USA Africa Dialogue Series - Defending Lambert Academic Publishing

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Andrei Gisca <a.gisca@lap-publishing.com>
To: Chambi Chachage <chambi78@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 4, 2014 7:05 AM
Subject: Re: TO: Chambi Chachage / Between convergence and divergence: Dar es Salaam City as an urban planning pastiche

Dear Chambi Chachage,

Sure you can share this with your colleagues.

--   Kind regards/Freundliche Grüße  Mr. Andrei Gisca     Acquisition Editor    LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing is a trademark of:  OmniScriptum GmbH & Co. KG    Heinrich-Böcking-Str. 6-8,  66121, Saarbrücken, Germany    a.gisca@lap-publishing-house.com / www.lap-publishing.com    Handelsregister Amtsgericht Saarbrücken HRA 10356  Identification Number (Verkehrsnummer): 13955  Partner with unlimited liability: VDM Management GmbH  Handelsregister Amtsgericht Saarbrücken HRB 18918  Managing directors: Thorsten Ohm (CEO)

On 02/03/2014 03:32 PM, Chambi Chachage wrote:

Can I share this with my colleagues?

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From: Andrei Gisca <a.gisca@lap-publishing.com>
To: Chambi Chachage <chambi78@yahoo.com>
Sent: Monday, February 3, 2014 8:27 AM
Subject: Re: TO: Chambi Chachage / Between convergence and divergence: Dar es Salaam City as an urban planning pastiche

Dear Chambi Chachage,

Thank you for your email.

Choosing a publisher is indeed an important matter and we understand your concern about the comments and controversy you found on the internet. There are various comments on the Internet about publishing with LAP. Unfortunately these comments do not originate from authors but only people who confused our company to a Vanity Press and did not choose to publish. Lambert Academic Publishing is an associate member of the American Booksellers Association, the Booksellers Association in the UK and a member of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, the German booksellers association.

As compared to Vanity Press, LAP provides:

Free publishing to its authors.

Bear all costs pertaining to the production, marketing and distribution of your book.

Our books are distributed worldwide through mainstream and well known shops such as Morebooks!, Amazon, Barnes and Noble or AbeBooks.

I invite you to see the comments of existing authors instead on our Facebook page through the link below:

http://www.facebook.com/lappublishing

These are authors who have actually published with us and their comments would give you a better picture of our service. I would also invite you to check out their books through the online bookstores mentioned above.

I apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you.

--   Kind regards/Freundliche Grüße  Mr. Andrei Gisca     Acquisition Editor    LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing is a trademark of:  OmniScriptum GmbH & Co. KG    Heinrich-Böcking-Str. 6-8,  66121, Saarbrücken, Germany    a.gisca@lap-publishing-house.com / www.lap-publishing.com    Handelsregister Amtsgericht Saarbrücken HRA 10356  Identification Number (Verkehrsnummer): 13955  Partner with unlimited liability: VDM Management GmbH  Handelsregister Amtsgericht Saarbrücken HRB 18918  Managing directors: Thorsten Ohm (CEO)

On 02/01/2014 02:15 PM, Chambi Chachage wrote:

From: Chambi Chachage <chambi78@yahoo.com>
To: Wanazuoni <Wanazuoni@yahoogroups.com> 
Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 10:55 PM
Subject: Responses to Issues with Lambert Academic Publishing

"Here [http://www.wataingi.com/wp/2013/03/25/the-myth-of-lambert-academic-publishing/] is an example of detailed assessment of LAP. I think we need to caution each other. Otherwise we will complain when its too late" - Baruani Mshale

"This is good news about Lambert. I have submitted 3 manuscripts and there is a lot of Sintofaham" - Hildegarda Kiwasila

"same with me. sales is nil" - F.B

"I wish people would google before they commit themselves!!!! I have been aware of LAP/VDM's lack of credibility for over two years. You would be so amazed that many academicians in TZ have published for the sake of promotion with these publishers. Interestingly, Mkuki na Nyota publishers have been criticized for not being credible(!?)' - D.M

"Warnings to scholars against publishing with this company are all over internet sources. Just google them. However, apart from what I have read, I am still interested to hear testimonies from authors (members of wanazuoni) who have worked with LAP" - Masozi Nyirenda

"Hi all, In 2011, I was contacted by LAP to see if I can submit my "thesis" for possible publication. I was surprised because they had clear information of my work. I had to inform my academic supervisor and surprisingly enough my supervisor "rejected" the offer on the grounds that the publisher is not credible. That's my story" - Mwema Felix

"Lambert Academic Publishing is a borderline scam operation. I wrote about it in one of my Weekly Trust columns. Read it here:http://www.farooqkperogi.com/2012/05/print-on-demand-book-scams-and-nigerian.html" - Farooq A. Kperogi

"Thanks Chambi and especially Baruani for this post. In fact when I was in the process of publishing my book, I did not hesitate when LAP approached me and asked if I could change the publisher and go with them. By that time, the process had already taken a significant amount of time, and the book was in a good stage of its finale. LAP did not add anything extra. When Baruani broke the news, I was shocked and went straight on-line to see what others say about LAP. Most of the people complained more about the financial part (royalties). On my side I am worried more about their integrity and reputation than the financial issues. My previous publishers did not promise to pay me anything and I was ok with that. Nonetheless, I assure you Baruani, the book went through a very rigorous process before getting into the hands of LAP.  If you get an opportunity to read it you will agree with me. By the way, isn't the message more important than the messenger? Once again, I want to thank you Baruani for bringing up this discussion. I always like your posts. I really do! You are thoughful and your critiques are very constructive. keep it up bro!" - Godfrey Telli

"Thanks Baruani et al, This information is timely. I was considering sending my work to them. When we completed our dissertations at the University of Ibadan, some of my colleagues published theirs and were encouraging me to do so. I was not motivated to join them. Presently, my supervisor at the IoE University of London encouraged me to publish my recent project and LAP was the only publisher on my mind. Few minutes before reading this email, I emailed her about the publisher. I would be glad to know other better publishers, especially those that publish with little or no cost" - Chidi Ezegwu

"My first encounter with Lambert Academic Publishing (LAP) dates back to 2008 when they solicited for my M.A. dissertation for publication. However my supervisor suggested that I publish papers out of my work rather than lock the entire thing into a book that might not be read by anyone. Perhaps he did not know of their reputation at the time, or he just wanted to avoid discussing that with me. In any case, I took his suggestion on board and I must state that I have been better for it. After that encounter I have read more about the unsavoury reputation of  LAP and have consciously avoided them. Last year a friend forwarded an amazon link to me indicating that his Master's dissertation has now been published into a book, by no other publishing house than LAP. His book provided me with first hand experience of the poor quality of LAP publications. The blurb at the back of the book was filled with errors of syntax and grammar, that I thought could have been spotted and avoided by professional editors. I pointed out to my friend that he did a lazy job of editing the work before sending it to LAP and that he should not have allowed them to publish the work in that state. In my naivety, I thought that my friend would appreciate these observations. However, his response was that I should not pull down his efforts simply because I have not been able to get a book published. He asked if I want to claim to know better than the 'reputable publishers', meaning LAP. I did not respond because till present my friend believes that I am jealous of his efforts, given that he, a graduate student in an African university got a book published before me (a graduate student in a UK university). But I still refer others to the link as evidence of poor editorial work and by extension evidence of poor publishing ethics" - Felix Kayman

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From: Chambi Chachage <chambi78@yahoo.com>
To: "Wanazuoni@yahoogroups.com" <Wanazuoni@yahoogroups.com> 
Sent: Monday, May 20, 2013 10:15 PM
Subject: [Wanazuoni] Issues with Lambert Academic Publishing

 

I have deliberately changed the title of the thread to enable us to specifically discuss the concerns that Baruani has raised below about LAP. Coincidentally the day he posted it I met someone who had been struggling to find a publisher for his long awaited book. When I congratulated him for at last publishing it, he exclaimed 'but the book is not being bought at all!' I told him to consult a local publisher and book seller who happened to be within the vicinity. Little did I know about these criticisms of LAP.

In this forum we have two if not three people who have recently published their books with LAP. I hope they will share their experiences. I am also sharing this thread with two other people who have published with LAP as well as other academic writers.

From: Baruani Mshale <baruani.mshale@gmail.com>
To: wanazuoni <Wanazuoni@yahoogroups.com> 
Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2013 5:36 AM
Subject: Re: [Wanazuoni] My new book on Education Policy in TZ

 

Dear Godfrey,

 

Belated congrats but I feel compelled to make a few critical observations about your publisher Lambert Academic Publishing (LAP). They are not a worthy publisher and publishing with them will hurt your credibility as a reputable scholar in the long run. For anyone who has completed an MSC or PhD or presented at an international conference recently, you probably have received numerous solicitation from LAP (o.rusu) for publishing your work with them.

 

Their publishing process does not go through a rigorous academic review process. Take for example Godfrey's book title: It does not mention that it focuses on Tanzania and needs several improvement for a good book title. From the summary on Amazon, it is very difficult to understand the central argument the your book and the supporting evidence and methods. The few sentences contain several terms hat aren't clear and are repetitive in ways that is a bit incoherent. But they (LAP) do not care about that. They care about making money out of your book. Look at the price of Godfrey's book on Amazon $89: do you think your book should be selling at that price? And you will never get a single coin out it. Tell me if you have received updates on your book sales and if and when you will get your first loyalty check?

 

Of course it looks nice on your CV but the academic world is increasingly paying attention to such details. Just the same way that journals are ranked, publishers are also ranked and LAP is a no-go zone.

 

Another thing, for those wanazuoni who have expressed interest of buying the book once its on the market, that will not happen. You have to order a print from the publisher. They do not stock their sellers. They print on demand to minimize costs/loss an maximize profit.

 

You can go online and read more about other people's reviews of LAP.

 

The first time I received a solicitation from LAP was in 2008 and I was super excited that a publisher was interested to publish my masters thesis. But after consultation with my academic advisors, they strongly suggested that I stay away from this publisher.

 

This is just a caution, it is not to criticize your work Godfrey because I have not read it, but to warn others and also caution you that incase you apply for international jobs, you may want to omit your book from your CV because it will clearly hurt your credibility.

 

All best.

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From: Andrei Gisca <a.gisca@lap-publishing.com>
To: Chambi Chachage <chambi78@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2014 8:15 AM
Subject: TO: Chambi Chachage / Between convergence and divergence: Dar es Salaam City as an urban planning pastiche

Dear Chambi Chachage,

I am writing on behalf of an international publishing house, LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.

In the course of a research on the Harvard University, I came across a reference to your research paper on "Between convergence and divergence: Dar es Salaam City as an urban planning pastiche".

As the topic of your research is of current interest to us, we would like to inquire if you have a complete scientific work such as a dissertation, a thesis or a monograph which you would like to publish in the form of a book.

We are an international publisher whose aim is to make academic research available to a wider audience and we would be especially interested in publishing your thesis 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/Freundliche Grüße

Andrei Gisca
Acquisition Editor

LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing is a trademark of:
OmniScriptum GmbH & Co. KG

Heinrich-Böcking-Str. 6-8,
66121, Saarbrücken, Germany

a.gisca@lap-publishing.com / www.lap-publishing.com

Handelsregister Amtsgericht Saarbrücken HRA 10356
Identification Number (Verkehrsnummer): 13955
Partner with unlimited liability: VDM Management GmbH
Handelsregister Amtsgericht Saarbrücken HRB 18918
Managing directors: Thorsten Ohm (CEO)