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African Scholarly Publishing Es AFRICAN SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING ESSAYS Selected publishing resource titles available from African Books Collective Publishing and Development in the Third World edited by Philip G. Altbach (New Delhi: Vistaar Publications, 1992) A Handbook of Good Practice in Journal Publishing 2nd. rev. ed. by Hans M. Zell (London and Oxford: International African Institute and ABC, 1998) The African Writers' Handbook edited by James Gibbs & Jack Mapanje (Oxford: ABC in association with the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, 1999) The African Publishers Networking Directory 1999/2000 compiled by ABC (Oxford: ABC, 1999) Marketing and Promoting Agricultural and Rural Development Publications by Bridget Impey (Oxford: INASP, 2000) Guide pratique de marketing et promotion de publications sur le developpment agricole et rural by Bridget Impey (Oxford: INASP, 2001) Book Marketing and Promotion. A Handbook of Good Practice edited by Hans M. Zell (Oxford: INASP, 2001) A Guidebook on Journal Publishing for Agriculture and Rural Development by Anthony Youdeowei (Oxford: INASP, 2002) Guide pratiquepourl'edition de revues sur l'agriculture et le developpment rural by Anthony Youdeowei (Oxford: INASP, 2002) Courage and Consequence. Women in Publishing in Africa edited by Mary Jay and Susan Kelly (Oxford: ABC, 2002) African Scholarly Publishing Essays Edited by Alois Mlambo African Books Collective Ltd > Oxford Dag Hammarskjold Dag Hammarksjold Foundation· Uppsala for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications· Oxford First published 2007 by African Books Collective Ltd, Oxford; the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation, Uppsala; and International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications, Oxford. Copyright © 2007 African Books Collective Lrd, the Dag Harnmarskjold Foundation, International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright holder, except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). The written permission of the copyright holders must also be obtained before any part of this publication is stored in a retrieval system of any nature. Application for the copyright holders' written permission to reproduce, transmit or store in a retrieval system any part of this publication should be addressed to the publishers. African Books Collective Ltd. Unit 13, Kings Meadow, Ferry Hinksey Road Oxford OX2 ODP Dag Hamrnarskjold Foundation Ovre Slottsgatan Z, SE-753 10 Uppsala Sweden International Network for the Availability of ScientificPublications in Africa PO Box 516 Oxford OXllWG Whereas the publishers have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of material in this handbook, it cannot assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability to any party for any loss or damage caused by omissions or inaccuracies, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN-l0: 1-904855-83-0 ISBN-13: 978-1-904855-83-5 Cover illustration by Godfrey Semwaiko Designed and produced for the publishers by Chase Publishing Services Ltd Fortescue, Sidmouth, EX10 9QG, England Manufactured on demand by Lightning Source It seems to me that how and where intellectual work is done cannot be ignored. We have contexts. We talk about English economists, Arab mathematicians, Greek philosophers, and so on, and there's no reason to think that Africa should not have its own knowledge production centres and knowledge producers, recognised not only locally but internationally as well. Waiter Bgoya How do we disseminate research results so as to enhance cultural and political development? Scholarly publications alone are not enough ... We have been doing research at our university level, we have been debating with universities abroad ... But have we engaged with our communities? First of all, language. If we speak and write in English, French, Portuguese or Spanish, do we engage with our communities in Suiahili, in Wollof, in Mandinka? ... Of course [as scholars]we need a high quality ofscientific debate ... we deal and struggle with concepts, we write beautiful sentences. But how do we articulate these messages and concepts to our communities? ... I think there is a struggle ofpower between our communities and us [as scholars], which we should debate ... Are we the sole owners of change? Do our communities have their own means of change? How do we set up a dialogue and not be in that kind ofivory tower we've been accused ofbeing in? Fatou Sow Contents Publishers' Preface IX Notes on Contributors Xl Introduction - Scholarly Publishing: An Overview 1 WaIter Bgoya The Case for Publishing African Scholarship in Africa 11 Alois Mlambo PART ONE - PERSPECTIVES Scholars and Publishers Writing, Publishing and Distributing Feminist Research in Francophone Africa: The Senegalese Experience 27 Fatou Sow Opportunities and Problems Facing Authors and Publishers in Science Publishing within the African Continent 39 B.S. Chandravanshi Writing and Publishing on Agricultural Sciences in Africa 45 Anthony Youdeowei Models of Scholarly Publishing Houses 52 Brian Wafawarowa CODESRIA: Over 30 Years of Scholarly Publishing 57 Adebayo Olukoshi and Francis B. Nyamnjoh Scholarly Publishing in Africa: The Perspective of an East African Commercial and Textbook Publisher 66 Henry Chakava Learned Society Publishing 76 ]anet Hussein A Community of Teaching and Learning, Research and Publishing 83 Klaus Fiedler The Addis Ababa University Press: Experiences and Reflections 91 Darge Wole and Messelech Habte African Scholarly Network Press: A Co-publishing Model 97 lames Currey viii AFRICANSCHOLARLY PUBLISHING African-Language Publishing Scholarly Writing and Publishing in African Languages - With Special Emphasis on Kiswahili: Problems and Challenges 104 M.M. Mulokozi Librarianship Why Do African Readers Want Indigenous Publications? 113 Kingo Mchombu Access to Health Information: The African Users' Perspective 120 Maria G.N. Musoke PART TWO - WRITING AND PUBLISHING Writing for the Academic Market: How to Get Started 131 Alois Mlambo Choosing a Publisher 138 Alois Mlambo The Book Publishing Process 145 Mary Jay A Publisher's Expectations of Academic Authors 155 Charles Bewlay Journal Publishing in Africa 172 [anet Hussein and Pippa Smart The North American Distribution and Selling of Books Published in Africa 184 Predric C. Bohm PART THREE - NEW TECHNOLOGIES Opportunities for Electronic Publishing in Africa 193 L.O. Aina and Stephen M. Mutula Digital Print on Demand for African Publishing 201 Brian Wafawarowa Print on Demand: The ABC Experience 207 Mary Jay Publishing Through ICTs for Social Justice in Africa 212 Piroze Manji Appendix: CODESRIA Guide for Authors 223 Index 265 Publishers' Preface A vibrant, self-sustaining and independent publishing industry emanating from within the culture of a country, is an essential preconditionof cultural and educational development. And yet the condition of the publishing industry in most countries of sub-Saharan Africa is still precarious. Publishing is not understood by governments to be a strategic industry and an essential component of development. The publishing industry is not capitalised, good editors and middle management expertise is scarce, partly because the weak economic base of independent publishing houses makes them uncompetitive in the labour market. The well­ rehearsed problems of weak communications, distribution, and printing infrastructure remain with us; and the comparative power of the foreign publishers remains strong in the textbook market. And yet, there is a spirit of challenge amongst the independent publishing fraternity. And whilst a few years ago it was not far-fetched to describe African publishing as extremely underdeveloped; it is not a true picture now. Gains have been made, and collective efforts continue to build capacity. The groundwork to much of the collective efforts was laid 20 years ago, in 1984. In that year, there was a conference in London on 'New Writing in Africa', which gave rise to the publication A Handbook for African Writers, edited by james Gibbs (Oxford: Hans Zell Publishers, 1986); and, that same year, the Dag Hammarskjold Foundation held a seminal conference in Arusha, Tanzania, on 'The Development of Autonomous Capacity in Publishing in Africa' - what has become known as Arusha I. One year later, a group of publishers met and decided to work together to establish their own collective organisation to handle their overseas marketing and distribution, and to work to strengthen indigenous African publishing. That organisation was established in 1989, and started trading as the African Books Collective (ABC) in 1990. In 1991, there was a major gathering of publishers, including key founders of ABC, and donors under the auspices of The Rockefeller Foundation, at the Bellagio Centre in Italy. That conference gave rise to a benchmark book Publishing and Development in the Third World, edited by Philip Altback (Oxford: Hans Zell Publishers, 1992, in association with Sage Publications India, and Heinemann Kenya - now East African Educational Publishers). Thereafter the pace quickened. Following the meetings at Bellagio, the Bellagio Publishing Network was established as a forum for publishers and donors to discuss and
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