America’s university presses are situated within a network of over one hundred universities, learned societies, and scholarly associations. According to a pamphlet put out by the American Association of University Presses, these presses “make available to the broader public the full range and value of research generated by university faculty.”1 “University presses are based at a wide array of educational institutions,” the essay goes on, “and thus promote a diversity of scholarly perspectives.”
Requiring large subsidies to stay in operation, most presses are in business for scholarly, rather than financial, reasons. While some exist to enhance the prestige of their university, most presses view the dissemination of knowledge as their raison d’être. In large measure because of their charter to generate and disseminate knowledge, the federal government grants university presses not-for-profit status.
Above all, it is with the
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