Academic ranks in the United Kingdom are the titles, relative seniority and responsibility of academic staff employed in universities. In general the country has three academic career pathways: one focused on research, one on teaching, and one that combines the two.
The title of reader in universities in the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth of Nations such as India, Australia and New Zealand denotes an appointment for a senior academic with a distinguished international reputation for research or scholarship.
In the traditional hierarchy of British and other Commonwealth universities, reader (and principal lecturer in the new universities) is an academic rank above senior lecturer and below Chaired Professor. Comparatively speaking, a reader can be thought of as a professor but without a chair, similar to the distinction which can be found in universities in the United States, China (Hong Kong) and some parts of Europe.