Membership Benefits

Benefits include:

  • BSA Community - The BSA provides opportunities to meet and collaborate with others who share your interest in establishing invaluable networking and career opportunities.  Through conferences and events, a wide range of specialist and study groups, publications and a postgraduate network, the Association enables scholarship and contact between sociologists to flourish.

  • Mentoring Month - one-to-one conversations between members to share experience, offer support and discuss research and career development (February each year).

  • Members Area of the BSA website. This area includes:
    • Free access to the Sage Sociology Journal Collection - free access to the full searchable text of 158 peer-reviewed journals published by Sage and participating societies, encompassing over 154,600 articles, and access to backfiles from 1998 back to volume 1, issue 1, of each journal (where available).
    • Exclusive access to full-text electronic archives of all BSA journals, Sociology and Work, Employment & Society, Cultural Sociology and Sociological Research Online via SAGE Journals Online.
    • Free electronic access to the following Industrial Relations journals: Economic and Industrial Democracy; European Journal of Industrial Relations; Health; ILR Review; Journal of Industrial Relations; Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research
    • 50% discount for subscription to the following related journals: Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health; Journalism; Language and Literature; Tourist Studies. The following previously discounted journals are now available via the Sociology collection: Journal of Family History; Journal of Sport & Social Issues; Violence Against Women.
    • BSA members have access to Sage Research Methods Core, with free access to Cases module 1 and 2 of the Sage Research Methods database, with access to over 3,700 cases, 775 of which are related to sociology.
    • Free member access to over 1,000 sociology e-books within the SAGE Knowledge e-book platform.
    • Complimentary access to Sage Campus, our online learning platform offering self-paced and instructor-led courses in research methods, data literacy, information literacy and publishing skills.
    • Sociology Funding/Grant Opportunities - a comprehensive listing of funding available within the social sciences arena.
    • CV Noticeboard - a forum to advertise your CV to prospective employers.
    • Three issues per year of the BSA's informative magazine, Network.

  • The BSA, in conjunction with SAGE Publications, publishes two internationally renowned journals, Sociology and Work, Employment & Society. As of January 2023, all BSA members transitioned to online only journals as the BSA takes action for climate care.

  • BSA members receive a discounted individual print subscription to Sociology, Work, Employment and Society and Cultural Sociology journal.

  • Journal discounts - receive 30% discount on all SAGE books and journals, and 50% discount on selected related journals.

  • BSA members are entitled to discounted registration rates at BSA events, including the BSA Annual Conference, which attracts approximately 700 delegates each year.

  • The BSA Support Fund - low-income members can benefit from financial assistance towards research related expenses and attendance at conferences and study group events.  The BSA Support Fund allocates a number of places for UK Concessionary members to cover the cost of registration for the Annual Conference.

  • Only BSA members are eligible to be nominated for the annual Philip Abrams Memorial Book Prize for the best first and sole authored book within the discipline of Sociology. The winner will be presented with a cash prize at the BSA Annual Conference.

  • The BSA operates a network of over 40 Special Interest and Study Groups.  Study Groups focus on major fields of research within the discipline, like Medical Sociology, Religion and Media and Special Interest Groups, such as the Applied Sociology Group, Early Career Forum and the Postgraduate Forum, bring together people who share common experiences and challenges in their academic and professional lives.  Each group provides a professional and social network in which individuals with specialised research, teaching and professional interests can connect and develop their own events to supplement the Annual Conference.

  • Discounted rates on Policy Press journals such as Families, Relationships and Societies, Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, and many more.

  • 4 Elsevier journal discounts for BSA members.  BSA members can now receive a 50%+ discounted rate on subscriptions to the following Elsevier journals:

To purchase a discounted subscription, contact the regional sales office and cite your membership.