Publishing an Open Access Textbook: Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa

By Richard B. Primack

“Woe be to the generation that lets any higher faculty in its midst go underemployed.” Henry David Thoreau in his Journal.  

Publishing printed textbooks in Africa has numerous problems of cost for publishers, affordability for students, and distribution between countries.  So then, what is the best way to reach a wide audience in Africa with the message of conservation, wildlife protection, and park management?

 

Johnny Wilson and I decided that the best way forward was using Open Access publishing where a conservation biology textbook could be downloaded for free on any type of device. 

 

Open Access publishing has many advantages.

The textbook, Conservation Biology for Sub-Saharan Africa, published on-line by Open Book Publishers in 2000, has already been downloaded and viewed over 50,000 times. 

https://reports.openbookpublishers.com/public/report/10.11647/obp.0177

The cover of the textbook.

This remarkable reach could only have been achieved through Open Access publishing.

To read more about the advantages of Open Access publishing:

https://oabooks-toolkit.org/the-oabooks-landscape/7555171-author-success-stories/article/13700457-author-success-story-conservation-biology-in-sub-saharan-africa