The 2014 Publishers for Development conference took place in Oxford recently under the theme Research Matters for Developing Countries. The conference was attended primarily by academic librarians, international publishers, development agencies, and scholars. Delegates heard from a variety of speakers including representatives from the ACU, INASP and DFID.

Professor John Wood, Secretary General of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, said: “It is clear that there are very real barriers preventing academics in the developing world from accessing vital research material. While there is no single solution, events such as the annual Publishers for Development conference, which bring together people from all sides of the debate, bring us closer to implementing practical and workable solutions." He insisted that the ACU would continue to work towards facilitating further discussions such as this in pursuit of that agenda.

Lucy Browse, PfD Director, INASP reiterated the value of meetings like the PfD Conference, saying: "PfD brings representatives from publishing houses together with developing country colleagues so we can map the future path together – for the benefit of higher education, research and development.”

Almost a year since the launch at the 2013 PfD Conference in London, the ACU's Beyond 2015 campaign also used the occasion to update delegates on how the campaign had developed over the past year.

Presentations and video content from the content are available on the Publishers for Development website. For a summary of how the event progressed, read the press release, review the #PfD2014 hashtag, and review the Storify collection below.