Lay scholar

A lay scholar is a person who acts as a scholar but without the training or degree that normally goes with it. This can include such people as jailhouse lawyers and some Wikipedians, who offer their knowledge to others in a forum in which it is generally understood by the recipients that the principle of caveat emptor applies. Such customers may rely on the expertise of lay scholars because it is less expensive or the only alternative available. Some lay scholars are able to build a reputation of knowledge that allows them to obtain positions of authority normally reserved for the formally trained.

Other uses

A Lay Scholar may also refer to the highest academic scholarship given by Furman University the Herman W. Lay Scholarship