List of University Presses

A university press (U.P.) is an academic, nonprofit publishing house. Most but not all are affiliated with a large research university. They publish work that has been reviewed by scholars in the field. They produce mainly scholarly works, but also often have "popular" titles designed to reach their target audience, such as books on religion or on regional topics. Because scholarly books are mostly unprofitable, university presses may also publish textbooks and reference works, which tend to have larger audiences and sell more copies. Most university presses operate at a loss and are subsidized by their owners; others are required to break even. In China, university presses are profit-making institutions for their academic owners. Demand has fallen as library budgets are cut and the online sales of used books undercut the new book market. Many presses are experimenting with electronic publishing.

Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press are the two oldest and largest university presses in the world. They have numerous branches around the world.

University presses emerged in the United States in the late 19th century. Cornell University started one in 1869 but had to close it down; Johns Hopkins University Press has been in continuous operation since 1878. In 2008, the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) has 125 member presses, of which 95 were operated by universities. Growth has been sporadic, with 14 presses established in the 1940s, 11 in the 1950s; and 19 in the 1960. Since 1970, 16 universities have opened presses and several have closed. Today the largest university press in the United States is the University of Chicago Press. University presses tend to develop specialized areas of expertise. For example, Yale publishes many art books, the University of Chicago publishes many academic journals, the University of Illinois press specializes in labor history, and MIT Press publishes linguistics and architecture titles.