Association Membership
Prospective members should apply for membership at the highest level for which they qualify. See Guidelines for Membership [PDF] and the AUPresses By-Laws [PDF] for more detailed information.
Regular Member
Regular Membership grants voting rights within the Association and is open to non-profit university presses and non-profit scholarly publishers that:
- Have published ten or more scholarly (referring specifically to works of original research) titles in the preceding two years.
- The press must have a committee or board of the faculty (or equivalent, if the press is not affiliated with a university) that certifies the scholarly quality of the books published through peer review consistent with commonly understood notions of peer review.
- Employ at least three full-time equivalent employees, including a director, who reports to the president of the university or college, or to an officer at the vice-presidential or decanal level having both academic and fiscal authority, or to the designated representative of a group of such institutions who shall have both kinds of authority, or to an individual of directly comparable rank and authority to one of the three proceeding classes of individuals.
Affiliate Member
Affiliate Membership is open to non-profit university presses and other non-profit scholarly publishers who may not meet the full requirements of Regular membership.
Affiliate members must meet one of the following editorial criteria:
- A committee or review board that certifies the scholarly quality of its publications
- Perform peer review of their scholarly publications in a manner consistent with commonly understood notions of peer review.
AND
Affiliate members must show a sustained committed to scholarly publishing in one of the following ways:
- Publication of five or more titles in twenty-four months
- The service of at least one full-time equivalent staff
Introductory Member
Introductory membership is open to non-profit scholarly publishers that do not yet meet regular or affiliate membership criteria. If they wish to remain in the Association, introductory members must apply for permanent membership (either regular or affiliate) within five years of admission as an introductory member.
Membership Application Procedure
To begin the process, please fill out this membership interest form.
Regular and Affiliate Member applications are evaluated by the AUPresses Admissions and Standards Committee, the Board of Directors, and the voting (Regular) membership. A minimum of three months generally is required to approve an application.
Applications for Introductory membership are reviewed by the Admissions & Standards Committee and the Executive Director; and are generally processed within two months of submission.