The University of Cincinnati Press was established in January 2017 as a new scholarly publisher committed to advancing the university’s strategic direction, Next Lives Here, by publishing rigorous, peer-reviewed scholarship, exploring new modes of publishing, and boldly developing a new, sustainable organizational model. Without a backlist and large infrastructure to manage, the Press is free to develop a publishing model that is innovative, flexible, and responsive.
In the fall of 2017, the Press published its first book. In 2018, the Press launched its first season of six regional and scholarly books. In 2019, the Press developed a program that concentrates on long-form scholarly books, theory-to-practice works, journals, open-access projects, conference proceedings, and OER course books. The Press looks for projects across the humanities, social sciences and STEM fields that focus on trans-disciplinary social justice and community engagement and that open a dialog between scholars and practitioners. The Press publishes all its books according to accessibility best practice guidelines.
Stretching its imagination, the Press bridges campus-wide pathways through a successful, embedded relationship with the university library, a strong co-op 2.0 program for UC students, and service to the faculty and staff with robust publishing support. In mid-2017, to meet the needs of UC faculty and students, the Press launched a second imprint by merging scholarly communications with the Press and created CLIPS (Cincinnati Library Publishing Services). Overnight, CLIPS began to provide copyright guidance, publishing support, and advocacy and instructional efforts for textbook affordability initiatives in all academic departments on campus.
During the early planning stages of the Press, Dean Xuemao Wang boldly accepted the charge to create a unique business model fully integrated within his library infrastructure. Today, the Press is a leader in innovative hybrid university press models, which maximize economies of scale to produce world-class scholarship. It embraces Local + Global = Tomorrow and looks for ways to increase open access content. The Press is a member of the Association of University Presses and Library Publisher Coalition and is an OhioLINK Affordable Learning Ambassador.