"En moins de vingt ans, l'édition en sciences humaines et sociales a été considérablement bouleversée. Tout a été réinventé : le marché du livre s'est transformé, le cadre légal a été radicalement modifié, la publication et la lecture en ligne ont connu un formidable essor, l'écritur
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e même des sciences humaines s'est métamorphosée. Face à ces révolutions intellectuelles, techniques et socioéconomiques d'une ampleur inégalée, en faisant dialoguer éditeurs privés et publics, économistes, documentalistes, libraires, juristes, traducteurs, chercheurs, cet ouvrage collectif offre à celles et ceux qui se préoccupent du destin de l'édition en sciences humaines et sociales un premier bilan, à la fois clair et lucide, des changements survenus depuis le début du XXIe siècle." (Description de la maison d'édition)
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"This is a major study on publishing in South Africa, providing an in-depth analysis of the book industry, reviewing its social and historical context, and examining its role as a strategic industry in South Africa's future development. With contributions by some of the country's leading book profes
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sionals and practitioners, the book examines fields such as policies of literacy and development of African languages, academic publishing, writers and publishing, reading promotion, new digital technologies and their impact on publishing, and issues relating copyright and reproduction rights. There are also some interesting papers on alternative publishing, and the alternative press, under the former repressive apartheid regime." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 1002)
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"Dieser Band ist als Praxisleitfaden für Personen und Institutionen konzipiert, die eine Stelle zur Publikationsberatung auf- und ausbauen möchten. Während der erste Teil des Bandes verschiedene Aspekte des wissenschaftlichen Publizierens thematisiert, die im Rahmen der Publikationsberatung relev
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ant sind, soll der zweite Teil die praktische Umsetzung publikationsunterstützender Angebote veranschaulichen. Mit diesem Band wollen wir Kolleginnen und Kollegen an Bibliotheken und Universitäten grundlegende Kenntnisse aus dem facettenreichen und dynamischen Bereich des wissenschaftlichen Publizierens vermitteln und ihnen bei der Umsetzung ähnlicher Projekte Hilfestellung geben. Die Publikationsservices an der Universität Graz entstanden aus der Notwendigkeit heraus, die an der Universitätsbibliothek vorhandenen OpenAccess-Angebote besser zu koordinieren. Doch bereits in einer frühen Phase entstand bei den Teammitgliedern der Wunsch, mehr als »nur« Open-Access-Unterstützung zu leisten. Stattdessen sollte in Absprache und Zusammenarbeit mit anderen Abteilungen der Universität ein umfassenderes Service- und Beratungsangebot aufgebaut werden, das den gesamten Publikationsprozess begleitet." (Vorwort, Seite 9)
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"A holistic way of approaching the question of how African university presses can reposition themselves in support of the broader shift of some African universities towards a greater focus on research, is to consider shifts in the dominant institutional logic in the academic publishing industry. Bas
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ed on a baseline survey of university presses in Africa, in-depth case studies of selected university presses, and an analysis of the publishing choices made by African academics, this research project examined the opportunities and constraints faced by university presses in Africa. It provides an overview of the African university press landscape and shows that there is a small, active group of university presses. University presses in Africa are not yet making use of technological advances to reconfigure their production, distribution and marketing processes, nor are they experimenting with new publishing models such as open access. While case studies of selected university presses surfaced unsurprising challenges (such as scarce resources and limited capacity), they also show that university presses in Africa are constrained by institutional logics that are holding them back from experimenting with new ways of doing things. The research also reveals that an alarmingly high number of academic authors at one flagship research university in Africa are choosing to publish monographs with predatory publishers. The report concludes with a set of pragmatic recommendations; recommendations that are simultaneously attuned to the opportunities and to the realities of African university presses as revealed by the research conducted." (Executive summary)
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"The proceedings of a conference held at the Africa Institute of South Africa in 2009, this is a major new collection of essays on the state of scholarly publishing in Africa, with a strong emphasis on the situation in South Africa. The conference was convened, and the papers published, in an attemp
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t to influence “policymakers and other relevant stakeholders in developing an enabling environment for scholarly publishing to thrive.” Containing a total of 26 papers – all of them, usefully, preceded by abstracts – content is arranged under seven sections: (i) The State of Research Publishing in Africa, (ii) The State of Scholarly Publishing in Africa, (iii) The Challenges of Book Distribution, (iv) The Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Scholarly Publishing, (v) Alternative Publishing Models, (vi) The Politics of Peer Review in Scholarly Publishing, and (vii) Scholarly Publishing and Intellectual Property Development in Africa. While the majority of the contributors are from South Africa, other contributors include Kenyan veteran publisher Henry Chakava, James Currey of James Currey Publishers, Mary Jay, Chief Executive of the Oxford-based African Books Collective, and a number of academics from the West African region. The book is particularly strong in overviews of scholarly publishing in South Africa, covering both book and journal publishing. It offers some interesting discussions and fresh insights about alternative publishing and distribution models, with articles reporting about new initiatives and strategy approaches, and also including papers on the politics and practise of the peer review process, and on South African intellectual property rights. One or two papers, by academics from other regions of Africa, unfortunately are weak and poorly informed about the current state of scholarly publishing in Africa, for example citing literature that goes back to books and articles published in the 1970s and 1980s. However, the book can be seen as a useful companion to ‘African Scholarly Publishing Essays’, edited by Alois Mlambo, and published by African Books Collective in 2006." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2581)
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"This paper reviews, critically, the discourse of research publication policy and the directives of the regional and global organisations that advise African countries with respect to their relevance to African scholarly communication. What emerges is a readiness to use the concepts and language of
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the public good, making claims for the power of technology to resolve issues of African development. However, when it comes to implementing scholarly publication policies, this vision of technological power and development-focused scientific output is undermined by a reversion to a conservative research culture that relies on competitive systems for valuing and accrediting scholarship, predicated upon the systems and values managed by powerful global commercial publishing consortia. The result is that the policies put in place to advance African research effectively act as an impediment to ambitions for a revival of a form of scholarship that could drive continental growth. While open access publishing models offer solutions to the marginalisation of African research, the paper argues that what is also needed is a re-evaluation of the values that underpin the recognition of scholarly publishing, to better align with the continent’s articulated research goals." (Abstract)
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"The University of Cape Town (UCT) Press was established in 1994 and is one of four university presses currently operating in South Africa. The modern-day university press presents an interesting mix of challenges and conflicting agendas, and the OpeningScholarship project chose UCT Press as a subje
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ct for case study in the hope that an examination of the operations and dynamics of such a press would throw some light on the tensions inherent in the academic publishing exercise. It should be noted at the outset that UCT Press is unique among South African university presses in that it is owned by a private company – namely, Juta and Company Ltd. Private ownership of a university press which enjoys a close, synergistic relationship with its parent institution is not unique in the global academic context, but it does present interesting challenges in terms of commercial and non-commercial entities working side by side, often with very different markers of success." (Introduction)
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Studies and reviews briefly some of the key editorial decisions that involve the distribution of academic publications policy in Chile, including its access and use of the general public, academic and scientific community in particular.
"The academic publishing sector in South Africa is facing many changes and challenges in the post-1994 democracy, with most of the changes brought about by the Higher Education Act No. 101 of 1997. A recent challenge, or threat, to commercial publishers is the phenomenon, and proliferation, of self-
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publishing. Although not a trend commonly associated with academic textbook publishing, self-publishing has in recent years increased in frequency and to some extent influences the prospects of new business and profits by South African commercial publishers, especially when academic self-publishers of textbooks prescribe their self-published textbooks to their students for particular courses. This study aims to show that self-publishing exists within the South African academic community for a variety of reasons, and does in fact impact adversely on the market share of academic publishers." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2536)
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"This volume grew out of a seminar on scholarly publishing held in Arusha, Tanzania in 2002. It was originally announced for publication as The African Scholarly Writers and Publishers Handbook, as a sequel to the much acclaimed African Writers’ Handbook published by African Books Collective in 19
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99, but was subsequently recast primarily as a collection of essays by book practitioners and a number of African academics. The preface to the volume offers no explanation why the original handbook concept was abandoned, although the essay collection does contain a few more practical papers such as Alois Mlambo’s “Choosing a Publisher”, Mary Jay’s “The Book Publishing Process”, and Charles Bewlay’s “A Publisher’s Expectations of Academic Authors”. Also useful, published as an appendix in the book, is a reprint of CODESRIA’s Guide for Authors, a small booklet published by them in 2003 that contains a great deal of helpful guidance as well as a glossary. The collection takes stock of the current status of academic publishing on the continent. and contains a total of 25 papers, together with an index. Following two introductory essays, papers are grouped under a number of headings and sub-headings: Part 1, Perspectives: Scholars and Publishers, African-Language Publishing, Librarianship; and Part 2, Writing and Publishing; New Technologies. This essay collection offers a rich resource on many aspects of African scholarly publishing today." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2312)
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