IU Libraries Publishing

We are an open-access publisher of long-form scholarly, creative, and public-facing works written by members of the Indiana University Bloomington community.

Our publications are made freely available worldwide at no cost to readers or authors, and our authors retain their copyright. 

We are a highly selective publisher. All submissions are evaluated by our advisory board for merit and impact, and not all submissions are accepted. 

Our mission is to expand access to high-quality scholarship and creative work, foster innovation in scholarly communication, and publish long-form documents that strengthen Indiana University Bloomington’s research output and commitment to public service.

Explore Our Publications and Impact

Browse our open-access books and see how they are read around the world.

Our Publishing Program

  • Local First
    • We publish work by Indiana University Bloomington faculty, alumni, and affiliates. We especially welcome work related to Indiana University, Indiana, and the Midwest.
  • Open First
    • Our model eliminates financial barriers for both authors and readers, ensuring that scholarly and creative work is freely accessible to all.
  • Author First
    • We do not charge authors or claim their copyright. Authors retain their rights, and we actively support author ownership.
  • Digital First
    • Our publications are born digital. While we can facilitate print-on-demand, we prioritize formats that enable multimedia, interactivity, and accessibility.
  • Access First
    • To maximize readership, we support:
      • Financial access by publishing open access at no cost to authors or readers
      • Reading access by offering our publications in multiple formats (HTML, EPUB, PDF, and optional print-on-demand) so readers can engage with scholarship in the formats that work best for them
      • Disability access by ensuring our publications meet accessibility standards
      • Linguistic access by providing multilingual metadata to support discovery by readers beyond English-speaking contexts
  • Genre Diversity
    • We publish a wide range of long-form nonfiction, including monographs, edited collections, reports, translations, and more.
  • Audience Breadth
    • We reach both scholarly and general audiences. We value works that speak to local, regional, and global communities—not just academic readers in North America and Europe.

We publish long-form nonfiction of enduring intellectual, cultural, or institutional value, including:

  • Scholarly monographs
  • Edited collections, including conference proceedings and occasional papers
  • Creative nonfiction, such as memoirs and travel writing
  • Scholarly editions of primary sources
  • Reports
  • Translations
  • Exhibition catalogs and catalogues raisonnés

We welcome works that:

  • Incorporate digital affordances, including:
    • Multimedia (text, images, audio, video, animations)
    • Interactivity
    • Code and data-driven scholarship
  • Are public scholarship, including accessible “translations” of scholarly work for general audiences
  • Engage with institutional, local, or regional communities, and/or address topics of institutional, local, or regional relevance
  • Advance underrepresented topics or emerging fields
  • Offer new modes of expression or engagement while maintaining intellectual rigor
  • Cross genre or disciplinary boundaries, or introduce new methodologies

We are committed to helping authors who wish to explore new directions in scholarly and creative publishing.

We publish long-form works written by members of the Indiana University Bloomington community:

  • Faculty (tenure-track and non-tenure track)
  • Research and public engagement centers and institutes
  • Alumni

  • Design (including Cover/Book Jacket)
  • Copyright and Licensing Advice & Assessment
  • Copyediting
  • Digital and Physical (Print-on-Demand) Publishing
  • Accessibility
  • Discoverability
  • Bibliometrics
  • Preservation
  • Publicity
  • & More!

Submitted proposals are typically evaluated through the following editorial review process:

  1. Proposal Submission
    Authors submit a project proposal (and manuscript, if available).
  2. Desk Review
    The proposal is initially reviewed by the publisher to assess mission fit, scope alignment, and production feasibility.
  3. Advisory Board Evaluation
    Proposals that pass desk review are evaluated by the IU Libraries Publishing Advisory Board for quality and impact.
  4. Publication Decision
    Final publication decisions are made by the publisher, taking into account advisory board recommendations and program capacity.

  • Heather Akou, Professor, Fashion Design, IU Bloomington
  • Luis Chaves, Associate Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health, IU Bloomington
  • Annie Martin, Editorial Director, Indiana University Press
  • Catherine J. Minter, Head, Arts & Humanities, IU Bloomington Libraries
  • Ted Polley, Research and Instruction Librarian, Social Sciences, IU Bloomington Libraries
  • Jen Simms, Sciences Librarian and Interim Reference Services Coordinator, IU Bloomington Libraries

The Digital Publishing Librarian serves as publisher and ex officio chair of the advisory board.

Want to Publish with Us?

Begin the process by sending us your project proposal (and manuscript, if available).

Questions?

Email Adam Mazel, Digital Publishing Librarian

Your publishing service helped me in many ways. You did heroic work to make my book accessible and made many suggestions about how to increase the educational element. I am very grateful for your efforts, and I am glad that I signed on with you.

Curt Lively, Distinguished Professor, Biology, IU Bloomington