Hi everyone, I’m excited to share the call for papers for a special issue of the international academic journal Publishing Research Quarterly on the topic of environmental sustainability and book publishing. Please pass on to any publishing academics you know!

Publishing Research Quarterly Volume 43, Issue 1, March 2027

Environmental Sustainability and Book Publishing

Edited by Angela Meyer (RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia)

We invite submissions for a special issue of Publishing Research Quarterly focused on “Environmental Sustainability and Book Publishing”. This issue aims to bring together research, tools and practices relevant to the global book industry’s transition to greener practices.

The book industry, like other global industries, generates CO2e emissions throughout its supply chain, from paper production to distribution (Xu et al. 2025). The scale of its emissions depends on production volume, corporate sustainability, regulatory frameworks, and coordination between publishers, printers and distributors. Despite the urgency for all industries to adopt greener practices and move to net zero (IPCC 2023), the book industry faces impediments to change due to rising costs, supply chain consolidation, entrenched wasteful practices, and rapid technological changes (Tian and Martin 2012; Done et al. 2022).

Books complicate this transition further because they hold cultural value beyond their material form, raising complex questions around production priorities and acceptable trade-off. More research and data-sharing are urgently needed. This includes case studies of best practice that may be adopted in other countries and contexts, as well as investigations of sustainability measures adopted by the book industry from adjacent industries. The individual contexts of different markets will also be relevant, as each faces unique opportunities and impediments.

We invite forward-thinking contributions that will help to expand knowledge on environmental sustainability and the book industry. Topics may include (but are not limited to):

• Environmental sustainability in commissioning, publishing and editorial practice
• The role of book design – including cover materials, inks and other elements – in sustainability efforts
• Paper and printing possibilities, including post-consumer-waste paper and alternative fibres, and impediments to change
• Sustainable marketing and publicity
• Packaging innovations and possibilities
• Green transport, distribution and warehousing
• Operationalising metadata in the service of green goals
• Carbon tracking across a book’s lifecycle
• Publishers’ digital footprints and how this is being tracked
• Challenges for sectors such as children’s or illustrated publishing
• Alternative publishing and distribution models that reduce waste and their viability
• Practical tools and metrics for carbon tracking
• Scope 3 emissions and how these are being tracked within net-zero commitments
• Implementation of the SDG Publishers Compact and similar initiatives
• The impact of AI adoption on sustainability goals
• Government policies affecting sustainable publishing (e.g. the UK single-use plastics ban)
• The industry’s relationship to regenerative futures, circular economies and related frameworks
• Overlaps between environmental and social sustainability
• Industry myths and misinformation that impede the green transition
• Lobbying, advocacy and legislation for change

Please send proposals for articles, including an abstract of around 250 words and a short biographical note to Angela Meyer (angela.meyer2@rmit.edu.au).

Deadline for abstracts: 1 January 2026
Full-text article submissions: 1 July 2026
Expected publication: March 2027

Articles will be submitted for blind peer review.
If you have any questions, please contact the issue editor.

Publishing Research Quarterly is an international peer-reviewed journal dedicated to research and critical analysis across all sectors of the publishing ecosystem. Authors need to carefully ensure consistency of content and style when preparing their manuscripts, including correct spelling, punctuation and grammar; and accuracy and consistency in the presentation of figures, tables, footnotes, in-text citations and end-of-text references. To ensure this consistency and accuracy, authors should refer to Merriam-Webster and the 18th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style (Author-Date system). Before submitting your article, please consult the journal’s editorial protocol: https://link.springer.com/journal/12109/submission-guideline

Bibliography

Done, Rachel, Warner, Rylee and Noorda, Rachel. 2022. “Publishing Distribution Practices: New Insights about Eco-Friendly Publishing, Sustainable Printing and Returns, and Cost-Effective Delivery in the U.S.” Publishing Research Quarterly 38: 364–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-022-09882-5.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2023. Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Edited by H. Lee and J. Romero. Geneva, Switzerland: IPCC. https://doi.org/10.59327/IPCC/AR6-9789291691647.

Tian, Xuemei, and Martin, Bill. 2012. “Business Model Sustainability in Book Publishing.” Publishing Research Quarterly 28: 100–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-012-9258-3.

Xu, Ruixin, Yang, Yongwen, Zhang, Liting et al. 2025. “Life Cycle Carbon Emissions Accounting of China’s Physical Publishing Industry.” Sustainability 17 (4): 1664. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17041664.