Social science is a major category of academic disciplines, concerned with society and the relationships among individuals within a society.

It in turn has many branches, each of which is considered a "social science".

The main social sciences include economics, political science, human geography, demography, psychology, and sociology.

In a wider sense, social science also includes some fields in the humanities such as anthropology, archaeology, jurisprudence, history, and linguistics.

The term is also sometimes used to refer specifically to the field of sociology, the original 'science of society', established in the 19th century.

A more detailed list of sub-disciplines within the social sciences can be found at Outline of social science.

Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human culture.

In the Middle Ages, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the time.

Today, the humanities are more frequently contrasted with natural, and sometimes social, sciences as well as professional training.

Knowledge is a familiarity, awareness or understanding of someone or something, such as facts, information, descriptions, or skills, which is acquired through experience or education by perceiving, discovering, or learning.

An academic or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published.

Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny and discussion of research.

They are usually peer-reviewed or refereed.

Content typically takes the form of articles presenting original research, review articles, and book reviews.

The purpose of an academic journal, according to the first editor of the world's oldest academic journal Henry Oldenburg, is to give researchers a venue to "impart their knowledge to one another, and contribute what they can to the Grand design of improving natural knowledge, and perfecting all Philosophical Arts, and Sciences.".

A book is a set of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other materials, fastened together to hinge at one side, with text and/or images printed in ink.

A single sheet within a book is a leaf, and each side of a leaf is a page.

A set of text-filled or illustrated pages produced in electronic format for reading on a computer screen, smartphone or e-reader device is known as an electronic book, or e-book.