View source for Learned society

{{Short description|Social entity established to pursue a scholarly field or academic discipline}}
 
[[File:200 y Anniversary of Berlin Academy 1900.jpg|thumb|200th anniversary of Berlin Academy, 1900|250px|right]]

A '''learned society''' ({{IPAc-en|'|l|ɜr|n|ɪ|d}} {{respell|LEHRN|id}}; also '''scholarly''', '''intellectual''', or '''academic society''') is an [[organization]] that exists to promote an [[academic discipline]], [[profession]], or a group of related disciplines such as [[the arts]] and [[science]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What is a Learned Society? |url=http://www.esac.ca/about/what-is-a-learned-society/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529163615/http://www.esac.ca/about/what-is-a-learned-society/ |archive-date=29 May 2013 |access-date=10 May 2013 |website=Environmental Studies Association of Canada}}</ref> Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honour conferred by election.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=Learned societies & academies |url=http://www.britishcouncil.org/science-uk-organisations-learned-societies.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140603140851/http://www.britishcouncil.org/science-uk-organisations-learned-societies.htm |archive-date=3 June 2014 |access-date=10 May 2013 |website=British Council}}</ref>

Most learned societies are [[non-profit organization]]s, and many are [[professional association]]s. Their activities typically include holding regular [[Academic conference|conferences]] for the presentation and discussion of new [[research]] results, and publishing or sponsoring [[academic journal]]s in their discipline. Some also act as professional bodies, regulating the activities of their members in the public interest or the collective interest of the membership.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-24 |title=Learned Societies, the key to realising an open access future? |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2019/06/24/learned-societies-the-key-to-realising-an-open-access-future/ |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=Impact of Social Sciences}}</ref>

==History==
Some of the oldest learned societies are the {{Lang|fr|[[Académie des Jeux floraux]]|italic=no}} (founded 1323),<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Accueil/Actualité |url=http://jeuxfloraux.fr/index.html |url-status= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306142439/http://jeuxfloraux.fr/index.html |archive-date=6 March 2018 |access-date=8 May 2018 |website=Académie des Jeux floraux}}</ref> {{Lang|la|[[Sodalitas Litterarum Vistulana]]|italic=no}} (founded 1488), {{lang|it|[[Accademia della Crusca]]|italic=no}} (founded 1583),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-03-01 |title=The reopening of the Accademia (1811) and the fifth edition of the ''Vocabolario'' (1863–1923) |url=http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/en/accademia/history/reopening-accademia-1811-and-fifth-edition-vocabolario-1863-1923 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150301011416/http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/en/accademia/history/reopening-accademia-1811-and-fifth-edition-vocabolario-1863-1923 |archive-date=2015-03-01 |access-date=2021-06-08 |website=Accademia della Crusca}}</ref> {{lang|it|[[Accademia dei Lincei]]|italic=no}} (founded 1603),<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-07-14 |title=Galileo {{!}} Federico Cesi and the Accademia dei Lincei |url=http://galileo.rice.edu/gal/lincei.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714131216/http://galileo.rice.edu/gal/lincei.html |archive-date=2018-07-14 |access-date=2021-06-08 |website=The Galileo Project}}</ref> {{Lang|fr|[[Académie Française]]|italic=no}} (founded 1635),<ref>{{Cite web |title=L'histoire |url=https://www.academie-francaise.fr/linstitution/lhistoire |access-date=2021-06-08 |website=Académie française}}</ref> [[German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina]] (founded 1652),<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jedlitschka|first=Karsten|date=2008-06-20|title=The Archive of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in Halle (Saale): more than 350 years of the history of science|url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsnr.2007.0009|journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society|volume=62|issue=2|pages=237–244|doi=10.1098/rsnr.2007.0009|s2cid=73386192|url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[Royal Society]] (founded 1660) and [[French Academy of Sciences]] (founded 1666).

==Significance==
Scholars in the [[sociology of science]] argue that learned societies are of key importance and their formation assists in the emergence and development of new disciplines or professions.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Wise|first1=Alicia|last2=Estelle|first2=Lorraine|date=2019-07-12|title=How Learned Societies and Open Access Will Learn to Co-Exist|url=https://www.socialsciencespace.com/2019/07/how-learned-societies-and-open-access-will-learn-to-co-exist/|access-date=2021-06-08|website=Social Science Space|language=en-US}}</ref> In the form of professional associations, they can assist in the creation of pathways to leadership.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sha |first=Mandy |date=2019-05-14 |title=Professional Association and Pathways to Leadership in Our Profession |url=https://www.surveypractice.org/article/8192-professional-association-and-pathways-to-leadership-in-our-profession |journal=Survey Practice |language=en |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=1–6 |doi=10.29115/SP-2018-0039 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Structure==
Societies can be very general in nature, such as the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]], specific to a given discipline, such as the [[Modern Language Association]], or specific to a given area of study, such as the [[Royal Entomological Society]].

Most are either specific to a particular country (e.g. the [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]]), though they generally include some members from other countries as well, often with local branches, or are international, such as the [[International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions]] or the [[Regional Studies Association]], in which case they often have national branches. But many are local, such as the [[Massachusetts Medical Society]], the publishers of the internationally known ''[[The New England Journal of Medicine]]''.

Some learned societies (such as the [[Royal Society Te Apārangi]]) have been rechartered by legislation to form [[quango|quasi-autonomous non-governmental organizations]].

==Membership and fellowship{{anchor|Membership|Fellowship}}==
{{redirect|Fellow (learned society)||Fellow}}

Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election.<ref name="auto" />

Some societies offer membership to those who have an interest in a particular subject or discipline, provided they pay their membership fees. Older and more academic/professional societies may offer associateships and/or fellowships to [[fellow]]s who are appropriately qualified by ''[[Honorary degree|honoris causa]]'', or by submission of a portfolio of work or an original thesis. A benefit of membership may be discounts on the subscription rates for the publications of the society. Many of these societies award [[post-nominal letters]] to their memberships.

The membership at the [[World Association in Economics]] is free of cost.<ref>{{Cite web|title=World Association in Economics. Activities
|url=https://sites.google.com/view/world-association-in-economics|accessdate=2024-10-15|language=en}}</ref>

==Online academic communities==
Following the [[globalization]] and the development of information technology, certain scholarly societies—such as the Modern Language Association—have created virtual communities for their members. In addition to established academic associations, academic [[virtual communities]] have been so organized that, in some cases, they have become more important platforms for interaction and scientific collaborations among researchers and faculty than have traditional scholarly societies.{{citation needed|date=September 2014}}
Members of these online academic communities, grouped by areas of interests, use for their communication shared and dedicated [[listservs]] (for example [[JISCMail]]), social networking services (like [[Facebook Messenger|Facebook]] or [[LinkedIn]]) and academic oriented social networks (like Humanities Commons, [[ResearchGate]], [[Mendeley]] or [[Academia.edu]]).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Mike |date=14 February 2013 |title=How virtual science communities are transforming academic research |url=http://www.elsevier.com/connect/how-virtual-science-communities-are-transforming-academic-research |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810135822/http://www.elsevier.com/connect/how-virtual-science-communities-are-transforming-academic-research |archive-date=10 August 2014 |access-date=10 May 2013 |website=[[Elsevier]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nistor |first1=Nicolae |last2=Baltes |first2=Beate |last3=Dascălu |first3=Mihai |last4=Mihăilă |first4=Dan |last5=Smeaton |first5=George |last6=Trăuşan-Matu |first6=Ştefan |display-authors=3 |date=May 2014 |title=Participation in virtual academic communities of practice under the influence of technology acceptance and community factors. A learning analytics application |url=https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cel_pubs/20 |journal=Computers in Human Behavior |volume=34 |pages=339–344 |doi=10.1016/j.chb.2013.10.051 |access-date=2019-08-16 |archive-date=2020-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806062213/https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cel_pubs/20/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Science}}
{{main cat|Learned societies}}
* [[Academic conference]]s
* [[List of learned societies]]
* [[National academy]]
* [[Professional association]]
* [[Text publication society]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{EB1911 Poster|Societies, Learned|Learned society}}
* [https://www.scholarly-societies.org/ Scholarly Societies Project - Edition 2] – database of hundreds of scholarly societies in various fields, focusing on the oldest societies; includes abbreviations for their journal titles

{{Phaleristics|state=collapsed}}
{{Academic publishing}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Learned societies| ]]
[[Category:Scientific organizations]]