The title of
reader in the
United Kingdom and some universities in the
Commonwealth of Nations, for example
India,
Australia and
New Zealand, denotes an appointment for a senior academic with a distinguished international reputation in
research or scholarship. It is an
academic rank above
senior lecturer/
associate professor (or principal lecturer in the
new universities), recognising a distinguished record of original research. In the British ranking, a reader could be seen as a
professor without a chair, similar to the distinction between
professor extraordinarius and
professor ordinarius at some European universities, professor and chaired professor in
Hong Kong and "professor name" (or associate professor) and chaired professor in Ireland. Both readers and professors in the UK would correspond to
full professors in the US. At some universities in countries with historically similar university systems, such as Ireland, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Malaysia, the title
associate professor is used in place of
reader, ranking above senior lecturer.