Publishers need to coordinate support across their editorial, IT, sales, and marketing teams – and ultimately at board level – to help ensure that developing country researchers are included in the research cycle.

This was the main message emerging from the third annual Publishers for Development conference, held in London on 2 December. The conference, which brought together representatives from 24 publishing houses, encouraged delegates to recognise that they have more to offer to developing country libraries than just the availability of journals.

The conference also called upon publishers to:

• support sustainable and equitable availability
• encourage the inclusion of developing country research in their journals
• think low-bandwidth – and provide options to increase accessibility
• use their networks to promote awareness
• provide promotional materials and cooperate with local outreach and agencies where possible
• recognise the role of ‘local’ publishers and publishing

Publishers for Development – a joint initiative of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) – aims to address the critical issues facing researchers and librarians in developing countries by bringing publishers into conversation with them and providing a forum to debate and share experiences.

The conference – titled ‘Getting Research to Researchers in Developing Countries: The Complex Picture of Availability, Access and Use’ – focused particularly on east and southern Africa. Speakers included librarians from universities in Uganda, Kenya, and Malawi, as well as representatives from major access initiatives, society publishers, and the open access movement.

For further information read the full press release.