On the 25th of April, Zendy partnered with Bristol University Press to host an insightful joint webinar titled, supporting the publishing and discovery journey of young and emerging scholars in the Global South. 

The discussion panel was moderated by the Editorial Director of Bristol University Press, Victoria Pittman and featured the President of African Gong, Elizabeth Rasekoala, the Deputy Editorial Director at Bristol University Press, Stephen Wenham and the Partnerships Relations Manager at Zendy, Sara Crowley Vigneau. 

In this blog, we summarise the contributions of each speaker to the joint webinar. 

Elizabeth Rasekoala - President of African Gong

• Addressed key systematic issues within publishing in the Global South 
• Academic research is predominantly published in English, which is not the first language of many in the Global South, hence publishers should be open to accepting research in different languages. 
• Discussed the concept of “helicopter research syndrome” wherein more established researchers allocate data collection tasks to locals in the Global South and monitor their work but don’t credit them in the final academic papers 
• Highlighted the book published by Bristol University Press titled, Race and cultural inclusion: Innovation, decolonization, and transformation. The book had a total of 30 contributing writers. 10 young scholars, 10 seasoned scholars and 10 senior scholars to facilitate emerging scholars get published. 

Stephen Wenham - Deputy Editorial Director at Bristol University Press

• Highlighted BUP’s international reach and efforts to work with young authors
• Bristol University Press has publications that are available globally. In the global south, BUP tries to match the books to the local market. 
• Local distributors receive a discount and local publishers assist in localising the publications and releasing local editions of books
• Works with sales agents to ensure publications by local authors are highlighted in relevant regions

Sara Crowley Vigneau - Partnerships Relations Manager at Zendy

• Highlighted the relationship between publishers and libraries in advancing access in developing regions
• Zendy supports scholars in the Global South through offering an affordable global subscription, while also working with publishers to include research generated by researchers in the Global South. 
• Most of Zendy’s global users are aged between 18-34 and 20% of Zendy’s userbase is situated in African countries and territories. 
• Zendy is actively working on “countries in crisis’ initiative where in Zendy works with publishers to make research content free in developing regions 

Conduct your research on Zendy

As a growing AI-powered research library, Zendy is committed to hosting webinars that address important challenges and highlight key initiatives in the world of academia. Head to Zendy’s YouTube channel now to watch all our webinar recordings. Furthermore, take your research to the next level and head to Zendy now to try out our suite of AI tools including ZAIA!