We do not have any requirements for qualifications at AskHistorians; we recognize that many self-taught people at varying levels of education are very capable of producing the high quality, well researched posts that we require. Anyone can apply for flair- the only requirement is to have written good posts. We do not require a CV of any kind.
The flair and moderation teams (which are the only pool of contributors who we have this kind of information on) include a mix of people- some self-taught, some with bachelor's degrees in history, some with master's degrees, and yes, some with PhDs. What they have in common is an interest in history and the expertise to be able to write posts that meet our high standards, no matter what the source of that expertise.
One of the things that I - as someone who's only recently come to the community - find great about AskHistorians is that there is no differentiation between those with an enthusiastic amateur (and I use that term in a totally non-pejorative way) interest in history, and those who work professionally within the field, have professional qualifications, etc. For myself, I have a BA, MA, and PhD in history and work in a university history department (in US terms, I'd be a "tenured professor" but the UK system is quite a bit different). But, I've seen brilliant answers from people who don't have these qualification and don't work professionally in the field. The great thing is that expertise is based on what you contribute and the quality of contributions, not some arbitrary "Oooh, I've got a PhD!" standard!
Malcolm
I have a PhD, but the kind of work done by a person with a PhD is pretty different from the work we do here. We're not writing article- and book-length original research on AH!
PhDs usually dream of teaching in a university, but that's less and less likely to happen these days. So this is a good outlet for people like me who don't have students to teach.
Maybe the only real advantage is that, sometimes, assuming the question is within the very narrow slice of history that I work on, it might be easier for me to find the answer than it would be for others. But there are lots of times when someone else has answered questions like that better than I could have.
I have no degree in history, just 40+ years of fascination with the Pacific War, and particularly The Battle of Midway. I've been a guest lecturer on the Battle a few times at a nearby university. I guess that makes me a layman by some measures, but if so I'm okay with that.
I don't often comment here, and I do not (yet) have a PhD, mainly because of my study load. However, in Australia, to work professionally as a historian and to be accredited as one you only need a Bachelor degree (Honours is basically an advanced Bachelor degree): https://www.historians.org.au/about-membership
The reason why you don't need a PhD to be a professional historian is the same reason you don't need a PhD to be a professional engineer or chemist or whatever: you learn the skills required to do the work in an undergraduate program, and higher degrees allow for specialisation.
Cheers from a layman and a historian.
Always remember, historians - regardless of being academic or public - just simply translate the past for others to understand, and no degree is required for that... All you need is a passion for history, the ability to learn, and some free time.
As a flaired user, I have nothing more than a B.A. in political science. I read broadly in history; I have done extensive independent research in my specialized topic, 19th Century French history, for my history podcast The Siècle; most importantly, though, I know how to research things. Most of the time I don't know the answer to an interesting question before I start writing; I either know I have books that address the question, or know how to Google to find solid sources. My first few answers on here were just topics I thought interesting, started researching, found an answer, and decided to share it since no one else had!
If you think you can contribute something to a question, even if you have no formal or technical qualifications, go for it! Maybe you've read a book on the topic. My very first answer I just went and read an appendix to the Warren Commission Report. (I then supplemented it with a couple articles I remembered.)