Now Publishers is a specialist academic publisher founded in 2004 by publishing veterans from the Kluwer world, with US operations in Hanover, Massachusetts and a European base in Delft, the Netherlands. It is best known for one thing, and it does that thing exceptionally well: Foundations and Trends (FnT), a family of 28 serials that publish commissioned, monograph-length review articles - typically 100 to 250 pages - in computer science, electrical engineering, economics, finance, marketing, and related fields. Alongside FnT, the company publishes 14 conventional peer-reviewed journals and more than 50 books.

In May 2025, Emerald Publishing acquired Now Publishers, bringing the FnT portfolio and the journals under Emerald's ownership while the imprint continues to operate under its own brand. If you are considering writing for an FnT serial or submitting to a Now Publishers journal, this guide covers how the invited-monograph model works, what it costs (usually nothing), how peer review runs, and how to get started.

• Foundations and Trends (28 serials) - the flagship product. Each issue of an FnT serial is a single review monograph. Flagship serials include FnT in Machine Learning (ranked the #1 computer-science journal on Scimago), FnT in Communications and Information Theory (established 2004, the first serial), FnT in Signal Processing, FnT in Information Retrieval, FnT in Theoretical Computer Science, FnT in Econometrics, FnT in Finance, and FnT in Marketing. Several landmark texts in machine learning and optimization were first published as FnT monographs.
• 14 peer-reviewed journals - conventional research journals concentrated in business, economics, and quantitative fields (e.g., accounting, entrepreneurship, marketing science adjacent areas).
• 50+ books - reference and research monographs, often grown out of successful FnT titles.

Leading FnT serials are indexed in Scopus, Inspec, EI-Compendex, and the ACM Digital Library; check the specific serial's page for its indexing status.

Now Publishers runs primarily on a subscription model: institutions and individuals buy access, and authors pay no fee for standard publication. That makes it very different from APC-driven publishers.

• Subscription (default) - no author-side cost; e-access and print sold to libraries and individuals.
• Optional open access - selected titles offer a paid OA option; fees vary by title and are not centrally published, so confirm current terms with the serial's editor or the publisher before signing the agreement.
• Green self-archiving - authors can typically share the accepted manuscript on personal or institutional repositories where the author agreement permits; check your specific contract.
• Read & Publish - Now Publishers has not operated large-scale transformative agreements; whether Emerald's agreement portfolio will extend to FnT titles post-acquisition is worth checking with your library from 2026 onward.

FnT serials do not run an open submission queue the way a regular journal does. The workflow is:

1. Commissioning - the editor-in-chief and editorial board identify topics and invite recognized experts, or an author pitches a proposal (outline + sample sections).
2. Proposal review - the EiC and board assess scope, fit, and the author's standing in the area.
3. Manuscript review - the completed monograph is reviewed by the editor and expert reviewers, generally single-anonymized. Because monographs are commissioned, review focuses on completeness, correctness, and pedagogy rather than novelty screening.
4. Revision and production - authors revise, then the monograph is published as an issue of the serial, in electronic and print editions.

The 14 regular journals follow conventional editorial peer review with direct submissions.

1. Pick the serial or journal. Browse the list at nowpublishers.com and read recent issues to calibrate scope and depth.
2. Contact the editor-in-chief with a proposal (for FnT): a working title, an outline, an estimated length, and a note on why you're the right author. Contact details are on each serial's page.
3. Prepare the manuscript. Now Publishers provides its own LaTeX class for FnT monographs; SciSpace hosts Now Publishers formats with the author-year citation style preconfigured.
4. Submit via the publisher's own system. Now Publishers uses its proprietary submission workflow - the editor will direct you; there is no Editorial Manager or ScholarOne portal.
5. Review the author agreement - especially the OA and self-archiving clauses - before signing.

Now Publishers operates standard academic-publishing ethics: editorial independence for each serial's board, correction and retraction handling through the editors, and expert review of every monograph before publication. It is a legitimate, well-regarded specialist publisher - FnT serials are staples of graduate reading lists - though it is a small house, so policy documentation is lighter than at the big five; when in doubt, ask the editor-in-chief directly. Following the May 2025 acquisition, Emerald Publishing's policies (Emerald is a COPE member) are expected to apply progressively across the portfolio.