Africanists doing field research that includes the recording of interviews and oral traditions have increasingly noted the importance of bringing such materials into print at reasonable prices. Though Indiana University has maintained an archive for such recorded oral materials for several years, access to and the use of these recordings have been difficult at best for most students of Africa.

In an effort to meet the perceived need for the publication of edited transcriptions of recorded interviews from African field research, the Ohio University Center for International Studies is launching this year a new sub-series within its established Africa Series of Papers in International Studies. The published oral materials from the African field will be advertised as a distinct sub-series, but they will appear in the same format as the existing monograph series and will be numbered sequentially among the monographs.

Scholars and students of Africa who have recorded oral materials which they would like published are invited to submit edited transcriptions for consideration and possible publication in the new sub-series. Typescripts should range in length between 125 and 250 pages, double-spaced, and should be as carefully edited and made ready for publication as possible before submission.

Each manuscript of edited transcriptions should be a self-contained and independent contribution, fully able to be understood by readers without the need for consulting other references. To this end, it is requested that each potential contributor organize, edit, and supplement the data gathered in the field in ways that will optimize their usefulness.

Each contribution should contain an introduction explaining the circumstances in which the research was conducted, unusual problems encountered together with the methods by which these were overcome, and special research techniques that would assist future scholars.