Membership Levels & Qualifications

Membership in the National Coalition of Independent Scholars (NCIS) provides an affiliation for independent scholars worldwide. Members are actively engaged in peer-reviewed scholarly research or a comparable artistic endeavor such as a juried art exhibition or music competition. They may be contingent/adjunct faculty on insecure contracts. They are not tenure track or tenured academics with a secure contract or employed in any capacity aimed at completing the qualifying research or artistic activity.

Most members have earned or are pursuing a graduate-level academic degree. In a few cases, members have produced peer-reviewed work without having earned graduate degrees or have unpublished research papers whose quality can be corroborated by a verified scholar. Eligible independent scholars may include:

- Contingent or part-time faculty members at a university or college
- Employees of academic institutions whose job descriptions do not include support for academic research
- Employees of businesses or other non-university organizations who are pursuing independent research interests
- Retired senior scholars
- Experienced researchers who are changing their field of interest and may not yet have peer-reviewed publications in the new area
- Scholars with peer-reviewed work that has been accepted but not yet published
- Scholars who can provide a letter of recommendation attesting to the high quality of their non-peer reviewed publications

NOTE: By peer-reviewed work, we mean that an article, book, or artistic activity has been submitted for publication or to an artistic competition, that the journal, book publisher, or artistic competition to which you submitted has had other scholarly or artistic experts examine your work, and that the writing or artistic activity was approved for presentation in the same journal or artistic competition. Peer reviews are frequently done blindly, without your knowledge of the reviewers’ identity. Please note that uploading an article to a repository (e.g., Zenodo) or registering something with a DOI or ORCID number does not indicate that the item has been peer-reviewed.

NCIS offers three types of membership: Full, Associate, and Entry

FULL MEMBERS	FEES
Independent scholars who have demonstrated their involvement and commitment in any field through peer-reviewed publications, juried artistic endeavors, or similar activities that invite scholarly response from peers. In most cases, a graduate-level academic degree such as a PhD or MFA is expected. Full members are eligible to be Life members.	1 year: $60 2 years:$110 3 years: $155 Life membership: $1,800
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS	FEES
Associate members are often pursuing graduate-level academic degrees and have demonstrated evidence of independent research. They may also have completed such a degree but do not yet have peer-reviewed publications or similar artistic activities. Many associate members are graduate students or early career scholars, though others may also qualify. Proof of research may be demonstrated through articles accepted to, but not yet published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals or nearly complete doctoral-level dissertations (including contact information for mentors or advisers). As part of the application process, NCIS may request verification of scholarly activity, including article drafts, transcripts, or dissertation chapters. Associate members may publicly identify their NCIS affiliation, receive members-only communications and some benefits, and upgrade their membership when appropriate.	1 year: $50 2 years: $90 3 years: $125
ENTRY MEMBERS	FEES
Entry members have a bachelor's degree and lack substantial progress towards a graduate degree. They are independent scholars who have demonstrated the ability to pursue high-quality research that can be endorsed by a verified scholar. Evidence of independent research can be in the form of preprints, journal submissions, or artistic output. If a publication has not received an official peer review (and acceptance) from a journal or dissertation/thesis committee, the applicant MUST provide a written recommendation and contact information (including name, job title, affiliation, city, state, country of residence, and email address) from a scholar in your field who can vouch for your qualifications. This scholar should have an advanced degree and other pertinent qualifications. This person can be a current NCIS member, but does not need to be. Uploads to SSRN and similar repositories are permitted if a written recommendation is received by NCIS. The scholar named may be contacted to verify the recommendation.	1 year: $45 2 years: $80 3 years: $110
PARTNER GROUP MEMBERSHIP	FEES
Members of partner groups also enjoy some of NCIS benefits, but membership in a partner group does not confer individual membership in NCIS. If a new NCIS member is also a member of a partner group, a $10 introductory discount is applied to the first year of NCIS membership. Remember to indicate the name of your partner group when applying to NCIS. After this has been confirmed, NCIS processes your $10 refund. To start an application for partner group membership, please visit Join NCIS. Contact membership@ncis.org with questions. A list of our current partner groups can be found here.	$10 discount on the first year of individual membership in NCIS Partner under 30 members: $45 Partner 30-100 members: $75 Partner over 100 members: $145

Nondiscrimination Policy

It is the policy of NCIS not to discriminate on the basis of race, creed, ancestry, marital status, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical disability, veteran status, political service or affiliation, color, religion, or national origin. Furthermore, the officers, directors, committee members, and persons served by this corporation shall be selected entirely on a nondiscriminatory basis with respect to age, sex, race, religion, national origin, and sexual orientation.