I sent 16 copies of each of my two academic books to libraries — and now I don’t understand how to use that to meet the EB-1 criteria. Does USCIS count that as evidence? Do I need to go to the libraries’ websites, look up my books in their catalogs and take screenshots? I can’t think of anything else to add to the evidence file.
Search WorldCat — you’ll see all 16 in one place
6 Likes
USCIS does not always count books as “scholarly articles” — it depends on the publisher’s classification and on how they’re submitted. There’s a more important nuance here: distribution to libraries by itself is not proof of significance; the officer wants to see that the books are actually being used — citation tracking via Google Scholar, reviews in specialized journals, letters from programs that adopted the books as a textbook. WorldCat screenshots are the baseline, but without a citation trail it’s just published work, not evidence of impact.
6 Likes
Citation counts in Google Scholar — that’s exactly where the officer looks. In my petition I had a separate section with an export for each paper showing the citation counter — the lawyer deliberately formatted it that way, not just dumped everything into one pile. Also, if even one university adopts the book into its curriculum, a letter from them is worth more than all 16 library screenshots combined.
6 Likes
An interlibrary circulation notice by itself is just proof that the book physically exists in the holdings — nothing more. In my publications petition the structure was as follows: an exhibit with the bibliographic description, a paragraph about the significance of the publishers, and, most importantly, quotes from recommendation letters where the recommenders specifically referred to those works. Without an independent person writing “monograph X influenced our program/research” — WorldCat screenshots satisfy the “published work” requirement, but not “outstanding contribution”.
6 Likes
I’ve heard that a single review in a specialist journal demonstrates impact more reliably than 16 screenshots.
6 Likes
If there are reviews of books in specialist journals, that’s a separate track from the citation trail, and in the petition it’s better to separate them. A review in a journal with an impact factor above 2 is peer validation; an officer reads that as “the work was recognized by the community,” not just “the work exists.” In my experience, when I filed, the attorney separated publications and reviews as two separate supporting elements within the same criterion, and that worked more cleanly than when everything is lumped together.
6 Likes