University of Hawaiʻi Press

• 1. Founding And Early Classics

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  Gregg M. Sinclair, president of the University of Hawai'i, established the press in 1947 to publish research across humanities and sciences for Asia and the Pacific. The first books released that year included a reprint of The Hawaiian Kingdom by Ralph Kuykendall and Insects of Hawaii by Elwood C. Zimmerman. These early titles became enduring classics within their respective fields. Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel Elbert published the Hawaiian-English Dictionary in 1957, which was revised and enlarged in 1986 before being reprinted sixteen times. Gavan Daws wrote Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands, with its Press edition first appearing in 1974 and subsequently reprinted nineteen times.

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• 2. Expansion Into Asian Studies

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  The organization combined operations with the East-West Center Press in 1971 and adopted the name University Press of Hawai'i. This merger added significant coverage of Asia to its existing strength in Hawaiian and Pacific studies. By 1981, the East-West Center withdrew its subsidy, causing the name to revert to University of Hawai'i Press. Despite this change, the focus on Asia continued to grow until at least half of all titles focused on Asia. The remaining publications were split between Hawai'i at thirty percent and the Pacific at twenty percent. During the five-year period from 2000 to 2005, the press released one hundred eighty-four academic monographs on East Asia alone. Eighty-two of these covered China while eighty-one addressed Japan and twenty-one examined Korea.

• 3. Evolution Of Scholarly Journals

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  Most of the inaugural budget appropriation for the press went toward the journal Pacific Science, whose first issue appeared in 1947. However, Pacific Science did not bear the UH Press imprint until 1953, two years after Philosophy East and West made its debut from the press. Oceanic Linguistics was acquired in volume V during 1966, followed by Asian Perspectives in volume XII in 1969. Korean Studies began publication in 1977, with Biography following in 1978. Buddhist-Christian Studies launched in 1981, and Asian Theatre Journal arrived in 1984. Mānoa and The Contemporary Pacific debuted in 1989, followed by the Journal of World History in 1990. Severe budget cutbacks eliminated all university subsidies to the Journals Department shortly before China Review International began publishing in 1994. All twelve journals entered the Project MUSE database between 2000 and 2001, though Pacific Science switched to BioOne in 2008.

• 4. Rigorous Editorial Processes

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  During the 2007 fiscal year, the press considered approximately one thousand three hundred manuscripts and proposals for potential publication. Only sixty of these were accepted for publication by the editorial board that same year. One hundred twenty-two books remained in press at that time. Each book undergoes rigorous review including preliminary evaluation by an in-house editor. Manuscripts showing promise are then evaluated by two external readers who are specialists in the subject matter. Those receiving two positive peer reviews move to the press's academic editorial board for final determination. This process ensures high standards across all published works regardless of region or discipline.

• 5. Regional Publishing Focuses

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  East Asia represents an especially important regional focus for the press during the early twenty-first century. The three principal subject areas included language and literature with twenty-three titles on China, twenty-five on Japan, and seven on Korea. Religion and philosophy covered twenty-one works on China, thirteen on Japan, and two on Korea. History and fine arts encompassed twenty books on China, twenty on Japan, and seven on Korea. Monograph series indicate specific concentrations such as ABC Chinese Dictionary Series edited by Victor Mair and Critical Interventions edited by Sheldon Lu. Dimensions of Asian Spirituality was edited by Henry Rosemont Jr., while Hawaiian Studies on Korea appeared with the UH Center for Korean Studies. KLEAR Textbooks in Korean Language developed alongside the Korean Language Education and Research Center.

• 6. Global Distribution Networks

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  The press is represented in North America and Hawai'i by independent commission sales representatives. Europe, Africa, and the Middle East receive coverage from London-based Eurospan Publishers Group. The Pacific and Asia regions are served by its sales subsidiary East-West Export Books, known as EWEB. EWEB also represents fifty-five other university presses and scholarly publishers across Asia and the Pacific. Stock remains available in warehouses located in Pennsylvania, Honolulu, Canada, and England. The organization serves as a distributor for over fifty publishers and several individuals providing sales, marketing, promotion, warehouse, and business services on a commission basis. Each year the press displays recently published books and journals at professional meetings reaching about seven hundred thousand attendees globally.