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Does the short description we have for BioSE:

Q&A for biology researchers, academics, and students

sound hostile to industry/commercial professionals in biological fields? Perhaps they are meant to be included in "biology researchers?"

As someone who has moved rather fluidly between academics and industry, I've never really drawn a hard line. I pointed this site out to an friend at a conference (who works in a pharm. company), and his first reaction looking at that line was "doesn't sound like a place for industry."

[tangent]Certainly we shouldn't act from a single opinion, but I saw how he would get that opinion. And I want to point out he IS an SO user (who didn't know Bio.SE was up). I haven't met anyone yet who was interested in browsing the site that was both faculty and not a previous user of a different SE site. I also came over after being convinced of the value of the SE format from struggling through some programming on SO. I hope this is a generational problem.[/tangent]

Is there any interest in tweaking the description? I certainly don't have a magic tag line to suggest, but thought it was worth bringing up. Perhaps the site is full of commercial biologists and I didn't even know it.

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    $\begingroup$ This is the default text SE uses for many sites, we simply didn't change it. Though I personally wouldn't read it as excluding industry people, I'd put them into the "researchers" label. $\endgroup$
    – Mad Scientist
    Aug 15, 2014 at 11:06
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    $\begingroup$ I don't see it as excluding industry-types but I'm academic. A wording change to "Q&A for scientists, academics, and students interested in biology" would be inclusive, I think. $\endgroup$
    – Michael S Taylor
    Aug 22, 2014 at 19:14

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Yes, I've thought the same thing, every time I see it. It makes me think, "school". Don't ask me why. Maybe something more like:

Q&A for those involved with the field of biology, from professionals to students

I guess that would include the researchers and academics.

But I see that most of our new users are not from other SE sites, but came simply for biology Q&A. Not that most of them were active. Many people find what they want without having to ask. :)

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