Priced out of belonging? Insufficient concessions on membership fees across international societies in ecology and evolution

Learned societies, as professional bodies for scientists, are an integral part of the scientific system. However, their membership fees have the potential to be prohibitive to the most vulnerable members of the scientific community. To shed light on how membership fees are structured, we conducted a survey of 182 international learned societies relevant to researchers in ecology and evolution. We found that 83% of these societies offered fee concessions to students, but only 26% to postdoctoral researchers. An average regular membership fee-US$67.8, student fee-US$27.4 (42.7% of the regular fee) and postdoctoral fee-US$42.7 (52.9%). Other types of individual concessions, such as for emeritus, family or unemployed, were rare (2-20%). Of the surveyed societies, 43% had discounts for members from developing countries (Global South). Such discounts were more common among societies located in high-income countries. Societies with a publicly visible commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion were more likely to offer different types of concessions. Currently, fees may prevent researchers from vulnerable and underprivileged groups from accessing multiple professional benefits offered by learned societies in ecology and evolution. This includes postdoctoral researchers, who should receive more support. We recommend tangible actions towards making learned societies more affordable and accessible.

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Publication Details

Journal
Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
Published
2025-02-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.1430
Citations
2
Primary Topic
scientometrics and bibliometrics research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.80

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article

Priced out of belonging? Insufficient concessions on membership fees across international societies in ecology and evolution

Malgorzata Lagisz, Elina Takola, Joanna Rutkowska, Patrice Pottier et al.
2 citations
Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
scientometrics and bibliometrics research
2.80
article

Priced out of belonging? Insufficient concessions on membership fees across international societies in ecology and evolution

Malgorzata Lagisz, Elina Takola, Joanna Rutkowska, Patrice Pottier, Yefeng Yang, Nina Trubanová, Ayumi Mizuno, Matthieu Paquet, April Robin Martinig, Saeed Shafiei Sabet, Szymon Marian Drobniak, Ying‐Chi Chan, Shinichi Nakagawa, James Orr, Dylan Gomes, Manuela S. Santana, Michael G. Bertram, Kevin R. Bairos‐Novak, Eli S.J. Thoré, Caleb Onoja Akogwu, Zhenzhuo Xian
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Learned societies, as professional bodies for scientists, are an integral part of the scientific system. However, their membership fees have the potential to be prohibitive to the most vulnerable members of the scientific community. To shed light on how membership fees are structured, we conducted a survey of 182 international learned societies relevant to researchers in ecology and evolution. We found that 83% of these societies offered fee concessions to students, but only 26% to postdoctoral researchers. An average regular membership fee-US$67.8, student fee-US$27.4 (42.7% of the regular fee) and postdoctoral fee-US$42.7 (52.9%). Other types of individual concessions, such as for emeritus, family or unemployed, were rare (2-20%). Of the surveyed societies, 43% had discounts for members from developing countries (Global South). Such discounts were more common among societies located in high-income countries. Societies with a publicly visible commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion were more likely to offer different types of concessions. Currently, fees may prevent researchers from vulnerable and underprivileged groups from accessing multiple professional benefits offered by learned societies in ecology and evolution. This includes postdoctoral researchers, who should receive more support. We recommend tangible actions towards making learned societies more affordable and accessible.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological SciencesVol. 292(2040)
University College Dublin (IE), Australian National University (AU), Jagiellonian University (PL), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Oregon State University (US), Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (DE), University of British Columbia (CA), University of Namur (BE), University of Alberta (CA), Stockholm University (SE), The University of Queensland (AU), Swiss Ornithological Institute (CH), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SE), UNSW Sydney (AU), University of Oxford (GB), Wuhan Botanical Garden (CN), Station d’Écologie Théorique et Expérimentale (FR), Environmental Earth Sciences (AU), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Universidade Federal do Paraná (BR), Monash University (AU), University of Guilan (IR), KU Leuven (BE)
Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas, Kempestiftelserna, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Australian Research Council
Reduced inequalities
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
scientometrics and bibliometrics research
2.80
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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