/ Our UC: projects and initiatives of our community

Coimbra University Press

Spreading UC knowledge across the globe

Founded in 1772, Coimbra University Press (IUC) is one of the Cultural and Training Units of the University of Coimbra and responsible for numerous publications produced by the UC community. IUC publishes around one hundred works per year, especially scientific and pedagogical books and journals, as well as other types of books and authors external to the UC.

Based in the heart of Coimbra's upper town (Alta), the University Press has been "connecting readers with authors" for nearly three centuries. The Press has kept pace with the evolution of the publishing world, strongly digitalised today, with the mission of sowing the seed of knowledge both in Academia and society at large.

Every year, the UC Press produces over a hundred books, mostly textbooks and scientific books, as well as a significant number of certified journals, which fulfill indexation standards in the most diverse areas of knowledge and science of the University of Coimbra. As for the publishing of scientific journals, the demand for the "IUC brand" comes not only from within the University of Coimbra but also externally, namely scientific society journals.

The University of Coimbra Press has gone through many eventful periods in Portuguese history - it was even extinguished in 1934 by order of António de Oliveira Salazar - and has learnt to keep up with the times. Two decades ago, printed books prevailed, but nowadays, digital reading is attracting more and more people. And it is in this evolutionary path that the IUC has also centred its work, providing books, magazines and journals in e-book format. However, while following publishing trends, the UC Press always remains faithful to printed paper.

The new forms of publishing have also been influenced by environmental concerns, related, for example, to the use of raw materials. Accordingly, the print-on-demand option has also been a commitment of the Coimbra University Press, thus avoiding overprints, but always responding to the needs of readers who continue to prefer the physical version of the publications.

At the moment, there are eight people working full-time at the Coimbra University Press, dedicated to the various key activities for publishing: editorial support, design, programming, accounting, communication and sales. The trust of the scientific community, readers and authors has been essential in consolidating the recognition that the IUC has achieved over the years.

UC Press is a publisher with a strong focus on serving the academic community. However, it also welcomes publishing proposals from other universities and makes them available to the academic community and the wider public. The Coimbra University Press wants to continue to be an open publishing house, which also welcomes those outside academia.

Future plans include establishing closer relationships with African countries, as well as with Brazil, through the publication of authors from these countries. IUC also plans to establish a Copyright Office that can support members of the University of Coimbra.