When you upload a draft to Academia.edu, you can transform your document into a discussion - a conversation around your new piece, where other academics can comment and offer feedback on your ideas!
To start a discussion, click your name in the top right-hand corner, then select "Start a Discussion."
Once you're brought to the list of your current and ended discussions, select "Start Discussion" to start a new discussion. Or, if you want to add some new commentary on a discussion you're already in, click the title of that discussion!
If you want to open a discussion on a document that already exists on your profile, you can select it from the top drop-down. Otherwise, you can select "Upload Paper" to add a new paper to your profile and begin a discussion around it.
If you want to add a discussion to a document you've already uploaded, simply select that paper from the drop-down menu, then click continue.
You can also upload a new paper to Academia and start a discussion based on it. To do so, select "Upload paper," add the document from your computer, then add in the paper information, including the abstract, co-authors, and publication information. Click the captcha, then select the green "Continue" button!
Once you've finished inviting people to your discussion, we'll ask you to give a brief explanation of your discussion, what kind of conversation you're looking to start, some opening questions, or anything else.
Once that's done, we'll take you directly to your discussion session! Please be aware that if your paper says "This document is currently being converted. Please check back in a few minutes," that's a perfectly normal part of our conversion process, and your paper should appear pretty soon.