The University of Chicago Press, one of the oldest university presses in the United States, publishes a diverse range of academic titles, including The Chicago Manual of Style and numerous scholarly journals.
Under the leadership of director Morris Philipson, who began his 34-year tenure in 1967, the Press grew to become the nation's largest university press. It also became known for assuming ambitious scholarly projects and for publishing trade books that sold well, including Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It and Young Men and Fire.
Books
The University of Chicago Press is one of the oldest and largest university presses in the world. It publishes books for scholars, students, and general readers. It also has a strong trade publishing program.
The Press publishes about 280 books and 70 paperback reprints each year, along with an extensive collection of journals. As of 2016, it has 81 journals, focusing on a variety of academic disciplines.
Since its founding in 1890, the Press has sought to publish the best research from a range of fields. Its books and journals reflect the intellectual diversity of the university itself, with authors ranging from renowned scholars to first-time writers.
In the early days, the Press operated as an entity separate from the university itself. During the first three years, it was run by Boston-based publisher D. C. Heath in conjunction with Chicago printer R. R. Donnelley, but in 1894 the university took full control of the operation.
By 1900, the Press had published 127 books and pamphlets and 11 scholarly journals. It was a thriving operation, generating a healthy income for the university. Rockefeller donated a significant amount of money to the Press, and by 1904 the Press had been able to sever ties with Heath and Donnelley.
During this time the Press became one of the leading academic publishers in the country, publishing titles that would remain in print for decades to come. In addition, its staff members developed an expertise in the production of a wide range of scholarly materials and established a BiblioVault, a warehouse that allowed it to store new and backlist books. This centralized system of storage and fulfillment allowed employees to easily search for titles and order short-run printings in record time.
The BiblioVault was a major part of the Press’s success, and it led to joint ventures with international presses. This allowed the Press to keep its backlist in print for longer and to produce books in greater volume than other presses.
The University of Chicago Press also made a big step in the digital world by becoming a member of the Association of American University Presses (AAUP), a national organization of university presses. As a result, the Press was able to take advantage of AAUP resources, such as the Association’s e-book library and the AAUP e-book distribution program. By the end of 2013, all University of Chicago Press journals were available to subscribers in e-book format.
Journals
University of Chicago Press publishes a diverse array of academic journals in the humanities, social sciences, and life and physical sciences. Founded in 1891, University of Chicago Press is one of the oldest continuously operating university presses in the United States and remains committed to publishing academic findings of the highest quality.
In addition to its scholarly journals, the Press also produces popular nonscholarly titles that are of interest to readers of all ages and backgrounds. These include books on sports from renowned journalist Mike Royko, and the classic study of American history An American Primer by Daniel J. Boorstin, as well as Claude Levi-Strauss' sociological work The Savage Mind.
The Press has published over 11,500 titles since its founding, many of which are still in print and widely used around the world. Among the most well-known are The Chicago Manual of Style, which first appeared in 1906, and Kate Turabian's seminal work A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, which was first published in 1937.
Under the leadership of Morris Philipson, the Press had grown to a turnover of $42 million a year by the time he retired in 2000. During Philipson's 33-year tenure, he was awarded the PEN Publisher Citation and the AAUP Curtis Benjamin Award for Creative Publishing.
Philipson also recognized the importance of keeping backlist titles in print. This strategy, which became the hallmark of the Press, led to long-term success and a steady stream of bestsellers.
Today, the Journals Division publishes a broad range of influential scholarly journals on behalf of learned and professional societies and associations, foundations, museums, and other not-for-profit organizations. These 81 peer-reviewed journals cover the full breadth of disciplines, from the humanities and social sciences to the life and physical sciences.
All University of Chicago Press journals undergo a rigorous peer review process. This process is designed to detect errors or instances of authorial misconduct before publication. If such issues are uncovered, they will be reviewed and resolved in consultation with the journal’s editor(s) according to best practices.
The University of Chicago Press’s journals are published under an open access model, which allows researchers to read the full text of articles without having to pay for subscriptions. This model applies to all of the journals published by the University of Chicago Press and is available to all public and private universities in emerging nations through the Chicago Emerging Nations Initiative (CENI).
Reference
The University of Chicago Press is one of the oldest continuously operating university presses in the United States, and it is known for publishing scholarly books, advanced monographs, and prestigious journals. Founded in 1891 as an original division of the University of Chicago, the Press now publishes more than eleven thousand books for scholars, students, and general readers.
During its 115-year history, the Press has embraced the responsibility to disseminate scholarship of the highest quality, and it is an important partner in ensuring that serious scholarly work is widely available for education and research. Its publications are published on behalf of learned and professional societies and associations, foundations, museums, and other not-for-profit organizations.
In addition to its books and monographs, the University of Chicago Press also offers a range of reference materials. These resources provide guidance on the writing and research processes, the proper citation of sources, and the correct presentation of quotations and visual material.
The Press’s scholarly titles include works by scholars from around the world, and it also has many popular non-scholarly titles. These include popular fiction, such as Norman Maclean’s Young Men and Fire; and classics of American literature, including Robert McCormick’s The Civil War and Eleanor Roosevelt and Her Friends.
Aside from the Press’s scholarly books, it also publishes numerous academic journals in a variety of disciplines. These are peer-reviewed and edited by university faculty, and are among the most respected in their fields.
For example, the Journal of Law and Medicine is the oldest scholarly journal in the field of law. It is also the first academic journal to be distributed online in conjunction with its print edition.
Another resource is the Chicago Manual of Style, an American English style and usage guide that has been published by the Press since 1906. The manual is used throughout the US and has become an essential reference for writers and editors.
The University of Chicago Press also provides copies of its Copyright Guidelines, which describe what the Press considers to be fair use of published materials in new scholarly publications while protecting authors’ rights. These guidelines are available on the Library’s Web site and can be downloaded at no cost.
Regional
The University of Chicago Press has an extensive history in publishing books by scholars from around the world and scholarly journals on topics ranging from political science to history, philosophy to biology. The Press is one of America’s largest university presses and is a key player in the national scholarly publishing community.
The Press is divided into three divisions, Books, Journals, and Distribution Services. Each division works closely with the University of Chicago and its departments and faculty to produce important scholarly journals.
Since its founding, the University of Chicago Press has published more than 80 scholarly journals that cover a wide range of subjects from the humanities and social sciences to the life and physical sciences. Many of these journals were the first to publish in their fields and have become enduring publications in the academic world.
While the Press was founded primarily as a printing and public relations unit, it gradually expanded to publishing noncourse-related books by scholars outside the University of Chicago. These included John Dewey’s The School and Society, which remains in print today. Other early Press titles include Robert F. Harper’s Assyrian and Babylonian Letters Belonging to the Kouyunjik Collections of the British Museum, which sold five copies during its first two years in print.
During the first decade of the 21st century, the Press underwent major changes under the leadership of Morris Philipson. During his thirty-three year tenure as director, he devoted time and resources to lengthening the backlist of titles, and oversaw the publication of a number of prestigious scholarly volumes, including The Lisle Letters, a vast 16th-century correspondence database.
In addition, the Press under Philipson’s leadership launched an aggressive program of bringing books back into print after 50 or more years in a digital format at a digital printing center located at the University of Chicago’s Chicago Distribution Center. This initiative has produced a diverse list of award-winning books, including Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It and Young Men and Fire.
The Chicago Digital Distribution Center was established in 2001 and provides book publishers with on-site digital printing services and a digital repository service through BiblioVault. These services are available to publishers of scholarly and general interest books from UCP and client presses.