By Alison Mero, Managing Editor, Clemson University Press
According to a recent issue of The Chronicle Review, 71 percent of R1 institutions have a university press. Clemson is in good company: our press was founded in 2000 and now has more than 100 books in print; in recent years, it has expanded to produce more than 25 books and journal issues per year. These books are in libraries all over the world, spreading the University’s global footprint and academic reputation.
But what do university presses do?
University presses publish scholarship—the stuff that academics work to create, but that commercial publishers don’t want to publish. In that sense, we are working toward the same goals as the rest of the university: to discover, preserve, and disseminate knowledge.
University presses don’t publish course packs, newspapers, or yearbooks, but they do help scholars share their work with the world through book and journal publications. They also advise faculty on questions relating to the publication of their work.
What sorts of things does Clemson University Press do?
We publish as many as 20 scholarly monographs and edited collections on humanities subjects each year in association with our overseas partners at Liverpool University Press. Liverpool UP is the third oldest press in the English-speaking world; they share their vast expertise in book production and marketing with Clemson.
We also publish general-audience books that serve the University and region. Some of these titles include a two-volume history of the University, High Seminary; Thomas Green Clemson; and the award-winning Eclipse over Clemson, which commemorates the mass-viewing event on campus in 2017.
Our scholarly journals in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities are all open access and made available through a partnership with Clemson Libraries. They are professionally edited, fully discoverable online, and free for all users. All articles are assigned DOIs, which means impact and citations can be tracked by Academic Analytics.
Last but not least, we proudly publish The South Carolina Review, the state’s premier literary magazine now in its 100th issue.
What can Clemson University Press do for faculty?
Have you been thinking of starting a journal? Do you belong to a society that wants to start a journal? Does your research grant require public dissemination of your work? We can help you establish an open-access journal or a single open-access publication at a fraction of the cost of other publishers.
Do you have an idea for a Clemson-themed book or a book that would appeal to a general audience? Come talk to us! We have the means to print and distribute your book throughout the region and the world.
Thinking of pitching a book to another press? You can talk to one of Clemson’s editors and get some feedback. The staff of Clemson University Press are happy to consult on book proposals, whether or not the author is looking to publish with Clemson UP.
Contact Clemson University Press at cupress@clemson.edu.
