Preface Page
OUP treats the preface as optional preliminary matter and describes it as a short introductory section that may explain aims, intended readership, scope, special features, acknowledgments and changes from an earlier edition. This page focuses on the preface as a practical book component rather than repeating the separate Foreword vs. Preface comparison.
A preface is optional authorial front matter used to explain the work’s aims, intended readership, scope, special features or edition changes. Exact placement and contents follow the publisher’s workflow.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
["A preface is optional and publisher-dependent; the separate Foreword vs. Preface guide owns the distinction between those two labels."]
Further guidance
Placement
["Treat the preface as preliminary/front matter and follow the publisher’s required sequence."]
Practical Application
Use a preface when the author needs to explain the work’s aims, intended readership, scope, special features, acknowledgments, or changes from an earlier edition. Treat its exact placement and contents as publisher-controlled front matter.
Purpose
["Use a preface when the author needs to orient readers to the work, its scope, intended readership, edition changes or other contextual information."]
Reader Check
Before adding a preface, ask whether the material belongs to the author’s framing of the work or to another component such as a foreword, introduction, acknowledgments, or edition note. Follow the publisher’s sequence rather than inventing a universal order.
Worked Example
A revised textbook preface might explain who the edition is for, summarize major changes, and thank contributors; chapter-level subject matter should remain in the introduction or chapters.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Front and end matter — Oxford Academic (opens in a new tab)Oxford University Press · OUP book-workflow guidance for forewords, prefaces, half-title/frontispiece, epigraph, illustration/map lists, contributors, reader notes and endpapers