from your original file, read our file upload troubleshooting guide.
Are research interests required?
Nope. If you don't add research interests, we might suggest you add some research interests, but you're not required to add them.
Research interests function as tags on your paper, and having your paper appear in research interest feeds is a huge driver of paper traffic.
We recommend a variety of research interests, from very broad ("War History") to mid-range ("American Revolution") to specific ("British Regiments in the Battle of Brandywine"), to make sure your paper gets the attention it deserves.
Can I upload a video to Academia?
You can share videos from Vimeo and YouTube to Academia by copying and pasting the link into the Link field. There are a couple of caveats for sharing a video:
- If you upload a document with your link, your readers will have to click the link to watch the video. The link will be included the paper's metadata.
- If you don't upload a document, the video will be playable on the Academia website.
Why is my file still converting?
We have to convert your documents so that they will be readable on the website. It might take roughly 10 - 20 minutes to convert your document. See what you can do if your document is still converting.