Flagship Scholarly Journals
The Nebraska Institute of Great Plains Press is the publishing arm responsible for disseminating high-quality research to global academic and professional audiences. Its flagship publication is the quarterly peer-reviewed journal, Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences. Established over thirty years ago, it is the foremost interdisciplinary journal dedicated exclusively to the region, with articles spanning ecology, history, sociology, geography, economics, and political science. The journal maintains a rigorous double-blind peer-review process and is indexed in all major academic databases, ensuring its content reaches scholars worldwide. A second key journal, Plains Aquifer Science and Management, is published in partnership with a consortium of state geological surveys and focuses on the cutting-edge hydrology, policy, and engineering related to the vital Ogallala and other aquifer systems. These journals provide a essential platform for scholars to share findings that might otherwise be overlooked by discipline-specific journals with a more national or global focus.
Monograph Series and Technical Reports
For longer-form scholarship, the Press manages two major monograph series. The 'Studies in the Great Plains' series publishes seminal book-length works of original research, often emerging from dissertations or multi-year projects by Institute fellows and faculty. Recent titles include Bison and People on the Northern Plains: A Deep Environmental History and The Digital Divide in Rural America: A Plains Perspective. The 'Plains Policy Series' publishes shorter, timely white papers and policy briefs aimed at legislators, agency officials, and community leaders. These reports translate complex research into clear, actionable recommendations on issues like tax policy for beginning farmers or models for rural healthcare delivery. Additionally, the Institute produces a vast array of technical reports for government agencies and research sponsors, detailing methodologies and findings from specific projects. While not always publicly glamorous, these reports form the essential evidentiary base for management decisions and further research.
Public-Facing Publications and Digital Presence
Believing that knowledge should be accessible, the Institute also produces a range of public-facing publications. The magazine Plainsight, published biannually, features beautifully illustrated articles written for a general audience, highlighting Institute research, profiling communities, and exploring regional culture. It is distributed free to thousands of households across the state. The Press also maintains an active digital publishing program. All back issues of its journals are available in open-access formats after a two-year embargo, and many policy papers are immediately open-access. The Institute's 'Digital Commons' repository hosts preprints, conference proceedings, datasets, and multimedia content, making the Institute's intellectual output freely available to anyone with an internet connection. This multi-tiered publishing strategy—from high-impact scholarly journals to engaging public magazines—ensures that the vital knowledge generated at the Institute informs global scholarship, guides regional policy, and enriches the understanding of the citizens who call the Great Plains home.