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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?