The Centro de Estudios Constitucionales was created by Royal Decree 1761/1977, 278 October (BOE 276, 8th November), which reorganized the Presidency, as an autonomous affiliated body to the Presidency. Its was given the aim to carry out and promote study in matters of constitutional, administrational and social interest. In 1997, the Royal Decree 1269/1997, 24th June, which regulated the organisation and functions of the Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales (BOE 188, 7th August) repealed the former organisation, and added to its new objectives research of social and political systems, taking on the role of the former Instituto de Estudios Políticos.
In accordance with the provisions of the regulatory standards, and more specifically of Article 2.2 of the aforementioned Royal Decree, the Subdirección de Publicaciones y Documentación [Sud-directorate of Publishing and Documentation] has the role of publishing the material from research studies related to research areas that are of interest to the CEPC.
The editorial stamp of the CEPC has a long track record, beginning in the 40s as part of the former Instituto de Estudios Políticos. Since then, it has undergone change with the aim of adapting to the country´s new political and social climate, following clear aims set by the government. The publishing house has been incorporated into the UNE as an associate institution and has been awarded a range of prizes over the years for the quality of its publications.
CECP is a specialised publisher, and maintains nine collections of essays, which contain works related to the research of social, political, constitutional and administrative systems, at both national and international level. Publication proposals undergo a rigorous selection process and must pass the double blind peer review before being included in the Editorial Programme of the CEPC. The centre follows the best editorial practices at all times.
In addition to essays, the CEPC also publishes seven journals, each of which are of great importance in their particular area. Six of them have received the FECYT stamp of approval. The CEPC also collaborates with other academic and professional institutions in the edition of two journals.
Currently, the CEPC´s publishing house is one of the top 25 publishers of scientific literature in the country, according to studies carried out by the Grupo EC3 at the Universidad de Granada, who develop the Publishers Scholar Metrics (PSM) index, and by the research group on the Libro Académico (ILIA) at the CSIC, who develop the Scholarly Publishers Indicators. Both indexes measure the quality of Spanish publishers; the PSM takes into account the number of times the books are cited and the SPI, the opinion of academics.
In light of the results that the publisher has achieved in the aforementioned studies: PSM and SPI, it is clear that the Editorial del Centro de Estudios Políticos y Constitucionales is one of the best in the country, as it occupies a good position both in the individual subject and the general rankings, in which the publisher is compared to works in all fields of scientific research.