Frequently Asked Questions

A single book processing charge, fixed at USD 5,000 for most manuscripts, stated in the contract offer and invoiced on acceptance of the complete manuscript. It covers the whole process through to publication and permanent hosting. There is no charge for submission or for peer review.

Funding is typically departmental, grant-driven, or institutional. Full detail →

No. The Advisory Board that recommends titles is not told whether an author can pay or from where. Funded proposals are declined in the ordinary course of review.

A minimum of two independent expert reports on the proposal and sample material; a formal author response; further rounds where the revisions warrant them; a recommendation from an Advisory Board of researchers who see the reports; and a second review of the complete manuscript before acceptance. The structure follows established university press practice, in which peer review and a scholarly board are separate hurdles. Full detail →

Typically four to six months from proposal to contract, and eight to ten months from delivery of the complete manuscript to publication. We will tell you at the outset where your book sits in the schedule and we will tell you if that changes.

Yes, if it has been revised into a book. A thesis demonstrates competence to examiners; a book makes an argument to readers, and turning one into the other takes substantial revision. We are glad to advise on what that involves before you propose. What we publish →

Yes, provided you tell us. Reviewers spend days of unpaid work on a report and are entitled to know the position.

Ask. Our subject areas describe where our editors and Board can review well; they are not a rule. A preliminary enquiry by email is welcome. Contact →

Yes. You retain copyright and grant us a non-exclusive licence to publish. You may reuse your own work however you like without asking us. Rights →

CC BY 4.0 by default. Most funders require or prefer it. CC BY-SA, CC BY-NC and CC BY-ND are available where your funder permits and you have a considered reason. Licensing →

Publication with us meets the open-access conditions of UKRI, Wellcome, Horizon Europe and the ERC, and funders with equivalent requirements. We publish the version of record openly, on the day of publication, under a Creative Commons licence, with no embargo. We confirm compliance against your specific award in writing before you sign. Compliance →

Not for REF 2029. That policy applies to journal articles and conference contributions with an ISSN; it does not impose an open-access requirement on monographs, book chapters or scholarly editions. The requirements that do apply to books come from funders; UKRI's, for outputs published from 1 January 2024, is the one most UK authors will meet.

The REF's initial decisions indicate that a long-form open-access requirement will apply to the assessment exercise after REF 2029, with implementation from 1 January 2029. A book you start now may be in scope by publication.

Yes. Hardcover and paperback editions are printed on demand at cost-plus pricing. Authors receive complimentary copies and a standing discount.

That depends on your institution and should be checked there. The Press provides a documented review process and a scholarly board that recommends publication, which is what such panels assess. Peer review policy →

It stays available. Every title is deposited with CLOCKSS and Portico, with DOAB and OAPEN, and with the UK legal deposit libraries. Creative Commons licences are irrevocable, so no future owner of anything can put a published title behind a paywall. Preservation →

Yes, without asking us, without a licence and without cost to your students. Each chapter has its own DOI and stable URL.

Under CC BY, yes, without permission. Please tell us anyway; we will link to it, register it, and help with metadata. Rights →