making a difference open access publishing and effective african research dissemination eve gray...

Making a difference

Open Access publishing and effective African research

dissemination

Eve Gray & Associates

Eve Gray &

Associates Publishing Institute for Southern Africa

Global imbalances

Knowledge resources dominated by powerful countries in the North

Research policies and accreditation systems reinforce this dominance

Eve Gray & AssociatesPublishing Institute for Southern Africa

The marginalisation of African knowledge

Africa is perceived as a consumer of knowledge

Knowledge dissemination through traditional outlets faces formidable barriers


Formidable barriers

• The difficulty of finding a toe-hold for products in profitable markets geared to dominant global products

• The cost of distributing printed books in scattered markets

• Transport costs and tariff barriers in inter-African trade

• Slow delivery caused by the vast distances to reach market

• Connectivity problems and lack of IT infrastructure.


Traditional publishing has failed Africa

Publishing Institute for Southern Africa Eve Gray & Associates

Overseas publication favored over local

Local journals limp along, under-supported and unable to compete with international rivals

University presses have to ‘break even’Publishing Institute for Southern Africa Eve Gray & Associates

Academic publishers face dangers from all sides these days - the public, taxpayers, profs, students, librarians, colleagues. There has

emerged the idea among administrators and some academic publishers themselves, who seem to feel compelled to comply with

unreasonable expectations, that university presses should be turned into ‘profit centres’ and contribute to the general budget of the university. Where did this idea come from? It’s bad. We have financial records of publishing in the West since Gutenberg, and it is clear that books are a losing proposition. Widgets have been,

and always will be, a surer bet. And the idea of milking the university presses – the poorest of all publishers – for cash is the equivalent of making the church mice contribute to the upkeep of

the church.

Lindsay Waters, Enemies of Promise: publishing, perishing, and the eclipse of scholarship. Chicago, 2004. Prickly Paradigm Press

So how can our universities contribute effectively to

information and knowledge for sustainable development?


Access

vs

Dissemination

Eve Gray &

Associates Publishing Institute for Southern Africa

The silver bullet - Open Access

Knowledge is democratized

Free digital delivery can overcome distribution barriers

The universities sit on enormous knowledge resources that are currently locked up


But is it enough to create accessible stores of

knowledge?


A problem

The state feels that it is not getting adequate return on its investment in public higher

education

Governments reducing unconditional support for higher education institutions

Looking for contribution to national development goals

Eve Gray & Associates Publishing Institute for Southern Africa

The need

The universities need to assert the importance of their independence, and the value of the knowledge commons as a seedbed of innovation ranging from product development to the design of effective public policies…they need to show how their work is responsive to the pressing needs of development

Martin Hall, Freeing the Knowledge Resources of Public Universities. KM Africa

conference, DBSA, March 2005

This often requires the translation of research knowledge to practical and

accessible resources

These resources then need to be actively

marketed and effectively distributed


The answer

Investment in publishing and active dissemination

Strategic targeting of publishing activities to deliver institutional profile and national priorities

Professional publishing skills for high quality products

Promotion and product targeting to ensure research impact


The case study

The HSRC Press


The consultancy

Needed to find the right publishing strategy, copyright model and business pan to meet the institution's goals

Identify the skills, structures and systems to deliver the new programme

The right mix of delivery technologies


The recommendations

An integrated market approach – publishing is part of the research function

What is published and how it is published reflects organizational aspirations and national goals

Financial rewards not from sales but in increased capacity to attract research funding and government support


The publishing model

Dual stream - digital Open Access resources and print on demand

Full text digital content of all publications available free of charge

High quality print available at subsidized prices in SA and internationally


Professional skills

Publishing – selecting and targeting the publications

Appropriate and professional product design

Active marketing and promotions

Research impact is the measure


A range of products

Not just the traditional books and scholarly monographs, but research reports, discussion documents, books, data resources….


The results

A highly effective publishing programme – increased impact, national and international reach

More than 200 titles available online, free of charge

A first stop for policy-makers, researchers, journalists



A nice irony

Since the HSRC started to give its publications away free, sales of the print products have gone up nearly 300%


Eve Gray & Associates www.evegray.co.za

The Publishing Institute for Southern Africawww.publishinginstitute.co.za

http://www.evegray.co.za/

http://www.evegray.co.za/

http://www.publishinginstitute.co.za/




making a difference open access publishing and effective african research dissemination eve gray...

Documents

africa publishing institute

evenpublishing institute

enormous knowledge resources

accessible stores of

tariff barriers

distribution barriers

local local journals

printed books