Publication Guide
Peking University Press (PUP; 北京大学出版社) is China's first university press. It traces its origins to 1902, when the Imperial University of Peking set up a translation and compilation bureau; a publishing department followed in 1917, was disbanded in 1952, and the press was formally re-established in 1979 after Ministry of Education approval. Since December 2010 it has been registered as a limited company owned by Peking University, headquartered on the university's Beijing campus.
Unlike the large commercial journal publishers, PUP is book-primary: it publishes roughly 1,000 new titles a year (plus around 4,000 reprints), most of them in Chinese. Journals are a small part of the operation - several Chinese-language academic journals are affiliated with Peking University and its schools, and this guide covers both routes: publishing a book with PUP and submitting to a Peking University-affiliated journal.
What Peking University Press publishes
PUP's stated mission is serving teaching and research. The portfolio breaks down approximately as follows:
| Publication type | Share of output | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Scholarly works | ~45% | Monographs across humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and information technology; strongest in Chinese-language humanities and social sciences |
| University textbooks | ~35% | Course textbooks and reference books for Chinese higher education, including widely used Chinese-language and law textbooks |
| General books | ~20% | Trade and general-interest titles, including Chinese culture and language learning |
A flagship project is Ru Zang (儒藏), the largest systematic compilation of Confucian classics undertaken in China since 1949. In November 2024, PUP signed an agreement with Brill making Brill the exclusive global distributor of the digital collection - about 660 texts and roughly 200 million characters of classical Chinese - hosted on Brill's Scholarly Editions platform as the Digital Library of Chinese Classics.
Which route fits your work?
| You want to... | Choose this route |
|---|---|
| Publish a Chinese-language monograph or textbook | PUP book program - propose directly to the press via pup.cn; scholarly works and textbooks are the core of its list |
| Publish a research article in a Peking University venue | A university-affiliated journal - e.g., Journal of Peking University (humanities/social sciences or natural science editions), Peking University Education Review, or China Economic Quarterly |
| Publish biomedical research in Chinese | Journal of Peking University (Health Sciences) - the university's medical journal, indexed in PubMed |
| Reach an international audience with Chinese classics scholarship | PUP-Brill collaboration - PUP leads Chinese copyright exchange in both directions and partners with Western publishers for global distribution |
Journals at Peking University
PUP itself is book-primary, but several respected Chinese-language journals are affiliated with Peking University and its schools:
- Journal of Peking University - the university's flagship academic journal, published in separate Philosophy & Social Sciences and Natural Science editions.
- Journal of Peking University (Health Sciences) - the peer-reviewed medical journal of the university's Health Science Center.
- Peking University Education Review - a CSSCI-indexed quarterly from the Graduate School of Education, launched in 2003, using double-blind peer review.
- China Economic Quarterly (经济学季刊) - a leading Chinese-language economics journal edited at the university's National School of Development.
Each journal handles its own submissions through its editorial office; there is no shared submission portal across the portfolio.
Open access and costs
PUP does not run an APC-based open-access program. Books and most affiliated journals follow the subscription/print model that is standard for Chinese university presses. Some journals allow authors to self-archive accepted manuscripts (Green OA) - check the individual journal's policy. If your funder requires open access, confirm the specific journal's licensing and archiving terms with its editorial office before submitting, since policies are set per journal and there is no portfolio-wide OA statement.
How to submit
- Books: prepare a proposal (topic, table of contents, sample chapter, intended readership) and contact the relevant PUP editorial department through pup.cn. Chinese-language proposals are the norm; textbook proposals should map to specific courses.
- Journals: identify the affiliated journal that fits your field, read its author guidelines, and submit through that journal's own editorial office or online system - each journal manages its own workflow.
- Formatting: Chinese-language venues generally require the GB/T 7714-2015 national citation standard; humanities venues may accept Chicago-style notes. SciSpace hosts formatting templates for Peking University Press venues.
- Language: most PUP books and affiliated journals publish in Chinese; a few venues accept English abstracts or English-language submissions - check the individual call for papers.
Citing Peking University Press publications
For Chinese-language reference lists, use GB/T 7714-2015, the Chinese national standard - the style used by most Chinese journals and required by many Chinese universities. For international humanities venues, Chicago style is the common alternative; cite the press as "Beijing: Peking University Press" (or 北京: 北京大学出版社 in Chinese-language lists). SciSpace's citation generator supports both styles.
Ethics and integrity
PUP is a state-owned university press operating under China's Ministry of Education regulatory framework and Peking University's academic governance rather than under COPE, OASPA, or STM membership (it is not listed as a member of these bodies). Affiliated journals apply peer review - Peking University Education Review, for example, uses a three-stage, double-blind process - and standard Chinese academic-misconduct rules apply. For any specific journal, check its own ethics statement before submitting.
