Kazem Armanpour stated that the stagnation in academic publishing and the absence of an effective system for protecting authors’ rights have created conditions for copying and republishing works without sufficient oversight. He said that one of the key solutions for improving the state of scientific publishing is the formation of publishing consortiums.
According to the news headquarters of the 7th Tehran Virtual Book Fair, the meeting titled “Books, Publishers, and Academic Publishing” was held on Saturday, May 23, 2026, with the participation of Kazem Armanpour, head of the Association of Academic Publishers; Ahmad Shakeri, Deputy for Research and Technology at the University Publishing Center and faculty member of the Research Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies; and Seyed Abdolamir Nabavi, faculty member at the University of Tehran and secretary of the National Commission of Scientific Associations, at the House of Books and Iranian Literature.
At the beginning of the meeting, Ahmad Shakeri stated that academic publishing is highly neglected compared to other publishing sectors in terms of politics and publishing economics. He added that despite recent international developments, academic publishing remains one of the strongest pillars of the country’s publishing industry.
He explained that after 1980 and the Cultural Revolution, it was decided to establish a Press to address the existing situation. The University Publishing Center emerged out of the logical necessity to transform universities and produce new academic texts after the major changes in Iran. He described the Press as one of the most stable institutions established after 1979 that has continued to function effectively.
The Deputy for Research and Technology at the University Publishing Center added that the Association of Academic Publishers has also made significant efforts to support academic publishing so that the cycle of knowledge production and the actors involved in it can continue to play their roles. He noted that professors, researchers, and enthusiasts in the field of knowledge are all part of this cycle, and it is essential that the outputs of these efforts be properly presented. However, he argued that the current system has become dysfunctional, and addressing the issue requires a unified voice from all stakeholders.
Emphasizing the importance of publishing economics, Shakeri said that the sharp rise in paper prices has effectively turned books into luxury goods. He stressed the need to accept the realities of digital publishing and understand its requirements properly. According to him, digitizing books is not simply about converting them into PDF files; it involves specific principles and standards, and ignoring them could lead to failure in academic publishing. He explained that this process involves a three-part cycle consisting of policymakers, the main producers of texts and knowledge, and distribution networks, all of whom guide the publishing process.
Shakeri further stated that incorrect policies and economic pressures have severely reduced the purchasing power of the academic community. He pointed to changes in library approaches, students’ preference for lecture notes over books, and professors encouraging this trend as factors worsening the situation. He described the decline in the print circulation of scientific books as a tragedy that has left many academic publishers unable to sustain their economic cycles.
He also discussed cultural challenges, noting that the tastes of the younger generation have changed. With the rise of social media and new media platforms, younger audiences have less patience for deep reading. This unequal competition has pushed books to the margins and shifted knowledge consumption toward superficial content. He warned that this process also contributes to more serious scientific challenges, such as the spread of unreliable content and pseudoscience. In this environment, academic publishers carry the heavy responsibility of resisting these trends.
Raising the question of how to prevent the complete collapse of academic publishing, Shakeri argued that the first step is to reform the system of evaluation and accreditation for books. He stressed the need for unified standards in scientific publishing and emphasized the importance of comprehensive digital publishing platforms. According to him, these platforms should perform two key functions: validating and evaluating content, and preventing duplicate efforts. Such systems should be able to organize the review process for the quality and originality of academic texts. He also pointed out that Iran faces a serious gap even in domestic copyright protection. So far, the University Publishing Center has focused more on documentation than on creating an efficient big-data system. Future platforms, he said, should create transparency and prevent parallel translations and duplicate publications caused by lack of awareness of previous work.
The faculty member of the Research Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies concluded by saying that, due to changing audience preferences and technological advancements, Iran’s publishing industry is transitioning from traditional methods to digital platforms. In this context, intense competition among platforms has highlighted the need to revise systems of evaluation, supervision, and support for publishing. Unauthorized platforms, benefiting from flexible infrastructures, have outpaced official publishers, making the creation of comprehensive digital platforms that cover the entire chain from production to distribution even more essential.
Joining the Berne Convention Should Be a Priority
Continuing the meeting, Kazem Armanpour described academic publishing as one of the fundamental pillars connecting books and universities. He stated that as long as universities are in good condition, academic publishing will also thrive. He expressed hope that a roadmap could be developed for publishers producing high-quality books under the Association of Academic Publishers.
Emphasizing the importance of Iran joining the Berne Convention, he said this is one of the essential requirements for improving the state of scientific and academic publishing in the country. Although sanctions have created limitations, he argued that joining the convention should become a priority once these conditions improve. In the meantime, he suggested that the government should facilitate access to credible scientific resources by translating and compiling important global scientific works into Persian.
Armanpour reiterated that stagnation in academic publishing and the absence of an effective system for protecting authors’ rights have paved the way for copying and republishing works without sufficient oversight. He argued that one of the major solutions is the formation of publishing consortiums. Instead of several publishers investing separately in similar works, capacities should be combined to produce more comprehensive and higher-quality books. He also stated that greater private-sector involvement could improve supervision, precision, and investment protection in the book production process.
The head of the Association of Academic Publishers also criticized the educational system and the spread of virtual education, saying that excessive reliance on virtual learning systems, lecture notes, and PDF files has reduced students’ interest in books. In many universities, especially in faculty evaluation systems, there is insufficient emphasis on introducing and using reference books, and this issue requires serious revision.
Criticizing the neglect of book promotion within the educational system, he added that professors who introduce books for their courses should receive recognition and incentives to encourage the return of books to university life. Currently, lecture notes and PDF files have replaced books in many classrooms. The introduction and use of reference books, he argued, should be considered a major criterion in faculty evaluations.
Armanpour also addressed the condition of the Supreme Council for Educational Planning at the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology. He said that updating educational resources in some disciplines happens very slowly, and in some cases outdated books remain official course materials. With rapid technological developments, the role of universities in producing academic content—especially books—must evolve. Universities should move beyond being mere production units and instead become Presss for policymaking, gateways for knowledge, and guides for professors and teachers in creating high-quality books.
He emphasized that the roles of the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology and universities need to be redefined. According to him, the ministry should establish standards for what constitutes a good book and guide universities toward producing impactful works. In this model, universities would not only serve as production Presss but also as environments for nurturing talented authors and producing high-quality books in cooperation with the ministry and related institutions.
Concluding his remarks, Armanpour stated that academic publishing requires a unified and integrated approach. He proposed the establishment of a policymaking council for academic publishing. This council, he said, should include the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology as a central body overseeing universities and scientific output; the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance as the main authority responsible for book licensing; the Ministry of Health representing the medical sector; and the Association of Academic Publishers as the صنفی (professional/trade) body directly involved in the publishing chain. He argued that if the goal is to produce high-quality books, such a council must be formed to coordinate academic publishing affairs, develop regulations, and prevent parallel efforts.
Old Solutions Only Act as Temporary Relief
Seyed Abdolamir Nabavi then stated that the current situation is far more complicated and critical than in the past because the challenges facing books, publishers, and academic publishing have become intertwined, each carrying its own sub-problems. He pointed to copyright violations—which harm both the publishing industry as a whole and publishers specifically—as well as international sanctions that directly affect paper prices and the printing industry.
He also highlighted other problems in publishing, including the concentration of publishing and distribution activities in Tehran, which has made access to resources difficult for many provinces. Other issues include an inefficient educational system, resistance to new technologies, reluctance among some publishers to adopt modern publishing tools, and weak professional institutions. He noted that books, once the most important and authentic means of producing and distributing knowledge, now suffer from shortcomings in every dimension. Although problems such as management, distribution, and censorship have existed for years, war and economic pressures have not resolved them but instead deepened them.
Nabavi argued that old solutions to these crises function merely as temporary painkillers. Without serious action, conditions for printers, publishers, authors, and readers will become even worse. He said that these challenges can generally be categorized as economic, cultural, and scientific crises in publishing—particularly academic publishing—with rising paper prices and declining purchasing power being among the clearest examples.
The 7th Tehran Virtual Book Fair officially opened on May 16 under the slogan “Let’s Read for Iran” at book.icfi.ir and will continue until the end of Monday, May 25, 2026.