The Association of American Publishers’ annual PROSE Awards recognize ‘significant contributions’ in scholarly publishing.

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

‘Depth, Breadth, and Complexity’

The British Book Awards with their 132 finalists in the categories of small presses and independent bookstores have nothing on the annual PROSE Awards from the  Association of American Publishers (AAP).

Today (March 5), the PROSE program is announcing its 118 finalists and 41 category winners for the 48th Annual PROSE Awards honoring scholarly works published in 2023. The name of this program, spelled in all capital letters, does look like the work of an overexcited branding consultant, but it’s drawn from the contest’s focus: PROSE stands for Professional and Scholarly Excellence.

As our regular readers may recall, the 41 category winners we’ll be listing for you here will be eligible for the next level of PROSE honors: the Awards for Excellence are to be announced in coming weeks.

Those four super-categories are:

• Biological and Life Sciences
• Humanities
• Physical Sciences and Mathematics
• Social Sciences

And once those four accolades have been conferred, one of them will receive the PROSE Awards’ highest honor, the prestigious R.R. Hawkins Award.

Syreeta Swann, AAP’s chief operating officer, says, “The PROSE Awards’ 2024 finalists and category award winners illustrate the extraordinary depth, breadth, and complexity of scholarly authorship and publishing.

“We’re pleased to honor these works, and delighted to report that the standard for scholarly works has never been higher.”

Nigel Fletcher-Jones is again the program’s chief juror.

He says, “This year’s PROSE Awards were one of the most competitive to date, highlighting the broad array of high-quality scholarly works available to reader

“We look forward to announcing the R.R. Hawkins Award winner and Awards for Excellence winners, which continue to expand expectations of what scholarly publishing can be.”

AAP PROSE Awards, 2024 Category Winners

The full list of 118 finalists can be found on the Association of American Publishers’ PROSE Award pages. Here, we list for you each category’s winner.

Biological and Life Sciences

Nursing and Allied Health Services

• Leadership in Practice: Essentials for Public Health and Healthcare Leaders, Springer Publishing, Susan Helm-Murtagh, DrPH (doctor of public health), MM, and Paul C. Erwin, MD, DrPH

Biological Sciences

• The Voices of Nature: How and Why Animals Communicate, Princeton University Press, Nicolas Mathevon

Biomedicine and Neuroscience

• Why We Forget and How to Remember Better: The Science behind Memory, Oxford University Press, Andrew E. Budson and Elizabeth A. Kensinger

Clinical Medicine

• Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Health, Elsevier Inc., Bonnie Halpern-Felsher

Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry

• Promoting Desired Lifestyles Among Adults with Autism and Intellectual Difficulties, Elsevier Inc., Dennis H. Reid and Mary Rosswurm

Social Sciences

Architecture-Urban Planning

• In the Land of the Patriarchs: Design and Contestation in West Bank Settlements, University of Texas Press, Noam Shoked

Business, Finance, and Management

• Sovereign Funds: How the Communist Party of China Finances Its Global Ambitions, Harvard University Press / Belknap Press, Zongyuan Zoe Liu

Economics

• Carbon Colonialism, Manchester University Press, Laurie Parsons

Cultural Anthropology and Sociology

• Disrupting D.C.: The Rise of Uber and the Fall of the City, Princeton University Press, Katie J. Wells, Kafui Attoh, and Declan Cullen

Government and Politics

• Residual Governance: How South Africa Foretells Planetary Futures, Duke University Press, Gabrielle Hecht

Education Theory and Practice

• The Culture Trap: Ethnic Expectations and Unequal Schooling for Black Youth, Oxford University Press, Derron Wallace

Legal Studies and Criminology

• The Legal Singularity: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Law Radically Better, University of Toronto Press, Abdi Aidid and Benjamin Alarie

Psychology and Applied Social Work

• APA Handbook of Adolescent and Young Adult Development, American Psychological Association, Lisa J. Crockett, Gustavo Carlo, and John E. Schulenberg

Physical Science and Mathematics

Computing and Information Sciences

• Data Science in Context: Foundations, Challenges, Opportunities, Cambridge University Press, Alfred Z. Spector, Peter Norvig, Chris Wiggins, and Jeannette M. Wing

Engineering and Technology

• Algorithms for the People: Democracy in the Age of AI, Princeton University Press, Josh Simons

Earth Science

• The Land Beneath the Ice: The Pioneering Years of Radar Exploration in Antarctica, Princeton University Press, David J. Drewry

Environmental Science

• Mnemonic Ecologies: Memory and Nature Conservation Along the Former Iron Curtain, The MIT Press, Sonja K. Pieck

History of Science, Medicine, and Technology

• Radical by Nature: The Revolutionary Life of Alfred Russel Wallace, Princeton University Press, James T. Costa

Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, and Cosmology

• Quantum Phases of Matter, Cambridge University Press, Subir Sachdev

Popular Science and Mathematics

• The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars: Cheating and Deception in the Living World, Princeton University Press, Lixing Sun

Mathematics and Statistics

• Exponential Families in Theory and Practice, Cambridge University Press, Bradley Efron

Journals

• Community Science, Wiley, Julia K. Parrish, Editor-in-Chief, Community Science and Jean J. Schensul deputy editor, Community Science Exchange

Reference Works and Textbooks

In this category, there are three sub-categories:

Multivolume:

• Clinical Medicine: Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Health, Elsevier Inc., Bonnie Halpern-Felsher

Single Volume:

• Cultural Anthropology and Sociology: The Oxford Handbook of Indigenous Sociology, Oxford University Press, Maggie Walter, Tahu Kukutai, Angela A. Gonzales, and Robert Henry

Textbooks:

• Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, and Cosmology: Dynamics of Planetary Systems, Princeton University Press, Scott Tremaine

Humanities

Art Exhibitions

• Seeing Race Before Race: Visual Culture and the Racial Matrix in the Premodern World, ACMRS Press, Noémie Ndiaye and Lia Markey

Art History and Criticism

• Giotto’s Arena Chapel and the Triumph of Humility, Cambridge University Press, Henrike Christiane Lange

Biography and Autobiography

• Scarred: A Feminist Journey Through Pain, NYU Press, L. Ayu Saraswati

Biological Anthropology, Archaeology, and Ancient History

• Ending Epidemics: A History of Escape from Contagion, The MIT Press, Richard Conniff

Classics

• Between Sahara and Sea: Africa in the Roman Empire, University of Michigan Press, David J. Mattingly

Language and Linguistics

• A Myriad of Tongues: How Languages Reveal Differences in How We Think, Harvard University Press, Caleb Everett

Music and Performing Arts

• On Music Theory, and Making Music More Welcoming for Everyone, University of Michigan Press, Philip Ewell

European History

• Magus: The Art of Magic from Faustus to Agrippa, Harvard University Press, Imprint: Belknap Press, Anthony Grafton

Literature

• The Chapter: A Segmented History from Antiquity to the Twenty-First Century, Princeton University Press, Nicholas Dames

Media and Cultural Studies

• 24/7 Politics: Cable Television and the Fragmenting of America from Watergate to Fox News, Princeton University Press, Kathryn Cramer Brownell

Nonfiction Graphic Novels

• Liberated: The Radical Art and Life of Claude Cahun, Getty Publications, Kaz Rowe

North American and US History

• The Rediscovery of America, Yale University Press, Ned Blackhawk

Philosophy

• In Praise of Failure: Four Lessons in Humility, Harvard University Press, Costica Bradatan

Theology and Religious Studies

• Why the Bible Began: An Alternative History of Scripture and its Origins, Cambridge University Press, Jacob L. Wright

World History

• Wonders and Rarities: The Marvelous Book That Traveled the World and Mapped the Cosmos, Harvard University Press, Travis Zadeh

Outstanding Work by a Trade Publisher

• The 272, Random House, Rachel Swarns/Hilary Redmon

E-Products

None Awarded

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More from Publishing Perspectives on the Association of American Publishers is here, more on digital publishing is here, more on the annual PROSE Awards is here, and more on publishing and book awards is here.