The British Academy is the national Academy for the humanities and social sciences. It was granted its Royal Charter in 1902, under the full title of 'The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical, and Philological Studies'.

It is an independent and self-governing fellowship of scholars, elected for distinction and achievement in one of more branches of the academic disciplines that make up the humanities and social sciences.

The Academy's publications arise from its programme of scholarly lectures and conferences, and also from its longstanding research projects, including critical editions of primary source texts and documents.

The British Academy publishes books in a number of series (see below):