The value of learned societies in the biological sciences: benefits, threats, and futures.

David J S Montagnes, Joel B Dacks, John R Dolan, Virginia Edgcomb, Rachel Foster, R Ellen R Nisbet, Anastasios D Tsaousis

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In one paragraph

Review in BMC biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

David J S MontagnesDepartment of Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZT, UK. DJS.Montagnes@outlook.com.

Joel B DacksDivision of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.

John R DolanStation Zoologique, Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche-sur-Mer, Villefranche-Sur-Mer, 06230, France.

Virginia EdgcombGeology and Geophysics Department, McLean Laboratory, Mail Stop 08, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA, 02543-1050, USA.

Rachel FosterDepartment of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.

R Ellen R NisbetSchool of Biosciences, Sutton Bonington Campus, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, UK.

Anastasios D TsaousisSchool of Natural Sciences, Ingram Building, University of Kent, Giles Lane, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NH, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Learned societies play a vital role in fostering interactions that are important in scholarly discourse and the advancement of biological sciences. However, they now face threats from declining funding and membership, shifting disciplinary boundaries, changing approaches towards digital communication, and academic marketization. We outline the historical development of these societies and propose ways to sustain them. Key considerations include improving meetings, adapting publishing models, ensuring financial stability, expanding membership, strengthening outreach, and managing increasingly broad remits. Our main aim is to examine how regional learned societies can maintain their roles to support scientific progress and enrich broader society.

Indexed as

Biological Science DisciplinesSocieties, ScientificAcademiaBiological sciencesLearned societiesScholarly societies

Identifiers

PMID41917930

DOI10.1186/s12915-026-02583-x

PMCPMC13159223

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY-NC-ND

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.