Launched in 2015, and based in the heart of Central London, the University of Westminster Press (UWP) is a digital-first open access publisher of peer reviewed academic books, policy briefs and journals. UWP exists to provide global public access to academic work in multiple formats. In partnership with our authors and editors, we publish in areas that reflect the teaching and research strengths of the University of Westminster across the social sciences and humanities, science and technology, media arts and design and other subject areas.
Inspired by the movement towards open research, our mission is to make journals and books free at the point of access in digital form and accessible and affordable in print, giving them the widest possible dissemination ensuring researchers around the globe can discover scholarly materials without excess cost and with maximum convenience.
The Press provides gratis access to our online journals and books completely free of charge in a variety of digital formats. Print books are also available for purchase, and we work to ensure that our prices are as low as possible.
UWP balances cost-effectiveness with a desire to avoid charging fees directly to authors. No fees are generally charged to individual authors from the University of Westminster publishing with the Press or to external authors submitting to publication series and journals via our regular call for submissions. We explore and encourage collective funding mechanisms and library membership schemes and look to diverse income streams to match our costs over the longer term. For external authors we are happy to consider – subject to peer review – high quality submissions with attached funding and collaborative projects where costs are shared.
In order to support and stimulate scholarly communication, we believe that the quality of our publications is of utmost importance. UWP's journal and book series Advisory Boards, consisting of prominent scholars, assess all publications, which are also subject to a thorough external peer review process. The Press is overseen by an academic board drawn from a range of disciplines from within the University of Westminster, and managed by experienced industry personnel on a day-to-day basis.
UWP is a member of the Association of European University Presses and the
Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers.
All UWP's publications are assessed via peer review using specialist expert advisers from across the world before consideration by our Editorial Board, comprised of University of Westminster scholars. The current board members are:
Richard Baggaley is interim Press Manager for UWP. He has over 40 years' experience working in academic and professional publishing including senior roles at McGill-Queen's University Press, Princeton University Press (for whom he set up the UK office), Wiley, Open University Press and Croom Helm. He has a Masters degree in Business Administration, and a PGCE.
Professor Pippa Catterall is Professor of History and Policy at the University of Westminster and Chair of the UWP Editorial Board. She edits the journal National Identities and has published extensively on twentieth century history. Her current research focuses on prime ministers and policy strategy.
Professor Charles Cui is Professor of Marketing at the School of Management and Marketing, Westminster Business School. He serves on the Editorial Board of the journal International Marketing Review and his work has been published in leading journals, including the Journal of International Business Studies, European Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Business Ethics.
Dr Adrija Dey is a UKRI Future Leader Senior Research Fellow in the Schools of Social Sciences and Media and Communications at the University of Westminster. She was previously a lecturer in digital media at the University of Sussex and British Academy post-doctoral research fellow at the Department of Development Studies, SOAS.
Jenny Evans is Head of Research and Scholarly Communications at the University of Westminster with previous posts as Research Information Manager at Middlesex University, Liaison Librarian at Imperial College London and in the Library Advisory Services of the State University of Western Australia.
Professor Catherine Loveday is Professor of Pyschology at the University of Westminster. She is the author of The Secret World of the Brain and frequently appears as an expert psychologist on BBC Radio 4’s All in the Mind. Her research focuses on the neuropsychology of memory and on music in the brain. She is an active member of the British Psychology Society.
Professor Guy Osborn is Professor at Westminster Law School and is Co-Director of Centre for Law, Society and Popular Culture, Editor of the Entertainment and Sports Law Journal and of the Routledge Book series ‘Studies in Law, Society and Popular Culture’.
Dr Eugenie Shinkle is a Reader in the School of Arts at the University of Westminster. Her practice focuses on the haptic and embodied dimensions of our relations with images and image-making technologies. She is co-editor of the online photobook platform c4journal and also writes widely for Foam, Aperture, The Journal of Architecture, Art Journal and 1000Words.
Professor Andrew Smith is Professor in Tourism and Events at the University of Westminster. His research centres on events as tools for the regeneration of cities; place image and reimagining the city; and urban tourism. He is the author of Events in the City: Using Public Spaces as Events Venues (2016) and co-editor of Destination London: The Expansion of the Visitor Economy (2019).
Dr Roza Tsagarousianou is Reader in Media and Communications at the University of Westminster. She has published extensively on electronic democracy, diasporic media and audiences and European Muslim cultures. Her publications include Islam in Europe: Public Spaces and Civic Networks (2013) and The Handbook of Diasporas, Media and Culture (edited with Jessica Retis).
Professor Gerda Wielander is Professor of Chinese Studies and Associate Head of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on the link between the personal and spiritual to wider social and political developments in China. She has published on Christian thought and belief in contemporary China, on social organisations, and on the meaning of socialism in the Chinese context.
If you are interested in publishing a book, starting a new journal or transferring an existing one please contact us stating if you have any existing or alumni connections to the University of Westminster. We will be happy to explain our publishing protocols and to discuss with you how we may be able to meet your publishing requirements and objectives.
Our journal Article Processing Charges (APCs) and Book Processing Charges (BPCs), whilst they vary (most directly with the length of a project) are always set at highly cost-efficient and significantly lower-than-average levels compared to the majority of large and/ or commercial publishers.
We also have a network of relationships with other academic institutions and with funding bodies, ensuring that wherever possible we aim to divert financial administration away from authors and deal directly with their supporting institutions.
UWP works closely with researchers to ensure its publishing meets their needs and reflects the high standards of the respective disciplines in which it is active.
UWP, through a thorough peer review process, ensures the rigour, validity and quality of scholarship and thus maintains high standards for its academic publications.
UWP adds value to scholarly work through considered and diligent editorial input, professional layout and design, and worldwide dissemination.
UWP books and journals make essential research and analysis freely available to other researchers, policymakers, opinion leaders, and to the general public.
UWP strives to keep open access costs as low as possible, through sustainable and diverse sources of income.
We encourage our authors to make their publications and any research data or software associated with all books and articles openly archived whenever possible. The Virtual Research Environment and institutional repository, WestminsterResearch, is available for this purpose. This greatly increases the reusability and impact of work, leading to increased citations and chances for collaboration.
If you are interested in publishing a book, starting a new journal or transferring an existing one, please contact us.
The University of Westminster is a charity and a company limited by guarantee. Reg no. 977818 England