Air University Press does not pay for the manuscripts it publishes. In some cases, however, sponsoring agencies may commission manuscripts for publication by AU Press. If appropriate, payment is negotiated between an author and the sponsoring agency. If you are a government employee who has written a manuscript as part of your job; has used government time, equipment, supplies, or facilities to do so; or has composed a study based on knowledge gained through official duties, then government laws and regulations prohibit you from accepting payment for your work.

If you are a government employee who writes a manuscript as part of your job, you cannot own the copyright to that manuscript. By law, no copyright exists, and the manuscript is in the public domain. If you are not a government employee and AU Press publishes your manuscript, you retain the copyright. However, the publishing agreement you will sign with AU Press gives the Air Force unlimited rights to publish and distribute your manuscript in print and electronically. As the copyright owner, you may also give the manuscript to a commercial publisher, but your agreement with that publisher cannot restrict the Air Force's rights to publish and distribute your manuscript. For additional details, see the AU Press publishing agreement in the "Essential Forms" section.

As a rule, AU Press does not process or publish classified material. If you believe that your project merits an exception to this rule, please notify us as early in the development process as possible. Before submitting a manuscript to AU Press, make sure it contains no classified or sensitive information (e.g., inspector general reports or other documents marked “Controlled Unclassified Information", Social Security numbers,PII, etc.). Do not cite classified information or the titles of classified documents (whether in the text, notes, bibliography, etc.). Do not include information of a personal nature (e.g., mentioning the name of your spouse and/or children, your place of birth, etc., in the acknowledgments or a biographical sketch).

AU Press publications must undergo security clearance and policy review to ensure that they contain no classified and sensitive information and do not misrepresent current Air Force policy. Normally, the public affairs (PA) office here at Maxwell completes the review, but DOD-affiliated authors may have their manuscript cleared by their local PA office. If you do so, please provide us with the clearance/case number assigned by that office.