New North American Academic Books in Humanities Subjects, 2009–2012

The humanities direct a larger amount of their re­search energies to the publication of book-length research than do other fields. Despite concerns about the state of humanities publishing in recent years, the number of new academic titles released annually in the humanities was slightly higher in North America in 2012 than in 2009, rising from 48,597 new books published to 51,789.

While the absolute number of new titles in the humanities increased from 2009 to 2012, the field’s share of all new academic titles published in North America contracted slightly, from 45% to 43%.