Membership | Our Approach 

Founded in 1984, Common Ground is committed to building new kinds of knowledge communities, innovative in their media, and forward-thinking in their messages. 

Heritage knowledge systems are characterized by vertical separations--of discipline, professional association, institution, and country. We strive to offer an alternative; to nurture research networks as meeting places for people, ideas, and dialogues that cut horizontally across legacy knowledge structures. And our Members are committed to meaningful questions about sustainability, diversity, learning, the future of humanities, the nature of interdisciplinarity, the place of the arts in society, and technology's connections with knowledge--issues that require interdisciplinary thinking, global conversations, and cross-institutional intellectual collaborations and real-world applications. 

Our Research Networks offer integrated programs of action: international conferences, scholarly journals, book imprints, and an online scholarly communication ecosystem using our path-breaking social knowledge software, CGScholar.

And its Membership that makes our independent organization possible.

Common Ground Research Networks is a not-for-profit corporation registered in the State of Illinois, USA, organized and operated pursuant to the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986, 805 ILCS 105/101.01, et seq., (the "Act") or the corresponding section of any future Act.

Benefits of Becoming a Member

Our members present in-person or online at their annual conference, publish in our journals, and write for our book imprints. And as a member, you receive the following benefits:

Annual Conference Access & Discounts

• Discount to the annual conference (or any other Common Ground Research Network Conference)
• Complimentary Online Only Audience Pass for Annual Conference (on request)
• Access to Digital Media for Past Conferences

Publishing Opportunities

• Members receive 15,000 CGScholar Credits that can be applied in the Rights Agreement Phase to publish one journal article or upgrade to an Open Acess Option
• Dedicated Managing Editor to review book manuscript applications
• Ability to serve as a peer reviewer and to become recognized on the Editorial Board

Access to Content 

• A one-year personal electronic subscription journal and book content published by the Research Network

• $25 annual CGScholar Credit that can be used in the bookstore

Virtual Programming

• Access to all of the Imagining Futures speaker series, and Meet the Author series content

• Learning Series: we offer educational, insightful, and relevant content on industry trends via online training sessions on book and journal publishing; navigating early career challenges; mentorship programs, and much more

• Partner Series: featured events by our network partners or local hosts

Building Community

• Ability to grow your network via our CGScholar Community social space.

• Quarterly Research Network email newsletter containing news and information about upcoming Events, new publications, and trending topics from the Research Network

How to Become a Member

When you join a Common Ground Research Network, you become part of an international society of scholars, researchers, and practitioners. There are two ways you can become a member:

• Attend a Conference: annual Membership is included with any Presenter Pass conference registration. 
• Standalone Membership: you can purchase a yearly standalone membership. Membership is a standard fee of $200.00USD

Frequently Asked Questions

When do I get the discount for my conference registration? Only when you have an existing membership are you eligible for the Returning Member registration rates. For information on how to request this rate, please see our page on registration requests.

How do I register with my complementary Online Only Audience Pass? Please submit a ticket with the name of the conference you'd like to participate in as an Online Audience Member.

What are CGScholar Credits?

When does my journal and book subscription begin/expire? your subscription includes twelve months of electronic access to all journal and book content in the corresponding Research Network. If members have an existing subscription for the same content, the existing subscription will be extended by an additional twelve months. Your electronic subscription begins on the date that your membership is purchased. Or, if you have acquired your membership as part of an Event Registration, your electronic subscription starts on the day you complete payment. Your electronic subscription will expire 12 months from the day you purchased your Event registration.