University of Cincinnati announces closure of University Press as of June 30, 2025

Following seven years of funding support, the University of Cincinnati (UC) has determined that the long-term financial sustainment of the University of Cincinnati Press is not feasible. Funding resources, including start-up funds, have been exhausted and the Press is not in a self-sustaining financial position. Therefore, the University of Cincinnati Press imprint will cease to operate June 30, 2025.

As of July 1, 2025, scholarly print and eBooks will be assigned to the University of Minnesota Press and published regional books, including the forthcoming Thinking About Ohio Series, will be assigned to the Ohio University Press. All inventory and fulfillment services will continue to be managed by Chicago Distribution Center.

The University of Cincinnati Libraries will continue to offer Library Publishing Services for UC faculty authors of open access books, journals and proceedings.

Dean and University Librarian Liz Kiscaden said, “closure of the Press does not diminish its success or impact in innovative scholarly and regional book publishing.” The University of Cincinnati Press was founded in 2017 and reported to the dean of the University of Cincinnati Libraries. It is a member of the Association of University Presses, Library Publisher Coalition and the Open Educational Network. Since its opening, the Press has published over 40 books, 30% in open access, seven academic journals, won nine academic, national and regional book awards and published the UC undergraduate student showcase annually. It was committed to publishing rigorous, peer-reviewed, leading scholarship in print, eBook and open access under the governance of a faculty advisory board.

An FAQ regarding details of the closure and availability of books as of July 1, 2025, will be available on the University of Cincinnati Press website.

The University of Cincinnati Press recognized for social justice publishing

The University of Cincinnati Press has been named a 2023 finalist in social justice publishing from the Next Generation Indie Book Awards for their book Surviving the Americas: Garifuna Persistence from Nicaragua to New York City by Serena Cosgrove, Jose Idiaquez, Leonard Joseph Bent and Andrew Gorvetzian.

“Since UC’s faculty senate and university administration chose social justice to be our core area of publishing, the press is thrilled to have elevated the university’s publishing efforts to an internationally recognized stage as a publisher of social justice scholarship,” said Elizabeth Scarpelli, director of the University of Cincinnati Press. “These awards signal to scholars, students and experts that UC is a global leader in peer-reviewed social justice scholarship, open access publications and regional books. This recognition will help bring more award-winning, globally impactful scholarly and regional authors to UC as part of the #Next phase – Acceleration.”

About the book

In Surviving the Americas, Serena Cosgrove, José Idiáquez, Leonard Joseph Bent and Andrew Gorvetzian shed light on what it means to be Garifuna today, particularly in Nicaragua. Their research includes over nine months of fieldwork in Garifuna communities in the Pearl Lagoon on the southern Caribbean coast of Nicaragua and in New York City. The resulting ethnography illustrates the unique social issues of the Nicaraguan Garifuna and how their culture, traditions and reverence for their ancestors continues to persist.

About the Next Generation Indie Book Awards

The Next Generation Indie Book Awards is the largest International awards program for indie authors and independent publishers. In its seventeenth year of operation, the Next Generation Indie Book Awards was established to recognize and honor the most exceptional independently published books in 80+ different categories, for the year, and is presented by Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group in cooperation with Marilyn Allen of Allen Literary Agency (formerly the Allen O’Shea Literary Agency).

Read Source, the online newsletter, to learn about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries

sourceRead Source, the online newsletter, to learn about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.

In this issue of Source, Dean Xuemao Wang takes time to reflect as work begins to transition back on campus and we showcase UC Libraries innovation and impact during the pandemic. In addition to articles highlighting collections such as Albert Sabin’s papers and Obed Wilson’s library, this issue also marks the commemoration of the first national Juneteenth holiday and features an interview with the authors of the recent University of Cincinnati Press book, Bicycling Through Paradise. As our 19th year of publication comes to a close, we feature a retrospective of past covers and a look back at the 2009 Edible Books event.

Read these articles, as well as past issues, on the website. To receive Source via e-mail, contact melissa.norris@uc.edu to be added to the mailing list.

 

University of Cincinnati Press publication co-edited by UC’s Rebecca Wingo named the National Council on Public History’s Best New Book of the Year

digital community engagement book coverThe University of Cincinnati Press publication edited by Rebecca S. Wingo, Jason A. Heppler, and Paul Schadewald, Digital Community Engagement: Partnering Communities with the Academy has won 2021 Best New Book of the Year from the National Council on Public History. Each year, the Council selects one book in the area of public history theory, study or practice.

Available via open access on Manifold, Digital Community Engagement brings together cutting-edge campus-community partnerships with a focus on digital projects. Through a series of case studies authored by academics and their community partners, this collection explores models for digital community engagement that leverage new media through reciprocal partnerships. The contributions to this volume stand at the crossroads of digital humanities, public history, and community engagement.

“The team at UC Press made the whole process easy, and the TOME grant made the open access publication possible. My co-editors and I decided early on that this book in particular required open access publication. We spoke to a lot of different presses and we most closely matched with UC Press’ mission,” said Rebecca Wingo, editor of Digital Community Engagement.

“It is fitting that our first award-winning book was published in open access and print in order to inspire engagement to the widest audience possible. As a university press focused on publishing interactive books designed to brings authors and readers together, we are delighted to see this edited volume win a national prize in a discipline that connects the academy to the community,” said Elizabeth Scarpelli, director of the University of Cincinnati Press.

Attending Wednesday’s Cecil Striker Lecture? Stay for a Book Signing of “Leaving a Legacy: Lessons from the Writings of Daniel Drake.”

leaving a legacy book coverThe Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions and the Cecil Striker Society for the History of Medicine will host the 10th Cecil Striker Society Annual Lecture from 5:00-7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15, in the Kresge Auditorium, Medical Sciences Building, 231 Albert Sabin Way.

This year’s lecture, titled Daniel Drake’s Connection to Sir William Osler: Celebrating Two Medical Education Reformers, will focus on the immense impact both physicians had on medical education. Philip M. Diller, M.D., Ph.D., and Robert E. Rakel, M.D., will serve as co-lecturers for the event.

Following the lecture, author Philip M. Diller will be on hand outside the Winkler Center to sign copies of his recently published book, Leaving a Legacy: Lessons from the Writings of Daniel Drake.

As documented here in his own words from excerpts of lectures, personal journal entries, presentations, speeches, books and letters to his children, readers learn about the scope of Daniel Drake’s accomplishments in medicine, contributions to his community, and dedication to his family. Diller goes beyond biography to contextualize Drake’s life choices and what makes him a role model for today’s physicians. Diller selected 180 thematically arranged excerpts, which he paired with original reflection questions to guide the reader through thought-provoking prompts.

Leaving a Legacy was published by the University of Cincinnati Press.

Join the University of Cincinnati Press April 11 at RESEARCH + INNOVATION WEEK

research week header

 

Social Justice – Human Settlements – Global Features:

Arts & Humanities in the Age of Impact

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

9:00-9:50

Publishing Landscapes: Academic and Literary Output Today

Elizabeth Scarpelli (University of Cincinnati Press); Nicola Mason (ACRE Books); Lisa Ampleman (Cincinnati Review)

10:00-10:50

Copyright, Intellectual Property, and Open Access: A Roundtable

Sandra Enimil (Copyright Resources Center, The Ohio State University); Geoffrey Pinski (UC Technology Accelerator); Mark Konecny (University of Cincinnati Press|CLIPS)

11:00-12:00

Envisioning New Modes of Publishing: Leveraging Resources

Jeff Blevins (Dept of Journalism); James Lee (Digital Scholarship Center); Mark Konecny (University of Cincinnati Press|CLIPS); Sean Crowe (UC Libraries); Kent Meloy (CEEL); Jason Day (CEEL); Elizabeth Scarpelli (University of Cincinnati Press)

KINGSGATE MARRIOT

Mt. Echo Room

Breakfast and Lunch provided

press

Read about Preserving Taft, the Writing of E.B. White and the Digital Scholarship Center in Source.

source vol 16 no2Read Source, the online newsletter, to learn more about the news, events, people and happenings in UC Libraries.

This latest issue of Source includes a feature on the work of the Preservation Lab and their collaboration with the Archives and Rare Books Library on a collection about William Howard Taft. Xuemao Wang, dean and university librarian, talks about how libraries need to adapt for the future. Kevin Grace, university archivist and head of the Archives and Rare Books Library, writes about a collection centered around children’s books author and co-writer of The Elements of Style, E.B. White. A grant from The Andrew Mellon Foundation in support of the Digital Scholarship Center’s research on machine learning and data visualization in multiple disciplines in the humanities and beyond is announced. Dean Wang and Liz Scarpelli, director of the University of Cincinnati Press are interviewed about the progress of the Press one year in. Gino Pasi, archivist and curator for the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions, writes about a set of historical and important surgery films recently digitized and made available. Other articles announce the Libraries’s Adopt-a-Book program and the 2016/17 Annual Progress Report.

Read these articles, as well as past issues, on the web at http://libapps.libraries.uc.edu/source/ and via e-mail. To receive Source via e-mail, contact melissa.norris@uc.edu to be added to the mailing list.

Mark Konecny Selected as an OhioLINK Open Textbook Network System Leader

UC Libraries’ Mark Konecny, scholarly communications library publishing coordinator, was selected by OhioLINK as one of seven member librarians, faculty, and staff to become the OhioLINK Open Textbook Network (OTN) System Leaders. As system leaders, Mark and his peers will coordinate OhioLINK OTN awareness and advocacy initiatives regarding open educational resources and open textbooks as part of OhioLINK/Ohio Department of Higher Education affordable learning initiatives for higher education.

OhioLINK recently joined the Open Textbook Network, a high-profile and growing collaboration of schools, universities, and institutions that promotes access, affordability, and student success via open textbooks. Continue reading

Elizabeth Scarpelli Named Director of New University of Cincinnati Press

Elizabeth Scarpelli

Elizabeth Scarpelli

The University of Cincinnati Libraries is pleased to announce Elizabeth Scarpelli as director of the new University of Cincinnati Press. The director’s role is to lead and provide oversight of all Press functions including acquisitions, marketing, administration and business, as well as to build a regional, national and international reputation for the University of Cincinnati Press as an innovative 21st century academic press.

“We are very fortunate to have secured Liz to lead the University of Cincinnati Press,” said Xuemao Wang, dean and university librarian. “Her enthusiasm for this exciting, new endeavor coupled with her rich experience in academic publishing make her the ideal choice to create, share and implement a successful vision for the Press.”

Continue reading

The University of Cincinnati to Launch a New Academic Press

The University of Cincinnati announced today the formation of a new academic press. With a dual publishing focus on social justice and community engagement, the mission of the University of Cincinnati Press is to cultivate and disseminate scholarly works of the highest quality for the enhancement of the global community.

“It is a historic and exciting moment for a great research university like the University of Cincinnati to join the elite group of institutions that operate an academic press,” said President Santa J. Ono. “Becoming an active participant in scholarly publishing will further the university’s Third Century goals, notably in the areas of leveraging research and scholarship, strategic recruiting and community engagement.” Continue reading