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 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 sponsored an International Conference on Creative Research Methods (Manchester, England, September 2023). NCIS also publishes an open access, peer-reviewed journal, The Independent Scholar, now in its 11th volume. 

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

FREE RESOURCES

Free resources for all independent scholars can be found at www.ncis.org/resources-independent-scholars.

Paid-up members of NCIS can also access additional resources such as podcasts at https://www.ncis.org/member-resources. (You will need to be logged in to access this page).