r/academia is a subreddit with 109k members. The most common kinds of discussions are advice requests and pain & anger, and the community frequently discusses academia, struggling, research, hate, and job, and they frequently recommend/review pen, statistics book, and tablet.
An online community for discussing issues related to academia, faculty life, research, and institutional structures. This is NOT the place to ask questions about your homework, your particular school or professors, or to get admission advice!
Survey posts must be approved by mods in advance, must include contact/IRB info, and must be specific to academia.
Popular Themes in r/academia
#1
Advice Requests
: "A researcher emailed me asking for the entire dataset and replication materials for my published paper. Is it okay to share?"
18 posts
#2
Pain & Anger
: "Teaching a struggling discipline and it’s breaking my heart"
4 posts
#3
Solution Requests
: "Preprint Server options other than bioRxiv and arXiv? For review paper in life sciences"
1 post
#4
Money Talk
: "Asst. Prof Salary + Monthly Budget (78k) | Social Sciences/Humanities"
1 post
Popular Topics in r/academia
#1
Academia
15 posts
#2
Struggling
14 posts
#3
Research
10 posts
#4
Hate
8 posts
#5
Job
7 posts
#6
Sites
4 posts
#7
Phd
3 posts
#8
Publication
2 posts
#9
Writing
2 posts
#10
Depression
1 post
Products Discussed in r/academia
Pen
9 reviews
#1
Caran d’Ache Ballpoint
5.0★ from 2 reviews
#2
Pilot G2
5.0★ from 1 review
#3
Pilot Heritage
5.0★ from 1 review
Statistics Book
4 reviews
#1
Calvin Dytham
4.0★ from 1 review
#2
Wackerly
4.0★ from 1 review
#3
Sheldon Ross
4.0★ from 1 review
Tablet
3 reviews
#1
reMarkable
4.5★ from 2 reviews
#2
Apple
5.0★ from 1 review
Flair Used in r/academia
#1
Job market
: "Does anyone else feel like universities have lost sight of what they’re supposed to be?"
18 posts
#2
Publishing
: "Prestige as the currency of academia is the biggest scam of all"
18 posts
#3
Venting & griping
: "I was a PhD-level scientist at a biotech company. I now mow lawns for a living. I don't want to go back."
18 posts
#4
Research issues
: "‘Insane data’: Duke professor Dan Ariely accused of additional research fraud"
11 posts
#5
Academic politics
: "The most hilarious academic scandal of the year (so far)"
10 posts
#6
Institutional structure/budgets/etc.
: "Adjuncting Until the End of Time - Universities now have more adjuncts than tenured and tenure-track professors combined. The conditions are unsustainable—for professors and students alike."
8 posts
#7
Students & teaching
: "'Humanity has chosen to become idiots': This Brown professor switched to take-home exams after a mass shooting and discovered mass cheating"
4 posts
#8
Mentoring
: "Unstable 3rd year of PhD - need fresh eyes"
2 posts
Member Growth in r/academia
Yearly
+16k members(17.7%)
Similar Subreddits to r/academia
r/AskAcademia
2.1M members
2.4% / yr
r/ChatGPTPromptGenius
818k members
35.3% / yr
r/labrats
725k members
6.9% / yr
r/LeavingAcademia
24k members
48.6% / yr
r/PhD
284k members
31.0% / yr
r/publichealth
158k members
6.0% / yr
r/Student
44k members
33.0% / yr
r/Students
54k members
83.7% / yr
r/Teachers
2.4M members
8.8% / yr
r/UserExperienceDesign
31k members
23.5% / yr
About
GummySearch helps people research Reddit communities by organizing activity, growth, themes, and post-level signals into one place.
This page gives a focused view of r/academia, including current member size, discussion patterns, product reviews, and related communities to explore.
This data is synced periodically so insights stay current and useful for ongoing research.
Last updated: September 6, 2026