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Health
Information Forum: Working together to improve access to reliable information for healthcare
workers in developing and transitional countries
HIF 20: 'Strengthening biomedical publishing in developing countries: the role of international commercial and non-profit publishers'
British Medical Association, London, 20 November 2001
Chair: SALLY MORRIS (Secretary-General, Association for Learned and Professional Society Publishers)
Contents
- 'The priorities of biomedical journal publishers in Africa' - James Falaiye, Managing Editor, African Journal of Reproductive Health, Nigeria
- 'The role of international commercial publishers' - Ian Bannerman, Journal Sales Director, Blackwell Publishing, UK
- 'The role of non-profit organizations' - Elizabeth Dodsworth, CAB International, UK
- Discussion
1. 'THE PRIORITIES OF BIOMEDICAL JOURNAL PUBLISHERS IN AFRICA' - JAMES
FALAIYE, MANAGING EDITOR, AFRICAN JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, NIGERIA
<[email protected]>
I am James Falaiye, Managing Editor of the African Journal of Reproductive Health, published by the Women's Health and Action Research Centre, a non-governmental organisation based in Benin City, Nigeria. This presentation is made possible courtesy of INASP-Health/Health Information Forum with financial support from the British Medical Association (BMA). The sponsorship covers my travel, accommodation and per diem for a ten-day period (Nov. 12 to 22, 2001).
ORGANISATIONS VISITED DURING VISIT TO UK
- African Books Collective
- Bellagio Publishing Network
- Book Aid International
- British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
- British Library (Open Access Forum meeting)
- British Medical Journal
- Healthlink Worldwide
- INASP
- International Planned Parenthood Federation
- Lancet
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
STRENGTHENING THE CAPACITY OF BIOMEDICAL PUBLISHING IN AFRICA
- Biomedical Publishing in Africa: Readers and Authors
- Biomedical Publishing in Africa: Production and Distribution
- Biomedical Publishing in Africa: Economic Factors
- What International Publishers and NGOs Can Do
BIOMEDICAL PUBLISHING IN AFRICA: READERS AND AUTHORS
- Low demand
- Low purchasing power
- Poor authorship
BIOMEDICAL PUBLISHING IN AFRICA: PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION
- Lack of trained personnel
- Poorly remunerated staff
- Lack of basic infrastructure
- Poor distribution and communication network
BIOMEDICAL PUBLISHING IN AFRICA: ECONOMIC FACTORS
- Low financial income from publishing enterprise
- Low export markets
- Importing of books and journals
WHAT INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHERS AND NGOs CAN DO
- Support training of personnel:
- manuscript acquisition, selection and preparation
- book marketing, distribution, communication and leadership skills
- electronic publishing
- financial management
- printing techniques
- Support marketing and promotional activities
- Assist publishers to establish websites
- Assist authors to prepare high quality manuscripts
- Provide financial assistance
- Provide equipment
- Buy books from publishers for distribution to libraries and individuals
- Strengthen professional publishers associations
- Provide directories of libraries, bookshops and publishers
- Support national conferences involving all stakeholders
2. 'THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL PUBLISHERS' - IAN BANNERMAN,
JOURNAL SALES DIRECTOR, BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, UK
<[email protected]>
The role of international commercial publishers
- Supporting authors and editors
- Supporting readership
- Benefits to an international commercial publisher
Supporting authors and editors
- Publication of titles for the region (e.g. Tropical Medicine & International Health)
- ...and from the region (e.g. Chinese Journal of Digestive Diseases)
- Encourage appointment of regional editors
- Discourage barriers to authorship (e.g. page charges, over-reliance on electronic submission)
Supporting readership - paper
- Support for local subscription agents and local distribution
- Reduced rate subscriptions for the developing world
- Book Aid International - International Campus Book Link
Supporting readership - online
- Direct sales to consortia (e.g. Russian Federation, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, S. Africa)
- International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP)
- reduced rate online access to developing countries
- Electronic Information for Libraries (eIFL)
- WHO Health Internetwork Access to Research Initiative
- phase I - free online access to selected institutions in countries with GNP per capita <$1000
- phase II - reduced rate access to selected institutions in countries with GNP per capita <$3000
Sponsored Access
Benefits to an international commercial publisher
- Most of our titles are owned by learned societies. This activity supports their goals.
- Strong international authorship and readership is vital for the intellectual health (and
ultimately financial health) of our titles.
- Positive press coverage reaches societies, editors, authors, readers, librarians, shareholders, employees
- Altruism
3. 'THE ROLE OF NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS' - ELIZABETH DODSWORTH, DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION FOR DEVELOPMENT, CAB INTERNATIONAL, UK
<[email protected]>
CABI is an intergovernmental, not for profit organization, including publishing and information
management. It Works with Member Countries, around 40 in all. The only developed-country
representation is UK, Canada, Australia and Switzerland.
My experience from our Member Countries on their needs in strengthening publishing, mainly
capacity building to facilitate
- Designing publishing strategies
- Putting together business models
- Defining and reaching the market
- Use of new technologies
- Electronic and web publishing
- Editorial standards and workflow
- Quality of English for international market
- Pricing for a developing country market and making the business model work
- Support in the translation of non-English title into English for publication in different market
- Partnerships for credibility in the developed world market
- Management of peer review process
WHAT NOT-FOR-PROFIT ENTERPRISES CAN DO TO STRENGTHEN PUBLISHING IN
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
In the project environment, they could release resources for knowledge
sharing through:
- Consultancies
- Study tours
- Technical advice
- Running and facilitating workshops
In the business environment, they could explore business partnership and sponsorship.
4. DISCUSSION
FREE AND LOW-COST ACCESS TO INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL PUBLICATIONS
There was substantial discussion about current activities to improve access to free and low-cost international journals through initiatives such as the Health InterNetwork (HINARI) and INASP's Programme for the Enhancement of Research Information (PERI). (Both these initiatives have featured in previous HIF meetings - see www.inasp.info/health) In relation to the theme of the current meeting, some participants expressed concern that the provision of such high quality international information may worsen the imbalance of competition against publishers in developing countries.
Such initiatives are possible because the Internet allows wide distribution at minimal extra cost to publishers. Journals depend on revenue and it was suggested that libraries in the developed world are in fact paying for distribution to developing countries. It was also suggested that some of
the large international journal publishers make very substantial profits in percentage terms. On the other hand, publishers have had to make an enormous investment to meet the costs of electronic production and many publishers have gone out of business or reinvested in other areas.
INASP's PERI programme was described as having a holistic approach. It gives greater access to local and national journals through AJOL - African Journals on Line and provides document delivery in a variety of media. PERI also includes training workshops and technical support for librarians and
local publishers.
LOCAL CONTENT
Little information relevant to and about developing countries is found in the international literature and this imbalance may make publication of biomedical research in low resource counties even more vulnerable than before. Indigenous knowledge, sometimes of doubtful validity in biomedicine,
may be in a better position than orthodox biomedical research. There is a need to promote awareness about what is being published in developing countries.
Relatively little biomedical research is being done in developing countries as compared with developed countries. This inevitably results in a lack of content submitted to developing-country journals. More funding is needed for biomedical research in developing countries. Perhaps more review articles, case histories, and personal commentaries might be solicited. On the other hand, it is important to retain the opportunity to publish original research.
The experience of the West African edition of the BMJ indicates that a good knowledge of the market and operating environment is essential if a publication is to survive in a developing country: quality, relevance and knowledge of the target audience are vital. More local material needs to be
gathered and included for the West African BMJ. Authors have to be encouraged to write for the journal. This is currently being done by running workshops on writing, reading and 'how to get published'. A new series of lectures, given by experienced retired or nearly retired professionals, is now being run to give potential authors the benefit of their experience and thus improve the flow of local material.
MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION
One of the problems is that books and journals are not seen as a priority need - raising aweareness of the value of information is essential. So too is identification of better methods of distribution. Electronic-print chains or 'staging posts' is one way of achieving this.
There are very few bookshops outside the capital cities and innovative ways are needed to make books available. Various options are being explored by the Pan African Bookselling Association, which uses post offices as an outlet. PABA also runs training courses in Africa.
The British Medical Bulletin illustrates some common problems of distribution in developing countries. The British Council distributes 250 free subscriptions to developing countries. However, when a short questionnaire was sent to recipients to ask whether they would like to continue to receive the journal, only 50% replied. Are printed publications accessible and read? Many publications appear to end up in an individual's rather than an accessible common library. It was also suggested that occasional publications in an individual's office might be less useful -
even to that individual - than access to a comprehensive library resource.
PUBLISHING, PRINTING, AND NORTH-SOUTH PARTNERSHIPS
It was suggested that international publishers might be more ready to franchise the content so that books and journals could be published using local labour and local currency. Examples were given of licences to reprint journals in India and China. This employs local labour and makes material
available at local prices. It also allows selection of relevant content.
One option for the future might be to promote one-to-one partnerships between publishers (or individual journals) in the developed world and publishers (or journals) in the developing world. (This would be similar to existing North-South library partnerships.) Such a project is currently
being planned by the Association for Learned and Professional Society Publishers. The approach may facilitate information exchange and sharing of expertise in a variety of areas. It was suggested that the major international commercial publishers in HINARI might collaborate to support
such initiatives.
There are currently a large number of initiatives in the dissemination of health science knowledge and information. It was suggested that it is important to ensure cooperation among these activities and avoidance of duplication.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Thanks to Jean Shaw (Partnerships in Health Information) who reported these proceedings.
Contact: Neil Pakenham-Walsh: [email protected]
The Health Information Forum is run as an activity of
INASP-Health, a cooperative network for organizations and
individuals working timprove access treliable information
for healthcare workers in developing and transitional
countries. Participation is free of charge and without
obligation. INASP-Health is supported by the BMA, Danida,
ICSU-Press, and WHO. INASP is a programme of the
International Council for Science (ICSU).
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