Independent scholars are a growing part of the academic landscape. They may have been jilted by the academic job market, or are uninterested in either being on the tenure track or in cobbling together full-time work as adjuncts. Like traditional professors, they perform research, secure grants, and publish books and papers. In some cases, their work is having an impact on their disciplines, challenging established views and advancing knowledge in the field. But independent scholars say their contributions are frequently discounted by tenured professors, who, as gatekeepers of scholarly conversations and the distribution of intellectual ideas, tend to exclude those who lack university credentials. Some prominent professors acknowledge that such scholars do important academic work. Yet professors question whether the blogs, podcasts, Facebook posts, and tweets that independent scholars sometimes depend on as alternatives to journal publishing are more harmful than helpful to the quality of scholarship. The work life of an independent scholar--with its freedom from the performance requirements of the tenure track--can be attractive to those with young children and those who can't or don't want to relocate for a faculty job. Yet theirs can be a spartan existence, lacking intellectual colleagues or recognition, a calling that most can afford to pursue only by working extra part-time jobs or relying on a partner's income. The financial needs of independent scholars can also get in the way of academic freedom by limiting the kinds of questions they are able to ask and the projects they are willing to pursue. "The Chronicle" talked with Ph.D.'s who work as independent scholars in anthropology, Asian studies, biology, education, English, evolution, history, political science, religion, and theater. Some set up shop on their own after they failed to earn tenure or grew disillusioned with the culture of large research universities, which they found too limiting, in terms of the kinds of projects they could pursue, or too competitive. Others sidestepped academe from the very beginning, some for jobs outside higher education, others because they didn't want to be tied down to a full-time position.