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It is well-known that LinkedIn is used by scholars too, but I think that the business-friendly structure of your profile-page makes it markedly less suitable for academic purposes. Is there a specifically academic website that includes the same characteristics as LinkedIn plus the possibility to add some more scholarly elements in your profile?

The Hiary
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    Yes. Your professional academic web site. You know, the one with your university's web address, linked from your department's home page. – JeffE Feb 07 '15 at 17:43
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    Yes, it's called: Academia.edu Furthermore, it has some cool analytics features that LinkedIn doesn't. – user4815162342 Jun 28 '15 at 23:28

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ResearchGate is more academic. It allows you to add your research publications, not just papers. It also has a stackexchange like section and a Jobs section, that features listings to research and advanced positions (PHD, Post-Doc) in academic institutions and in business.

As @StephanKolassa noted you should scout Research Gate before joining (follow the link in his comment), as any other alternative.

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    +1. But note that ResearchGate is somewhat controversial. – Stephan Kolassa Feb 07 '15 at 13:46
  • You are right, but part of it is just reading the information that goes into publications and linking it. The only real issue might be that they use you as if you were a member, when you are clearly not (as stated by the person whose question you linked). Other than that it is a valid alternative and your link is a plus to complement the answer. –  Feb 07 '15 at 13:51
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    RG is indeed the perfect academic analogue to LinkedIn, in the sense that LinkedIn's value to your career is also vastly overstated. – xLeitix Feb 07 '15 at 13:54
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    One must never forget that you register to be a product more often than to be a client. –  Feb 07 '15 at 13:56
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    @PedroDuarte I don't like Research Gate. Do you have any other suggestions? –  Feb 09 '15 at 13:31
  • @Dal there is also Academia.edu –  Feb 09 '15 at 16:12
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    @PedroDuarte, I'm sorry, but I don't like that either (indeed, I've asked a question about alternatives to those two). Thank you very much for your effort, though. –  Feb 09 '15 at 20:22
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You could look at the aggregator/identifier system ORCID. I strongly recommend ORCID if you apply for US federal grants, as the writing is on the wall regarding needing an ORCID to do so. A few journals are starting to require ORCIDs for authors as well.

You could also consider a profile at an alternative-metrics aggregator such as ImpactStory.

(Disclaimer: I have an ORCID and an ImpactStory subscription, and consider one of the ImpactStory founders a friend. Nobody pays me to recommend either, however.)

D.Salo
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I think Academia.edu has surpassed Researchgate in terms of uptake, but sometimes it seems more papers are uploaded to Researchgate.

I would not overlook Linked In - a lot of academics us it.

Collega
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