Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Print-on-demand Book Scams and Nigerian Universities

Definitely not. And that's the tragedy: that (a) we don't have strong journals that would address local needs; and (b) consequently, we extrovert our concerns and challenges and the solutions to our problems to western audiences.

Sad.

Adeshina Afolayan
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN

-----Original Message-----
From: OLUWATOYIN ADEPOJU <adifada1@gmail.com>
Sender: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2012 10:10:46
To: <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Reply-To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Print-on-demand Book Scams and
Nigerian Universities

hmmmm....

thanks, Shina.

i wonder how Western universities adress the question of
offshore/onshore publication.

since their journals are read by everyone, does one need to publish
anywhere else to establish a global reputation?

thanks

toyin

On 5/31/12, shina73_1999@yahoo.com <shina73_1999@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thanks. By the 'on-shore'/'off-shore' distinction, I mean the dimension of
> the 'publish or perish' syndrome which insists that a large part of your
> publication must be in foreign journals while a certain percentage must be
> local. Not minding that there are bad journals outside Nigeria (just as we
> have many within), and also not minding the relevance of whatever is written
> and its context. So, in most cases, colleagues dig out journals from every
> nooks and crannies of everywhere to publish. Consequently, teaching, for
> instance, suffer.
>
> Adeshina Afolayan
> Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OLUWATOYIN ADEPOJU <toyinvadepoju@gmail.com>
> Sender: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Date: Thu, 31 May 2012 14:57:29
> To: <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> Reply-To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
> Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Print-on-demand Book Scams and
> Nigerian Universities
>
> Memorable:
>
> "Philosophy is essentially a critical understanding of the universe and
> man's place in it in search of a wisdom befitting action."
>
> Could you please explain this : 'off-shore' /'on-shore' distinction' ?
>
> Big food for thought:
>
> 'The seriousness of academic publishing, for me, must also touch on the
> quality of what you are saying and HOW you say it.'
>
> thank you very much.
>
> toyin
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 11:37 PM, <shina73_1999@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> **
>> Yes, my characterisation of these journals as deadly refers to their very
>> high standard. Yet, the question is at what point does 'high standard'
>> becomes elitist and beyond accessibility? This point is really crucial
>> with
>> the discipline of Philosophy which suffers eternally from a
>> self-reflexivity that hurts its very disciplinary image. Philosophy is
>> essentially a critical understanding of the universe and man's place in
>> it
>> in search of a wisdom befitting action. Yet, this has been turned into a
>> close, obtuse and esoteric arguments amongst professional philosophers
>> that
>> makes their discipline less relevant.
>>
>> The seriousness of academic publishing, for me, must also touch on the
>> quality of what you are saying and HOW you say it. That is why the
>> 'off-shore' /'on-shore' distinction sometimes appear nonsensical.
>> Contributing to a debate that achieves nothing does not appear serious to
>> me. And that is the sum of what you get from a typical 'highbrow'
>> philosophy journal like Nous.
>>
>> Adeshina Afolayan
>>
>>
>> Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
>> ------------------------------
>> *From: * OLUWATOYIN ADEPOJU <adifada1@gmail.com>
>> *Sender: * usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
>> *Date: *Wed, 30 May 2012 08:17:19 +0100
>> *To: *<usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
>> *ReplyTo: * usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
>> *Subject: *Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Print-on-demand Book Scams
>> and Nigerian Universities
>>
>> By 'deadly, Shina, i suppose you mean 'uncompromising in their very high
>> standards'?
>>
>> Chidi has a very important point but i wonder if he not overstating the
>> case for the dissemination capacities of the Internet.
>>
>> The Web demonstrates both expansiveness and diffusion, qualities that may
>> both enable scope of penetration of various audiences and dissipate the
>> capacity for such penetration.
>>
>> Yes, theoretically, the web gives unfettered access to a global audience.
>>
>> But, in practical terms, this scope is not necessarily automatic.The
>> sheer, ever increasing volume and diversity of Web traffic implies that
>> so
>> much is available to so many that much is missed by many.
>>
>> It takes real commitment to random web crawling, directed Web searching
>> and archiving, and skill in these activities to keep tabs on all one
>> finds
>> of interest online.
>>
>> Also, the sheer volume of data and speed of emergence of data means that
>> peoples' Internet behavior may be likened to islands of mutual interest
>> in a dynamic sea of information, as people come together in communities
>> to
>> share interests.
>>
>> How does one penetrate maximally these interest communities of interests
>> similar to one's own? There are so many such communities.
>>
>> There is also a world of difference between a skilled reviewer and the
>> average reader, as evident, for example, from the various qualities of
>> review visible at Amazon and the various levels of sophistication in
>> threads on Facebook.
>>
>> A skilled reviewer can sum up in a few words what the average reader
>> might
>> be unable to do in so many words.
>>
>> That can make the difference btw a book being bought or not by
>> particular
>> readers.
>>
>> Look at this for example on Charles Jencks' The Universe in the
>> Landscape<http://issuu.com/cjencks/docs/uil_blurb?mode=window&backgroundColor=#222222>
>>
>>
>> Jencks seeks to define a new landscape iconography based on forms and
>> themes that may be eternal,
>>
>> in the sense that
>> they crystallise nature's laws, some of which have been recently
>> discovered. To see a
>>
>> world in a grain of sand was a poetic quest of William Blake and, in a
>> different sense, to find the universe
>>
>> in a ritual landscape was a goal of prehistoric cultures. Jencks
>> allies
>> these spiritual affinities with the view
>>
>> of science that stresses the common patterns that underlie all parts of
>> the
>> cosmos, thus making them like
>>
>> our home planet, and the universe in a landscape.
>>
>>
>>
>> After reading that, I just had to buy the book.
>>
>> toyin
>>
>> On Tue, May 29, 2012 at 12:17 PM, <shina73_1999@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I ahree with you, Bode. Of course, people still get bad academic papers
>>> published through the so called peer review mechanism. All I need to do
>>> is
>>> to send the papers to a journal where I know someone or some journals
>>> that
>>> asked you to nominate a reviewer. But all the same serious scholarship
>>> requires seriousness in publishing. Nothing stops a scholar from sending
>>> a
>>> paper to a first rate journal in his discipline for critical review
>>> rather
>>> than patronising a third or fourth rate journal. In philosophy for
>>> instance, journals like Philosophy, Mind, Nous, Analysis are deadly.
>>> Though
>>> those of us in the third world resent their elitism and inability to
>>> respond to mundane needs which philosophy addresses.
>>> Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
>>> ------------------------------
>>> *From: * Olabode Ibironke <ibironke@msu.edu>
>>> *Sender: * usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> *Date: *Mon, 28 May 2012 18:53:05 -0400
>>> *To: *usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<
>>> usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
>>> *ReplyTo: * usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> *Subject: *Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Print-on-demand Book Scams
>>> and Nigerian Universities
>>>
>>> The presumption here is that "peer review" in the context of Farooq's
>>> argument will result in "quality control". I am not so sure that has
>>> always
>>> being the case, especially with the phenomenon of god-fatherism and the
>>> politics of academic publishing in general. If any thing, it seems in
>>> most
>>> disciplines, and especially in medical sciences, these peer reviews are
>>> gatekeeping measures really that invalidate methods and truths that
>>> challenge or are outside disciplinary orthodoxy. I am therefore equally
>>> uncomfortable with the apparent conservatism of this defense of
>>> conventional academic practices at the same time as I sympathize with
>>> the
>>> sentiment to call attention to the problems of academic self-publishing.
>>>
>>> Bode
>>>
>>> On May 28, 2012, at 6:07 PM, Ikhide <xokigbo@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> It is pure madness for anyone in academia to even think of starting a
>>> journal of scholarship without peer review. Folks know what Professor
>>> Kperogi is talking about but it is easier to dance around the truth than
>>> to
>>> acknowledge it. Our scholarship is stuck in a dank dark corner. It is an
>>> easy fix; folks should stop the bs and do the work. If ASUU started a
>>> peer-reviewed journal for free on its site, and the articles had rigor
>>> in
>>> them, eventually they would make so much money and acquire so much fame,
>>> it
>>> would virtually run itself. Nope. All we have are BROKEN links, three or
>>> so
>>> years after I initially complained on this forum. How it is possible to
>>> respect such nonsense is a mystery to me. What is the excuse? These are
>>> not
>>> scholars.
>>>
>>> What stops local universities from collaborating to do a peer reviewed
>>> journal? Nope, there is no money to "share" in such a project. Besides,
>>> our
>>> kids are not in those "institutions," who cares?
>>>
>>> - Ikhide
>>>
>>> Stalk my blog at www.xokigbo.com
>>> Follow me on Twitter: @ikhide
>>> Join me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ikhide
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *From:* Farooq A. Kperogi <farooqkperogi@gmail.com>
>>> *To:* usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> *Sent:* Monday, May 28, 2012 5:50 PM
>>> *Subject:* Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Print-on-demand Book Scams
>>> and Nigerian Universities
>>>
>>> As Moses has artfully articulated in his first intervention, this isn't
>>> so much about the model of publishing as it is about the absence of any
>>> sort of quality control for putatively academic books published by
>>> Lambert
>>> and other POD publishers. Note that my article is SOLELY concerned with
>>> ACADEMIC books that university teachers present to the Tenure and
>>> Promotion
>>> committees of their departments to advance to the next rank in the
>>> professional hierarchy. It's NOT about non-academic books, although even
>>> non-academic books could some copy-editing before they are published.
>>>
>>> If POD books work for creative or other kinds of writers, all well and
>>> good. But the tradition of the academe, which hasn't changed at the time
>>> of
>>> sending this email, privileges books and journal articles that are
>>> peer-reviewed. Books published by Lambert Academic Publishing and other
>>> POD
>>> publishers are NOT peer-reviewed. They are not even copy-edited. These
>>> facts ALONE make them unworthy of being used as bases for promotion in
>>> the
>>> university.
>>>
>>> If POD publishers can submit books sent to them to the crucible of the
>>> peer-review process (with all its drawbacks)--and properly copy-edit
>>> them
>>> before publishing--many people will have no problems with them.
>>>
>>> It's as simple as that.
>>>
>>> Farooq
>>>
>>>
>>> Personal website:
>>> www.farooqkperogi.com<http://www.farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/>
>>> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farooqkperogi
>>> Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/farooqkperogi
>>>
>>> "The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either
>>> proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, May 28, 2012 at 3:47 PM, Chidi Anthony Opara <
>>> chidi.opara@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> "Chidi, of course anyone can order a POD book from Amazon or Barnes
>>> and Noble, but don't they have to know about the book and trust that the
>>> book was run through the grind of review and editorial scrutiny before
>>> they
>>> will order it? With traditional publishing outfits these assurances are
>>> a
>>> normal part of the process. Traditional publishing outfits already have
>>> an
>>> audience made up of their own authors, reviewers, and university and
>>> other
>>> institutional libraries that maintain an account with them. This assures
>>> a
>>> wide circulation. a POD author has no such reach and has to advertise
>>> his/her book with friends, family, and on lists like US-AfricaDialogue.
>>> They'd be lucky if anyone outside of this small circle knows about their
>>> book let alone order it. And, of course, the vast worldwide library
>>> system
>>> remains for the most part closed to the POD and self-publishing
>>> industry.
>>> This is why most POD-published texts rarely circulate and are thus
>>> limited
>>> in their ability to disseminate whatever insight inheres in them.
>>> Traditional publishers also have established marketing and advertising
>>> arms
>>> and strategies that POD platforms lack. The former often obtain member
>>> lists from professional and academic organizations such as the ASA, AHA,
>>> MLA, etc., with thousands of members worldwide. Advertising
>>> traditionally
>>> published books and journals, even if these are electronic publications,
>>> to
>>> these audiences ensures that even the most obscure or esoteric book or
>>> journal will circulate. Traditional publishers also advertise their
>>> books
>>> in trade, academic, and popular publications, again ensuring publicity
>>> and
>>> circulation".
>>> ---------Moses Ochonu.
>>>
>>> Moses, the constraints you mentioned above are not peculiar to *Print On
>>> Demand* books, they also apply to self–published traditional books.
>>> ----CAO.
>>>
>>> Publisher At
>>> PublicInformationProjects<http://www.publicinformationprojects.blogspot.com/>
>>>
>>> *From:* Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com>
>>> *To:* usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> *Sent:* Monday, May 28, 2012 8:17 PM
>>>
>>> *Subject:* Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Print-on-demand Book Scams
>>> and Nigerian Universities
>>>
>>> Ken, again, you raise very provocative questions, and you're right that
>>> answers will correspond to location and local dynamics. That said, I am
>>> disappointed that, once again and quite predictably, your diagnosis and
>>> solution congealed to the rather hackneyed cop out of resource dearth. I
>>> believe Basil Ugochukwu did a fantastic job of debunking the resource
>>> argument, albeit for Nigeria only. Like him, I no longer believe that
>>> all
>>> problems afflicting the academy in Africa can or should be reduced to
>>> the
>>> cliche of resource gap. In Nigeria, university funding has improved
>>> modestly over the last ten years, and as Basil eloquently argued, the
>>> amount that it would take to sustain a rigorously edited and
>>> peer-reviewed
>>> journal is a drop in the budgetary bucket of the universities, the NUC,
>>> and
>>> ASUU. The bigger problem, for me, is what Professor Alemika, who is
>>> based
>>> in Nigeria, outlined: proliferation of journals and the abuse of easy
>>> publishing platforms that compromise editorial and evaluative processes.
>>> Even the patronage of POD and self-publishing platforms can be
>>> streamlined/standardized to solve the problem of sloppy review and
>>> editorial oversight if our colleagues at home are self-critical enough
>>> to
>>> put their minds to it. ASUU can and should lead this charge.
>>>
>>> Chidi, of course anyone can order a POD book from Amazon or Barnes and
>>> Noble, but don't they have to know about the book and trust that the
>>> book
>>> was run through the grind of review and editorial scrutiny before they
>>> will
>>> order it? With traditional publishing outfits these assurances are a
>>> normal
>>> part of the process. Traditional publishing outfits already have an
>>> audience made up of their own authors, reviewers, and university and
>>> other
>>> institutional libraries that maintain an account with them. This assures
>>> a
>>> wide circulation. a POD author has no such reach and has to advertise
>>> his/her book with friends, family, and on lists like US-AfricaDialogue.
>>> They'd be lucky if anyone outside of this small circle knows about their
>>> book let alone order it. And, of course, the vast worldwide library
>>> system
>>> remains for the most part closed to the POD and self-publishing
>>> industry.
>>> This is why most POD-published texts rarely circulate and are thus
>>> limited
>>> in their ability to disseminate whatever insight inheres in them.
>>> Traditional publishers also have established marketing and advertising
>>> arms
>>> and strategies that POD platforms lack. The former often obtain member
>>> lists from professional and academic organizations such as the ASA, AHA,
>>> MLA, etc., with thousands of members worldwide. Advertising
>>> traditionally
>>> published books and journals, even if these are electronic publications,
>>> to
>>> these audiences ensures that even the most obscure or esoteric book or
>>> journal will circulate. Traditional publishers also advertise their
>>> books
>>> in trade, academic, and popular publications, again ensuring publicity
>>> and
>>> circulation.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, May 28, 2012 at 10:37 AM, Tracy Flemming
>>> <flemmint@gvsu.edu>wrote:
>>>
>>> Has anyone taught Front Line of Freedom: African Americans and the
>>> Forging of the Underground Railroad in the Ohio Valley? I haven't
>>> decided if I'm going to use it for an upcoming underground railroad
>>> class.
>>> For an On Demand text, I think students might respond well to it.
>>>
>>> http://www.kentuckypress.com/live/title_detail.php?titleid=1958
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Tracy Flemming, Ph.D.
>>> Visiting Assistant Professor
>>> African/African-American Studies
>>> Grand Valley State University
>>> 107 Lake Ontario Hall
>>> 1 Campus Drive
>>> Allendale, Michigan 49401-9403
>>> USA
>>> Ofc: 616/331-8150
>>> Dept: 616/331-8110
>>> Fax: 616/331-8111
>>> E-mail: flemmint@gvsu.edu
>>>
>>> On May 28, 2012, at 11:28 AM, "Chidi Anthony Opara" <
>>> chidi.opara@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> "The author is promised royalties if the book sells a certain number
>>> of copies. Of course, no print-on-demand book sells enough copies for
>>> the
>>> author to earn any royalties".
>>> ------------Farooq A. Kperogi
>>>
>>> The above statement does not sound to me as referring only to academic
>>> publications. I publish poetry books on the *Print On Demand *platform
>>> and I have been receiving royalties since 2009.
>>> ----CAO.
>>>
>>> "The fact that these POD and self-published books and journals, whatever
>>> their insight, do not circulate beyond the author/editor and their
>>> family
>>> and friends. As a result, their insights are lost to the academic and
>>> intellectual community".
>>> ------Moses Ochonu.
>>>
>>> Print On Demand books are available on the online bookshops and can be
>>> purchased by anybody.
>>> ------CAO
>>>
>>> "In reality, the publishing house merely prepares a camera-ready copy of
>>> the manuscript, prints and mails a free author's copy of the book, and
>>> waits for orders".
>>> --------Farooq A. Kperogi.
>>>
>>> That is what they should do as online bookshops. Are they supposed to
>>> build warehouses, print the books, store them therein and await orders?
>>> -----CAO.
>>>
>>> "I recognize that things are changing, but I would hate to see that
>>> change occur at the expense of long established protocols for
>>> disseminating
>>> ideas in a readable, edifying form. I have my issues with academic
>>> review,
>>> which is by no means a perfect arbiter of quality, but we can discuss
>>> that
>>> another day".
>>> ------Moses Ochonu.
>>>
>>> Here lies the problem, acceptance of change in all ramifications have
>>> always been a problem. There is always that inclination to orthodoxy.
>>> ------CAO.
>>>
>>>
>>> Publisher At
>>> PublicInformationProjects<http://www.publicinformationprojects.blogspot.com/>
>>>
>>> *From:* Moses Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com>
>>> *To:* "usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <
>>> usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
>>> *Sent:* Monday, May 28, 2012 1:23 PM
>>> *Subject:* Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Print-on-demand Book Scams
>>> and Nigerian Universities
>>>
>>> Ken, you make valid points. However, I understand Farooq to be arguing
>>> not against self-publishing or print-on-demand (POD) publishing per se.
>>> I
>>> understand him, rather, to be be critiquing:
>>>
>>> 1. The growing trend IN NIGERIA to pass off vanity publishing as an
>>> academic accomplishment and to proceed to fraudulently ascend the
>>> academic
>>> ladder on the basis of that. His argument here is not that these
>>> publications may not have some insights but that they violate the ethos
>>> of
>>> peer review, quality control, and editorial oversight, long established
>>> as
>>> valuational mechanisms in the academy.
>>>
>>> 2. The fact that these POD and self-published books and journals,
>>> whatever their insight, do not circulate beyond the author/editor and
>>> their
>>> family and friends. As a result, their insights are lost to the academic
>>> and intellectual community.
>>>
>>> 3. That because there is little or no editorial intervention in the work
>>> the quality is often poor, and even when one is able to access the book
>>> or
>>> journal it is a turn off. If you cannot read a text because it is
>>> riddled
>>> with grammatical, structural, and stylistic problems how can you get to
>>> its
>>> insights, if any?
>>>
>>> I recognize that things are changing, but I would hate to see that
>>> change
>>> occur at the expense of long established protocols for disseminating
>>> ideas
>>> in a readable, edifying form. I have my issues with academic review,
>>> which
>>> is by no means a perfect arbiter of quality, but we can discuss that
>>> another day.
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>
>>> On May 27, 2012, at 8:28 AM, kenneth harrow <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>> sounds like what we have called "Self-Publishing" presses. this is not
>>> necessarily a fraudulent thing, unless its claims are misleading. but
>>> self-publishing presses have been around forever, and as you say,
>>> farooq,
>>> the books are not vetted, so do not "count" towards a publication in any
>>> real sense. on the other hand, if your manuscript has not succeeded in
>>> getting a publisher, you can go ahead and do it, and then send copies
>>> for
>>> reviews to journals. if the text gets a favorable review, you can build
>>> on
>>> that.
>>> i don't think this is bad at all, unless it is duplicitous. as long as
>>> everyone realizes it is a self-published text, it can enter into the
>>> public
>>> domain and possibly gain an audience.
>>> fiction authors have done this in the past; and "publishing" with
>>> electronic sources has made this even easier--which is a good thing, i
>>> believe. for instance, africultures is able to produce an enormous
>>> amount
>>> of great stuff, without the long process of vetting print journals go
>>> through, which can delay publication by up to two years. africultures is
>>> not self-publishing, but it is also not following the rigorous processes
>>> of
>>> print journals in its vetting.
>>> sort of like blogs, or even comments in major newspapers that follow
>>> editorials or articles. often the comments, another form of
>>> self-publishing, are much better than the piece on which they comment.
>>> things are changing....
>>> ken
>>>
>>> On 5/27/12 1:02 AM, Farooq A. Kperogi wrote:
>>>
>>> Saturday, May 26, 2012 Print-on-demand Book Scams and Nigerian
>>> Universities<http://www.farooqkperogi.com/2012/05/print-on-demand-book-scams-and-nigerian.html>
>>>
>>> *By Farooq A. Kperogi*
>>>
>>> The other day, a friend of mine on Facebook proudly announced that his
>>> master's thesis had been published into a book by a German publishing
>>> company called Lambert Academic Publishing. Several people congratulated
>>> him. But I didn't. I knew he had been scammed—and that he would in turn
>>> unwittingly scam the Nigerian university system where he works as a
>>> lecturer.
>>>
>>> Since reading his self-congratulatory post, I have heard of scores of
>>> other Nigerian university teachers who have published "academic books"
>>> through Lambert and other such Euro-American publishing companies.
>>> Before
>>> this trend becomes an epidemic, I thought I should call attention to an
>>> emerging, borderline fraudulent publishing model called "print on
>>> demand."
>>>
>>> This is the way the model works. Author mills (that is, deceptive
>>> publishing houses that publish ANY work submitted to them) based in
>>> Europe
>>> and America use software to crawl the Internet (sometimes real people do
>>> the Web prowling) for any mention of "thesis" or "dissertation" on the
>>> Internet. The web crawler will identify the email addresses associated
>>> with
>>> the authors of the theses or dissertations and then send them an email
>>> using a standard email template that goes something like this:
>>>
>>> "I am writing on behalf of an international publishing house, Lambert
>>> Academic Publishing.
>>> In the course of a research on the … I came across a reference to your
>>> thesis on "...". We are an international publisher whose aim is to make
>>> academic research available to a wider audience.
>>>
>>> LAP would be especially interested in publishing your dissertation in
>>> the form of a printed book.
>>> Your reply including an e-mail address to which I can send an e-mail
>>> with
>>> further information in an attachment will be greatly appreciated. I am
>>> looking forward to hearing from you.
>>>
>>> Kind regards,
>>> Acquisition Editor
>>> LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing AG & Co. KG
>>> Saarbrücken
>>> Dudweiler Landstraße 99, 66123 Saarbrücken Germany."
>>>
>>> I have received many variations of this email template at least five
>>> times in the past few years. If a person agrees to publish his/her
>>> dissertation or thesis with the company, the company will request that
>>> the
>>> manuscript be sent to them via email. Within six weeks, the book will be
>>> "out." Of course, it will neither be peer-reviewed by experts in the
>>> field
>>> nor will it be proofread by a copy editor. So it comes out
>>> embarrassingly
>>> error-ridden. It's basically garbage in, garbage out. As an American who
>>> submitted his manuscript to Lambert put it in a blog
>>> post<http://utsavmaden.com.np/blog/2011/04/11/behind-lambert-academic-publishings-marketing-gimmick/>,
>>> "it is very evident that no one at the publication house bothered to do
>>> any
>>> editing. There are multiple grammatical errors."
>>> <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8fKyPHlpMhKVSQ_ZdbN_uc5vbacFEV9YkQh53F2kR-aocqjfnqjaKoK3dST4zM4lVl3dRHS3_lRSvZvCjJBMXg2JhflqqH03alBajxRvZvrR4m6ig0TiU4xPN32F1prdkvHg4WQWhWAg/s1600/LambertAcademicPublishing.jpg>
>>>
>>> In reality, the publishing house merely prepares a camera-ready copy of
>>> the manuscript, prints and mails a free author's copy of the book, and
>>> waits for orders. The company makes money when the author's friends and
>>> relations place an order for the book--or when the author purchases
>>> extra
>>> copies of the book to share with friends and family. Since they print
>>> only
>>> when an order is placed (thus the name "print on demand"), they lose
>>> nothing. I am told that authors from the Third World are required to pay
>>> for their author's copy.
>>>
>>> The front- and back-page prototype of the book will be displayed on the
>>> publishing company's website and on Amazon.com <http://amazon.com/>—and
>>> that's it. You will never find the book in any bookstore or library.
>>> There
>>> is no media publicity for the book by the publisher, no advertising, no
>>> marketing, no distribution, and no critical reviews in academic or
>>> popular
>>> journals.
>>>
>>> The author is promised royalties if the book sells a certain number of
>>> copies. Of course, no print-on-demand book sells enough copies for the
>>> author to earn any royalties.
>>> <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtn_rjOXN0JK369R0P5M0YjbHJLzQjY043SX_VM8PFaWl560F5h8bkiQ2quvfmU1hzMmaCBDTO1yPhcxfUWlwEATMFiFur0qPawgclAZLylJbdYrKEM8hVT3gpKMfx5y7DJZzeIHGF5hY/s1600/books.jpg>
>>>
>>> Here is why Nigerian university administrators should be concerned about
>>> print-on-demand books. One, they do not go through any kind of review
>>> before they are published. In fact, many people have experimented with
>>> sending a farrago of mumbo jumbo to these publishing companies to see if
>>> they will be published. And, sure enough, they often get published. No
>>> manuscript sent to print-on-demand publishers is ever returned as
>>> unpublishable, however awfully it may have been written. As most people
>>> know, only peer-reviewed books can count toward promotion in academia.
>>>
>>> Two, they have limited or no materiality. By this I mean that there are
>>> usually no more than a few copies of the "books" in circulation. That
>>> means
>>> they add nothing to the disciplinary conversations of their areas since
>>> they can't be found in libraries and bookstores. In other words, they
>>> are
>>> basically worthless.
>>>
>>> Third, our people have been brainwashed into thinking that anything
>>> published in the West must be of high quality. People may innocently
>>> think
>>> Lambert is a legitimate academic press because it has a German address.
>>> Before you know it, many people will be promoted to professors based
>>> purely
>>> on fraudulent books they publish with the company, which American writer
>>> Victoria Strauss aptly called "an academic author
>>> mill"<http://www.webcitation.org/5nrn6wu3o>.
>>> That would be unfair to people who struggle against all odds to produce
>>> high-quality scholarship.
>>>
>>> Many countries are waking up to the academic fraud that print-on-demand
>>> books are. The Australian Higher Education Research Data Collection
>>> (HERDC), for instance, has blacklisted books published by Lambert
>>> Academic
>>> Publishing<http://www.csu.edu.au/research/performance/herdc/criteria>.
>>> The Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) has a responsibility to do
>>> the
>>> same.
>>>
>>> *Related Articles:*
>>> Bait-and-Switch Publishing: New Face of Academic
>>> Fraud<http://www.farooqkperogi.com/2011/08/bait-and-switch-publishing-new-face-of.html>
>>> Ndi Okereke's Fake Doctorate and
>>> Professorship<http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2011/06/ndi-okereke-onyiukes-fake-doctorate-and.html>
>>> On Bauchi's Fake Lecturer--and What Should Be
>>> Done<http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2011/05/on-bauchis-fake-lecturerand-what-should.html>
>>> Intellectual 419: Philip Emeagwali and Gabriel Oyibo
>>> Compared<http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2010/11/intellectual-419-philip-emeagwali-and.html>
>>> Andy Uba and the Epidemic of Fakery in
>>> Nigeria<http://farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/2011/05/on-bauchis-fake-lecturerand-what-should.html>
>>>
>>> Personal website:
>>> www.farooqkperogi.com<http://www.farooqkperogi.blogspot.com/>
>>> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farooqkperogi
>>> Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/farooqkperogi
>>>
>>> "The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either
>>> proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will
>>>
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at
>>> Austin.
>>> For current archives, visit
>>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>>> For previous archives, visit
>>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>>> To post to this group, send an email to
>>> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> kenneth w. harrow
>>> distinguished professor of english
>>> michigan state university
>>> department of english
>>> east lansing, mi 48824-1036
>>> ph. 517 803 8839harrow@msu.edu
>>>
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at
>>> Austin.
>>> For current archives, visit
>>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>>> For previous archives, visit
>>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>>> To post to this group, send an email to
>>> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>>
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at
>>> Austin.
>>> For current archives, visit
>>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>>> For previous archives, visit
>>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>>> To post to this group, send an email to
>>> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at
>>> Austin.
>>> For current archives, visit
>>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>>> For previous archives, visit
>>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>>> To post to this group, send an email to
>>> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>>
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at
>>> Austin.
>>> For current archives, visit
>>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>>> For previous archives, visit
>>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>>> To post to this group, send an email to
>>> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> There is enough in the world for everyone's need but not for everyone's
>>> greed.
>>>
>>>
>>> ---Mohandas Gandhi
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at
>>> Austin.
>>> For current archives, visit
>>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>>> For previous archives, visit
>>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>>> To post to this group, send an email to
>>> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at
>>> Austin.
>>> For current archives, visit
>>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>>> For previous archives, visit
>>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>>> To post to this group, send an email to
>>> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at
>>> Austin.
>>> For current archives, visit
>>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>>> For previous archives, visit
>>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>>> To post to this group, send an email to
>>> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at
>>> Austin.
>>> For current archives, visit
>>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>>> For previous archives, visit
>>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>>> To post to this group, send an email to
>>> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>>
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at
>>> Austin.
>>> For current archives, visit
>>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>>> For previous archives, visit
>>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>>> To post to this group, send an email to
>>> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>>
>>> --
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at
>>> Austin.
>>> For current archives, visit
>>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>>> For previous archives, visit
>>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>>> To post to this group, send an email to
>>> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>>
>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at
>> Austin.
>> For current archives, visit
>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>> For previous archives, visit
>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>> To post to this group, send an email to
>> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>
>> --
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
>> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at
>> Austin.
>> For current archives, visit
>> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
>> For previous archives, visit
>> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
>> To post to this group, send an email to
>> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
>> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
>> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>>
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
> For current archives, visit
> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
> For previous archives, visit
> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
> To post to this group, send an email to
> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa
> Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
> For current archives, visit
> http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
> For previous archives, visit
> http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
> To post to this group, send an email to
> USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com