National Coalition of Independent Scholars is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization providing professional affiliation, support services, and camaraderie to scholars outside of tenured academia. Although based in the United States, our membership and activities extend internationally, and in August 2019 NCIS Full and Associate members comprise over 250 scholars in 26 countries in Europe, Asia, Australia as well as Canada and the Americas. Membership is open to scholars across all disciplines. NCIS assesses the qualifications of each membership candidate for intellectual contribution, scholarly rigor, and independent status prior to acceptance. Being a scholar in any field requires original contribution to the accumulated knowledge of the chosen discipline.

Our most recent international conference was held at the University of Massachussetts, Amherst in June 2019, on the theme "Making Connections, Meeting Challenges," and we are now planning our next conference, to be held in England in 2022. NCIS also publishes an open access, peer-reveiwed journal, The Independent Scholar with two volumes in 2020 dedicated to papers expanded from communications given at the 2019 conference. Visit our conference and TIS pages on the site to discover more.

NCIS is an affiliate of the American Historical Association and a member of the The Alliance of Nonprofits.