The Institute for Publishing Research, Inc. [IPR] conducts empirical research on two publishing industry sectors: (a) the book industry; and (b) the scholarly journal industry.

Areas of research on the book publishing industry include the following book categories (and the relevant channels of distribution):

1. Trade Books
   • Adult Trade Books (hardcover and paperback books);
   • Juvenile and Young Adult Trade Books (hardcover and paperback books); fiction/YA, and science fiction; picture books; chapter books; readers; reference books; and TV-movie picture tie-in books;
   • Mass Market Paperback Books;
   • Digital Books;
   • Audio Books.
2. Religious Books (hardcover and paperback books);
   • Bibles & Biblical Studies;
   • Hymnals, Prayer books, etc.;
   • Theology, Inspiration, Histories, etc.;
   • Fiction.
3. Professional and Scholarly Books (hardcover and paperback books)
   • LTR (legal; tax; regulatory; business, accounting, and economics; the humanities; and the social sciences, etc.);
   • STM (scientific; technical; medical; engineering; mathematics; etc.).
4. K-12 Educational Textbooks (hardcover and paperback books)
   • Textbooks (print; and digital);
   • Supplementals;
   • Standardized Tests.
   • Higher Education Textbooks (hardcover and paperback books)
   • Print and digital textbooks;
   • Higher education standardized testing.
5. University Press Books (hardcover and paperback books);
6. Subscription Reference
7. Book Clubs and Book Fairs
8. Mail Order Books
9. Book Exports and Book Imports
10. Libraries

Research on the scholarly journal sector concentrates on the following:

1. Key market drivers;
2. Market demand analysis
3. Major categories (LTR; STM; print and digital).

Researchers at IPR have written a number of scholarly and professional books and research papers about various issues impacting the publishing industry. Their research has been presented at;

• Harvard University;
• Oxford University;
• Cambridge University;
• The University of Toronto;
• The Catholic University of America;
• The Library of Congress (taped for C-Span);
• The World Bank;
• The American Marketing Association;
• The Academy of Marketing Science;
• INFORMS Marketing Science;
• Book Expo America.

Their publishing industry research appeared in the following scholarly journals:

• The Journal of Scholarly Publishing (The University of Toronto Press);
• The Journal of Media Economics (Taylor & Francis);
• The Journal of Cultural Economics (Springer);
• Learned Publishing;
• Publishing Research Quarterly (Springer).

Their research on the publishing industry has been cited in:

• Ph.D. Dissertations;
• M.A. Theses;
• Scholarly books;
• Scholarly journals;
• The Wall Street Journal;
• CNBC;
• Time;
• The Washington Post;
• The Chicago Tribune;
• The International Herald Tribune;
• The Los Angeles Times;
• The New York Times.

Their scholarly books and journal articles analyzing the publishing industry have been required or recommended reading at more than 40 colleges and universities, including:

• Harvard University;
• Columbia University;
• Northwestern University;
• UCLA;
• Brown University;
• Georgetown University.