With this statement, you can't be interested in the two strands of universalism. I think your statement is the real crux of the second strand, and I think we should stay with that.
Related to the journal issue, it becomes clear that, except for the quality issue which we don't really take serious here, the onshore/offshore dichotomy collapses. Nigeria and her universities are part of the globe and their intellectual and existential mediation of the human condition contributes to the universal.
Again, I suspect this is what your project is aiming at.
Adeshina Afolayan
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
From: OLUWATOYIN ADEPOJU <adifada1@gmail.com>
Sender: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2012 13:06:00 +0100
To: <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
ReplyTo: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Print-on-demand Book Scams and Nigerian Universities
I think I identify with both perspectives.
I am interested in specificity as contributions to the strands that make up universality.
Example in a project im working on- a study of cosmographic visual symbols that demonstrate similarities of form and purpose within different cosmologies.
My search convinces me that 'the human', perhaps even 'the terrestrial' [ a more complex and more mysterious category] is not difficult to identify in its simplicity in multiplicity, a complexity and variety seemingly built on a fundamental simplicity and correlation.
Example-from a science fiction story- another dimension where people smile when they are unhappy and laugh when they are not pleased.
Is there anywhere on earth where people do that?
No.
We all smile and laugh to the same emotions.
More complex correlations emerge in our various human cultures.
The terrestrial- can two things occupy one space?
Can something be dead and alive at the same time?
thanks
toyin
On Mon, Jun 4, 2012 at 6:49 PM, <shina73_1999@yahoo.com> wrote:
I agree with you that the local-Western dialectics demands a dose of caution. But I was hoping you would say 'local-global'. The two binaries are actually not the same, though we have a lot of third world scholars who strongly believe that the global is actually the western.
"...at the heart of Western global academic dominance is the idea, both real and contrived, of its universality"
Yes, but then it is more contrived and essentialist than real. And scholars like Mudimbe, for instance, have excavated its spuriousness. It has been the basis of the debate in African Philosophy even till now (with people like Mbembe pushing for immersion in the postmodern!).
Of course, there is much to be said for what you called "the ideal of universal knowledge central to a good number of the world's cognitive traditions, including classical African' . The task however is to flesh what that enabling universalism should be outside of Western essentialist pontifications. Permit me this: For instance, in an essay in Human Affairs, Vol, 19, 2009, I argue for a resignification of the universal by exploring Seyla Benhabib's call for an anti-essentialist idea of universalism-what she calls "the problem of the concrete universal". This problem, for her, attempts to distinguish between two visions of universalism: The first 'considers the Other as a generalised other, as a being entitled to the same rights and duties which we [Westerners] would grant ourselves'. The other vision of universalism, which obviously underlies my claim, 'sees the human person as a "concrete other" with specific histories, needs, and trajectories'.
From this perspective of concrete universalism, we can begin to situate the necessity of local journals which speak to the specific needs of a particular context while avoiding the dangers of parochialism. I even suspect that your own concern would fit into the second vision much more than the first.
Adeshina AfolayanSent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTNFrom: OLUWATOYIN ADEPOJU <adifada1@gmail.com>Date: Sun, 3 Jun 2012 19:58:20 +0100ReplyTo: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.comSubject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Print-on-demand Book Scams and Nigerian Universities'(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.'
this local/Western dialectic needs to be handled with a lot of caution. at the heart of Western global academic dominance is the idea, both real and contrived, of its universality.
what do you think of this dialectic in the light of the ideal of universal knowledge central to a good number of the world's cognitive traditions, including classical African, but systematized in a particularly self conscious manner in the Western academy, developing this ideal from roots in Greek and Arab/Persian cognitive traditions?
the Western academy has become a house for all cultures. it presents a set of approaches, developing inn terms of greater flexibility over time, from colonialist style scholarship to the plurality of post-modernism,to contemporary developments in interdisciplinarity, along with very powerful databases, libraries, both print and digital, plus a general readiness to study anything, anywhere.
allied to the central positioning of Western civilisation in technology, economics and social engineering, their societies are truly international, in spite of the presence of racism.
thanks
toyin
On Sat, Jun 2, 2012 at 5:25 PM, <shina73_1999@yahoo.com> wrote: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
>>>
>>> --
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>>> kenneth w. harrow
>>> distinguished professor of english
>>> michigan state university
>>> department of english
>>> east lansing, mi 48824-1036
>>> ph. 517 803 8839harrow@msu.edu
>>>
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>>>
>>> --
>>> There is enough in the world for everyone's need but not for everyone's
>>> greed.
>>>
>>>
>>> ---Mohandas Gandhi
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>>
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