Institute of Physics Publishing

Institute of Physics Publishing is a not-for-profit publishing subsidiary of the Institute of Physics (www.iop.org) and as such our sole purpose is to promote the advancement and dissemination of knowledge about physics.

On October 21, 2002, IoPP and IFMBE signed an agreement concerning the book series entitled the "Series in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering" published under the IoPP stating that the Series shall be adopted as the offical book series of the IFMBE. The IFMBE shall be active in commissioning new books for the series.

Institute of Physics (IOP) publishes books in physics and related areas such as mathematical and medical physics, biomedical engineering, materials science, computational science and astronomy. Research monographs report on the state of the art in the subdisciplines of physics and are refereed to a high standard of quality. Textbooks at senior undergraduate and graduate level support the teaching of physics. Popular science titles make physics and related sciences more accessible within and beyond the scientific community. These books are complemented by comprehensive and authoritative handbooks and reference works in all subjects.

Publishing your book with Institute of Physics Publishing gives you the support and reputation of an international publisher of books, reference works, journals and technical magazines. As a not-for-profit society publisher, IOP works with the physics community to satisfy the information needs of that community and the wider public.

Our commissioning staff work with authors during all stages of the publishing process, from identification of a need for a book to final publication. Different books require different approaches and our editors accommodate that. Our over-riding concern is to publish books of the highest quality.

As an author, you are first asked to produce a concise proposal describing the need for a book, its scope, level, content and approach and the specific readership you are addressing. We ask several reviewers to comment on all aspects of the proposal to ensure that the market need is well defined and that the scope and content of the book is sufficiently comprehensive and of sufficient standard to meet that need. When writing style is important, as in a text or popular science book, you may be asked to write a sample chapter.

Assessment of your proposal should take some six to eight weeks. There follows a contract between yourself and IOP, and the start of the journey to the completed manuscript. The commissioning editor will stay in close contact, discussing formats, requirements for illustrations, special needs and providing general support.

When the manuscript is completed it is again assessed by our reviewers for quality of content and coverage. A more detailed assessment of the market is made to ensure that pricing is appropriate, promotion is well planned and no opportunities are missed to give your book the widest exposure possible. Reviewers may make suggestions for changes, and once these are completed the book is accepted into production. Our desk editors will work with you to turn the manuscript into a high-quality, well-designed printed book.

By the time of publication everything will be in place to ensure a successful launch. Our distributors world-wide will have been briefed, bookstores will have been alerted, as will lecturers in the case of textbooks. Our own and contracted sales staff and representatives will visit wholesalers, bookshops and academics. Trade and scientific conferences and exhibitions will have been selected for presenting your book to the public. Review copies will have been sent to the most appropriate periodicals, including the general press in the case of popular science titles. Everything will have been done to make sure that your book gets the attention it deserves.

Visit bookmarkphysics.iop.org for more details of IoP Publishing's book programme.