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Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer.[3]

For the football club, see Cambridge University Press F.C.

Parent company

Cambridge University Press & Assessment

Department of the University of Cambridge

1534 (1534)

King Henry VIII of England

Kingdom of England (since 1534)

Cambridge, England

Humanities; social sciences; science; medicine; engineering and technology; English language teaching and learning; education; Bibles

  • Academic
  • Educational

Cambridge University Press

Increase £1 billion (2022)[2] (Reported for Cambridge University Press & Assessment)

6,100 (2022)[2]

cambridge.org

Cambridge University Press is a department of the University of Cambridge and is both an academic and educational publisher. It became part of Cambridge University Press & Assessment, following a merger with Cambridge Assessment in 2021. With a global sales presence, publishing hubs, and offices in more than 40 countries, it publishes over 50,000 titles by authors from over 100 countries.[4] Its publishing includes more than 420 academic journals, monographs, reference works, school and university textbooks, and English language teaching and learning publications.[5] It also publishes Bibles, runs a bookshop in Cambridge, sells through Amazon, and has a conference venues business in Cambridge at the Pitt Building and the Sir Geoffrey Cass Sports and Social Centre.


Being part of the University of Cambridge gives Cambridge University Press a non-profit status.

in 1521 the first printer in Cambridge

John Siberch

(1707–1775), the official printer; his Cambridge edition of the King James Bible (1763) is considered his masterpiece

John Baskerville

(1870–1957), appointed 'printing expert' at the press for two years in 1917

Bruce Rogers

(1889–1967), typographical advisor both to the press and to the Monotype Corporation from 1925 to 1954 and, from 1929, also to The Times newspaper

Stanley Morison

(1918–2002), joined the press in 1939 and became Assistant Printer in 1949

John Dreyfus

(1915–1995), designed a special typeface, Meliorissimo, for the press's buildings, stationery, signs and vans

David Kindersley

(1917–1989), designer of Angelus (Monotype, 1954, a 4 1/2 point type typeface for Bible composition at Cambridge University Press), Castellar (an open caps face, Monotype, 1954? or 1957), Fleet Titling (1967, Monotype Series 632), and Traveller (1964, a Monotype font done for the British Railways

John Peters

Open access[edit]

Cambridge University Press has stated its support for a sustainable transition to open access.[24] It offers a range of open access publishing options under the heading of Cambridge Open, allowing authors to comply with the Gold Open Access and Green Open Access requirements of major research funders. It publishes Gold Open Access journals and books and works with publishing partners such as learned societies to develop Open Access for different communities. It supports Green Open Access (also called Green archiving) across its journals and monographs, allowing authors to deposit content in institutional and subject-specific repositories. It also supports sharing on commercial sharing sites through its Cambridge Core Share service.


In recent years it has entered into several Read & Publish Open Access agreements with university libraries and consortia in several countries, including a landmark agreement with the University of California.[25][26] In its 2019 Annual Report, Cambridge University Press stated that it saw such agreements "as an important stepping stone in the transition to Open Access".[27]


In 2019, the press joined with the University of Cambridge's research and teaching departments to give a unified response to Plan S, which calls for all publications resulting from publicly funded research to be published in compliant open access journals or platforms from 2020. The response emphasized Cambridge's commitment to an open access goal which works effectively for all academic disciplines, is financially sustainable for institutions and high-quality peer review, and which leads to an orderly transition.[28]


The press is a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association and the International Association of STM Publishers.


In 2023, more than 50 per cent of Cambridge University Press research articles are in open access mode.[29]

Academic Publishing: publishes research books and journals in science, technology, medicine, humanities, and the social sciences. It also publishes advanced learning materials and reference content as well as 380 journals, of which 43 are 'Gold' Open Access. Open Access articles now account for 15 per cent of articles. The group also publishes Bibles, and the press is one of only two publishers entitled to publish the Book of Common Prayer and the King James Version of the Bible in England.[35]

[34]

English Language Teaching: publishes English language teaching courses and resources for learners of all ages around the world. It offers a suite of integrated learning and assessment tools underpinned by the Cambridge Curriculum, a systematic approach to learning and evaluating proficiency in English. It works closely with Cambridge Assessment through the joint initiative Cambridge Exams Publishing.

[34]

Education: delivers educational products, services and software for primary, secondary and international schools. It collaborates with and the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education to help countries such as Kazakhstan and Oman to improve their education systems. It also works with Cambridge Assessment to reach more schools and develop new products and services that improve teaching and learning. This area is merging with the schools team at Cambridge Assessment

Cambridge Assessment

2011, formed a partnership with Cambridge Assessment to publish official Cambridge preparation materials for Cambridge English and IELTS examinations.

2015, formed a strategic content and technology partnership with Edmodo, the world's most extensive e-learning platform for primary and secondary teachers and pupils, to bring premier educational content and technology to schools in the United Kingdom.

[36]

2017, the University of Cambridge announced that Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment would work more closely in future under governance by the Press & Assessment Board.

2019, with Cambridge Assessment English acquired the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring from Durham. CEM provides assessments to measure learner progress and potential, as well as 11 Plus exams for many UK independent and grammar schools.

[37]

2020, partnered with EDUCATE Ventures, the University College London edtech accelerator, to better understand the challenges and successes of home education during the lockdown.

[38]

2020, partnered with online library to offer students access to digital textbooks.[39]

Perlego

2020, the University Cambridge announced it would create a "new unified organization" by merging Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment, to launch 1 August 2021.

[40]

2021, Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press formally became one organisation under the name .[20]

Cambridge University Press & Assessment

Controversies[edit]

Tax exemption controversy[edit]

In May 1940, CUP applied to the Inland Revenue for the exemption of its printing and publishing profits from taxation, equivalent to charitable status. After a November 1940 Inland Revenue hearing, CUP's application was refused "on the ground that, since the Press was printing and publishing for the outside world and not simply for the internal use of the University, the Press's trade went beyond the purpose and objects of the University and (in terms of the Act) was not exercised in the course of the actual carrying out of a primary purpose of the University".[48] In November 1975, with CUP facing financial collapse,[49] CUP's chief executive Geoffrey Cass wrote a 60-page "preliminary letter" to the Inland Revenue again seeking tax-exemption. A year later Cass's application was granted in a letter from the Inland Revenue, though the decision was not made public.[50][51] After consulting CUP, Cambridge's 'sister' press, the giant Oxford University Press presented their own submission and received similar exemption. In 2003 OUP's tax-exemption was publicly attacked by Joel Rickett of The Bookseller in The Guardian.[52] In 2007, with the new 'public benefit' requirement of the revised Charities Act, the issue was re-examined [53] with particular reference to the OUP.[54] In 2008 CUP's and OUP's privilege was attacked by rival publishers.[55][56] In 2009 The Guardian invited author Andrew Malcolm to write an article on the subject.[57]

A Brief History of Cambridge University Press

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