Rowman & Littlefield
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1949
- HeadquartersLanham, United States
- Headcount501–1,000
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
Rowman & Littlefield firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Rowman & Littlefield
- Website
- https://rowman.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1949
- Operating status
- Acquired
- Headcount range
- 501–1,000 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Rowman & Littlefield industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Academic Book Publishing
- NAICS
- Book Publishers (513130)
- SIC
- Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Business, Economics, Accounting & Management (EDAGABAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Education Research & Pedagogy Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAH), Politics, Current Affairs & Social Commentary Publishing (MPAJAAAM)
Keywords
Where Rowman & Littlefield is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Lanham
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Rowman & Littlefield business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Book Sales: Rowman & Littlefield generates revenue through sale of academic books, textbooks, and nonfiction titles across disciplines including education, history, politics, music, and library science. Revenue is generated through one-time book purchases via wholesale and direct retail channels.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Rowman & Littlefield product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Rowman & Littlefield is an independent academic publishing house producing scholarly and general nonfiction books across disciplines including education, history, politics, international relations, music studies, library science, and business. Following its 2025 acquisition by Bloomsbury Publishing, the imprint's backlist and frontlist titles are sold and distributed through Bloomsbury's academic e-commerce platform serving libraries, universities, and individual scholars.
Product overview
Rowman & Littlefield is an academic publishing company now operating under Bloomsbury Publishing following its acquisition. The company offers a portfolio of trusted nonfiction titles and imprints spanning multiple academic disciplines including Education, Music & Sound Studies, Library & Information Science, Politics & International Relations, and History. The acquisition, completed in 2024, brought R&L titles into Bloomsbury's catalog platform, with titles becoming available on the Bloomsbury website starting June 2nd.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Rowman & Littlefield Academic Imprint
Companies that use Rowman & Littlefield
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Rowman & Littlefield technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Rowman & Littlefield partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Bloomsbury PublishingflagshipBloomsbury acquired Rowman & Littlefield's academic business and assets, integrating R&L's catalog of nonfiction titles into Bloomsbury's growing academic catalog. This acquisition positions Bloomsbury as the new home for Rowman & Littlefield content, with R&L titles becoming available on the Bloomsbury platform on June 2nd.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Rowman & Littlefield competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Springer Nature: One of the largest academic and scholarly publishers globally, publishing journals, books, and reference works across disciplines. Direct overlap with R&L's higher education and scholarly monograph business, but at much greater scale and with stronger digital platform infrastructure.
- Wiley: Major academic, scientific, and professional publisher with extensive higher education textbook and scholarly book lists. Overlaps with R&L in humanities, social sciences, and education publishing, with comparable institutional buyer base.
- Taylor & Francis (Informa): Global academic publisher within Informa, producing scholarly books and journals across the humanities and social sciences — categories where R&L has significant depth. Comparable in serving university and library buyers with academic monographs and reference works.
- Oxford University Press: University-press academic publisher with strong humanities, social science, and education lists. Shares R&L's positioning around rigorous scholarly monographs and textbook adoption in higher education institutions.
- Cambridge University Press: University press publishing academic books and journals across disciplines including politics, history, and education. Comparable to R&L in scholarly monograph focus and institutional library sales channels.
- Bloomsbury Academic: The acquiring parent company's academic division. R&L titles now live within Bloomsbury's academic platform; Bloomsbury Academic itself is the most natural comparator as the integrating platform and increasingly overlapping academic list.
Direct peers
- SAGE Publications: Independent academic publisher focused on social sciences, education, and library science — directly overlapping with R&L's strongest disciplines. Closely comparable in target market (universities and libraries), product type (scholarly books and textbooks), and business model.
- Edward Elgar Publishing: Independent academic publisher specializing in social sciences, politics, international relations, and economics scholarly books and textbooks. Closely comparable mid-size independent academic publisher with similar discipline mix and library/adoption channels.
- Brill Publishers: Academic publisher with strong humanities and social science scholarly book programs. Comparable to R&L in serving academic and library customers with monographs across disciplines including politics, history, and international studies.
- De Gruyter: International academic publisher with a multi-discipline scholarly book list in humanities and social sciences. Comparable in business model, institutional buyer base, and content category to R&L's academic publishing operations.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Rowman & Littlefield social profiles
Digital presenceRowman & Littlefield financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Rowman & Littlefield leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Rowman & Littlefield funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Rowman & Littlefield M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Rowman & Littlefield
What does Rowman & Littlefield do?
Rowman & Littlefield is an independent academic publishing house producing scholarly and general nonfiction books across disciplines including education, history, politics, international relations, music studies, library science, and business. Following its 2025 acquisition by Bloomsbury Publishing, the imprint's backlist and frontlist titles are sold and distributed through Bloomsbury's academic e-commerce platform serving libraries, universities, and individual scholars.
When was Rowman & Littlefield founded?
Rowman & Littlefield was founded in 1949. It employs 501 to 1,000 people.
Where is Rowman & Littlefield based?
Rowman & Littlefield is headquartered in Lanham, United States, in the North America region.
How does Rowman & Littlefield make money?
One revenue line is on record: book Sales.
Who are Rowman & Littlefield's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Springer Nature, Wiley, Taylor & Francis (Informa), Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Bloomsbury Academic. Direct peers are SAGE Publications, Edward Elgar Publishing, Brill Publishers and De Gruyter.
Does Rowman & Littlefield have an API?
No public API is recorded for Rowman & Littlefield.
What industry is Rowman & Littlefield in?
Rowman & Littlefield's product category is Academic Book Publishing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAGABAC, Business, Economics, Accounting & Management, with a secondary code of EDAGAFAH, Education Research & Pedagogy Scholarly Publishing. Its NAICS code is 513130 and its SIC code is 2731.