150530P - DISCUSSION POINTS ON PUBLICATION AT A WORKSHOP FOR SOUTH AFRICAN ACADEMICS DURBAN

Presented at a workshop in Durban, South Africa on May 30, 2015 by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard)

1. Vision and mission: What our vision and mission in the field of publication?
2. Past experience and future challenges: What lessons have we learned from our past achievements? Do we have authors who can write to international standards? Quality vs quantity? What are the future challenges over the next 25 years? What is our publication plan in the short term, medium term and long term perspectives? What is the future of digital publishing as it relates to us? What changes do we need to make to keep up with the technology?
3. Intellectual publications: What are our objectives in producing intellectual books for researchers? Intellectual books for movements, parties, and governments resolving intellectual issues such as: plurality, democracy, the political roles of women, legal codes etc.
4. Educational publications: What are our objectives in producing teaching and reference material for various levels of education? How effective is a textbook in transferring ideas and visions to students? How can we deal with the interface between the madrassa and the university? Do we have people who can produce at international standards?
5. Types of publications: What are our priorities from the following descriptors (a) books and booklets, journals, newsletters, magazines, textbooks (undergraduate vs postgraduate), school books, workbooks, intellectual books, reference books, encyclopedias, biographies, thesaurus, abstracts, indexes, handbooks, directories, catalogs, (b) hard cover, soft cover, electronic books, video books, audio books (c) Book design and book size as adapted to local preferences. Improving the appearance of books.
6. How do we get material for publication: What are our priorities in obtaining material for publication: submission by authors, commissioned books, conference / seminar proceedings, reprints, research reports, authenticating and editing (tahqiq) of ancient books. How can we motivate authors by annual book prizes?
7. Management of the publication process: What shall be our policies for publication management from manuscript submission to printing? Shall be out-source of do the work in-house? What criteria shall be we use in accepting / rejecting manuscripts?  What is the philosophy and process for peer review? What should our style manual contain? What is process and criteria of quality control?
8. Payment policies: What is our policy regarding author royalties? Can we set a range of standardized rates for the following publication services per 1000 words: language editing, indexing, typesetting, and peer review? How shall we determine variations by language, country, and type of material?
9. Marketing: How can we enhance the following aspects of our marketing? Product differentiation and branding, promotion media, market research, marketing strategy, pricing (centralized or varies by place?), digital marketing, direct marketing.
10. Distribution: How can we enhance the following channels of our distribution: an internet portal using major world and Muslim languages, digital distribution, direct distribution using institute outlets, book fairs, distribution through existing outlets, the university and school markets, marketing to public libraries. 
11. Legal and copyright issues: What shall be our multi-national copyright policies? Shall we have joint/solo publication rights? What rates shall we set for author royalties? Shall we use one international ISBN or shall we seek an ISBN for each country?