The current company took shape when the University Press of America acquired Rowman & Littlefield in 1988 and took the Rowman & Littlefield name for the parent company.

[1][2] Since 2013, there has also been an affiliated company based in London called Rowman & Littlefield International.

It is editorially independent and publishes only academic books in Philosophy, Politics & International Relations and Cultural Studies.

The company sponsors the Rowman & Littlefield Award in Innovative Teaching, the only national teaching award in political science given in the United States.

[3] On May 29, 2024, Rowman & Littlefield sold its academic publishing business to Bloomsbury Publishing (with the exception of most of Globe Pequot, the Rowman & Littlefield trade publishing arm, Sundance-Newbridge, the National Book Network, or the company's trade distribution business).