Publishing Question

[sanfram]

How do you think committees reviewing applications to their PhD program would perceive one of the applicants having had a book published through AK Press? My concern is that AK is not a university press, so I'm not sure if that would hurt my application in some way? I'm applying to Cultural Studies programs.

Thanks!

[incognegra]

I have the same question, Sanfram. Hopefully someone will chime in to shed light soon.

[msafiri]

I think it depends more on what it is you're publishing and whether or not it is peer-reviewed prior to publication. The value of university presses is that they have manuscripts peer reviewed before deciding whether to publish them.

[incognegra]

I'm not sure if the OP shares my question on this subject but I am wondering whether simply having "AK Press" on a CV would raise eyebrows and make me look like a less-than-serious scholar. I agree with what you're saying about the peer-review component impacting how much having published would help ones application but I'm more curious about whether, and how much, it could hurt.