Information for authors

Our authors range from early-career academics to eminent scholars such as Amartya Sen (Harvard), Lionel Gossman (Princeton) and Caroline Humphrey (Cambridge). We offer authors full copyright, faster publishing times, flexibility to amend and update their work and a greater number of readers. We make publication decisions based on academic merit and public value — rather than commercial considerations — through a rigorous peer review and editorial process.

Your work, your copyright
All our titles are published using Creative Commons licences. These licences mean that you are in full control of your own copyright, and can choose how your work is used by other people. We suggest that our authors opt for a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY) which allows others to copy, distribute, display and perform your copyrighted work, but ensures that they must give you full credit. All the same rules of plagiarism and citation apply to works under this licence. Details of the alternative Creative Commons licences available can be found here.


Revise, correct, update
Rather than having a set print-run for your book, OBP uses print-on-demand technology. This means that it is very easy to amend your book if you want to delete a mistake or add new material. It costs just £50 to update your book. We also offer the flexibility to supplement and enhance your work with additional digital material such as databases and to include multimedia such as video and audio material.

Open Access equals more readers
Our books are currently read by an average of 300 readers per month in over 120 countries. Allowing free access to your research means that more people will be able to engage with your ideas around the world, and provides more opportunity for the citation of your work.  

Beautiful printed editions
As well as a digital edition, we provide paperback and hardback editions that will be distributed through all the traditional booksellers as well as from our own website. We use the same printers and binders as many other university presses, and offer a high-quality, beautifully-designed final product.

Individual support, greater control
OBP is staffed entirely by academics. We offer careful evaluation of any proposal or sample material and constructive feedback and advice throughout the process of publication. If you would like, we will consult you on every aspect of your book, from the cover design to the back page blurb.

Speedy service
We drastically reduce publishing times. We aim to make publishing decisions within eight weeks of receipt of the full book proposal, and print-on-demand technology allows us to have your book published and available for purchase within a few weeks of the final manuscript being passed as ready. This can be enormously beneficial if you are applying for grants or jobs — your book will be in the public arena sooner. It also means we have much shorter deadlines for the REF and other research assessment exercises.

Preparing to publish with us
Once your proposal has been approved, we ask for a fully proofread and indexed copy of your work. We prefer the MHRA style of citation, and you can read our style guide for authors here. We then do final checks and prepare your manuscript for publication. At the author's request, OBP will arrange for additional professional proof-reading and copy-editing services if needed. We also ask you to apply for any grants for which you may be eligible to assist in the cost of your book’s production.

We publish books in the Humanities and Social Sciences, and are interested in working with institutions as well as individual authors. Please direct questions and book proposals to our Managing Director, Dr Alessandra Tosi. Please don't send us printed manuscripts; we would prefer that you email your book proposal as a Word document.