The IUGS Publications Committee looks after all aspects of the IUGS Publishing Program.

IUGS expects that the scientific activities funded by the Union will result in some form of publication and it has two principal avenues for such publications:

• The quarterly journal Episodes, which carries peer-reviewed scientific articles, news and conference reports, and other contributions. The journal is currently published in China under an agreement with the Ministry of Land and Resources of China.
  
• Books resulting from the work of IUGS bodies and from sessions held at International Geological Congresses. Since 2004 these books have been published under an agreement with the Geological Society of London.

Significant results of IUGS scientific work also appear regularly in a wide variety of disciplinary journals and books published by scholarly professional societies and for-profit enterprises.

From 1980 to 2001 IUGS produced its own numbered series of monographs. IUGS no longer prints, sells, or distributes monographic publications. A list of these volumes is maintained for historical purposes only.

Episodes

Episodes covers developments of regional and global importance in the earth sciences and is distributed worldwide to scientists in more than 150 countries. Articles contributed to Episodes are of interest to a broad audience of professional scientists having diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Articles include current reviews, new results from research projects of more than local significance, and discussion of the infrastructure of science -- techniques, research programs, organizations, science policy, or technical assistance. It offers geoscientists:

• authoritative articles that reflect worldwide research advances and evolving  trends in geoscience disciplines;
• a forum for information exchange within the global earth-science community;

• news about activities sponsored by IUGS and its affiliates;
• a comprehensive calendar of future international geoscience events and training opportunities; and
• concise reports concerning results of international meetings, conferences, and symposia.

Episodes is listed or abstracted in Chemical Abstracts, Coal Abstracts, Energy Research Abstracts, Excerpta Medica, Geological Abstracts, Geoarchives, Georef, Petroleum Abstracts, Science Citation Index (SCI), Standard Periodical Directory, and Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory. An annual index is published in the first issue of each succeeding volume.

IUGS Books (published by the Geological Society of London)

Guidance for submission of book proposal

The Society has two series suitable for IUGS-related publications: Special Publications and Memoirs

Special Publications

Titles in this internationally acclaimed series are usually based around high-quality scientific meetings or multi-contributor scientific projects or programmes. However, these volumes are not just proceedings volumes.

• Consist of edited collections of papers
• Based on primary science
• Represent coherent and balanced collection of papers on a topical theme
• Present results of latest research, with state of the art reviews of a subject

Production specifications for Special Publications are as follows:

Bindingcase bound
Trim size                       248x172mm
Paper type                    smooth coated 90gsm
Maximum extent           400 pages

Memoirs

Titles in this series are larger format and represent authoritative treatments of key Earth science subjects. The series is ideally suited to publishing the results of major research programmes.

• Results of major research projects or other definitive treatment (edited collections or single papers)
• Based on primary science
• Larger format to facilitate maps and sections

Production specifications for Memoirs are as follows:

• Binding                  case bound
• Trim size               310x230mm
• Paper type             smooth coated 90gsm
• Maximum extent     400 pages
  

Occasional titles which do not fit into either of these series may be considered for one of our other series (e.g. Engineering Geology Special Publications), or for one-off publication.

How to submit a proposal to the Geological Society Publishing House:

Preparing the proposal
Factors that contribute to a successful proposal
Submitting the proposal

Preparing the proposal

The intending editor (or author) should submit their proposal to the Geological Society Publishing House at the earliest possible date.  The following information is needed:

1.         Title
2.         Editors’ names and addresses (or authors if it is not an edited collection)
3.         Title of IUGS programme
4.         List of paper titles and authors (or chapters if it is not an edited collection)
5.         A brief description of the aims of the book.

You should format the list of papers to reflect the intended structure of the book. We understand that there may some uncertainty about which papers will be submitted and accepted at this stage. You should indicate what introductory/synthesis chapters you intend to include. You should also indicate what steps would be taken to fill any gaps in order to produce a balanced volume.

Books can have more than one editor. The editor(s) will be responsible for liaison between the contributing authors and the Society.

The proposal will be subject to the Society’s normal investment appraisal procedures, which include internal and external scientific review. If the proposal is accepted, the editors will be expected to get the papers reviewed to the same standard as the Society’s journals. Online submission and review will be offered as an option.

Factors that contribute to a successful proposal:

• editors who are well known, reliable and well respected in their field;
• a significant number of well-known authors;
• good coherent coverage of the subject matter;
• ideally there should be 15–25 papers, but minimum 10 and maximum 30 (books over 400 pages will be expensive to produce and will therefore have high prices);
• no papers that are marginal to the subject;
• a good introductory review paper – this should introduce the subject, not just the papers in the book

Submitting your proposal

Your proposal should be submitted, preferably by e-mail, to Angharad Hills, Commissioning Editor:

Angharad Hills 
Email: angharad.hills@geolsoc.org.uk                                                
Commissioning Editor
Geological Society Publishing House
Unit 7 Brassmill Enterprise Centre
Brassmill Lane
Bath
BA1 3JN
UK

Books published IUGS bodies or programs:

Special Publication 278 (2007)
Devonian Events and Correlations
R.T. Becker and W.T. Kirchgasser (editors)

Special Publication 286 (2007)
The Rise and Fall of the Ediacaran Biota
P. Vickers-Rich and P. Komarower (editors)

Special Publication 287 (2007)
Four Centuries of Geological Travel: The Search for Knowledge on Foot, Bicycle, Sledge and Camel
P. Wyse Jackson (editor)

Books published from International Geological Congress Sessions by the Geological Society of London:

Special Publication 288 (2008)
Climate Change and Groundwater
W. Dragoni and B. S. Sukhija (editors)

Special Publication 285 (2007)
Evaporites Through Space and Time
B. C. Schreiber, S. Lugli and M. Ba¸Bel (editors)

Special Publication 276 (2007)
Economic and Palaeoceanographic Significance of Contourite Deposits
A. R. Viana and M. Rebesco (Editors)

Special Publication 273 (2007)
Myth and Geology
L. Piccardi and W. B. Masse (editors)

Special Publication 266 (2006)
Function of Soils for Human Societies and the Environment
E. Frossard, W. E. H. Blum and B. P. Warkentin (editors)

Special Publication 265 (2006)
Non-Marine Permian Biostratigraphy and Biochronology
S. G. Lucas, G. Cassinis and J. W. Schneider (Editors)

Special Publication 264
Compositional Data Analysis in the Geosciences: From Theory to Practice
A. Buccianti, G. Mateu-Figueras and V.Pawlowsky-Glahn (editors)

Special Publication 262
Tectonics of the Western Mediterranean and North Africa
G. Moratti and A. Chalouan (editors)

Special Publication 261 (2006)
Fractal Analysis for Natural Hazards
G. Cello and B. D. Malamud (Editors)

Special Publication 257 (2006)
Geomaterials in Cultural Heritage
M. Maggetti and B. Messiga (editors)

Special Publication 255 (2006)
Cool-Water Carbonates: Depositional Systems and Palaeoenvironmental Controls.
H.M. Pedley and G. Carannante (editors)