Governance, Compliance
and Accountability

Institutional Design

Sankofa Publishers operates as a founder-led institution with advisory oversight. This structure was chosen deliberately. It allows for decisive leadership while ensuring that long-term direction is informed by expertise beyond any single perspective.

We operate with defined roles, documented standards, and consistent decision pathways. Nothing about how this press functions is improvised or left to informal arrangement. Every significant process has a documented standard. Every decision of consequence has a defined pathway.

This is not bureaucracy for its own sake. It is the kind of structure that allows a community institution to survive leadership transitions, resist external pressure, and maintain integrity under the kind of scrutiny that serious institutions invite.

Leadership

Sankofa Publishers is led by Mark Daniel, Founder and Managing Director. He carries final accountability for every dimension of the press: strategic direction, brand integrity, publishing standards, institutional relationships, and operational outcomes.

Founder-led does not mean unchecked. The Advisory Board provides counsel on long-term structural decisions. Documented standards constrain editorial and operational behavior. And the commitments made publicly on this site and in our publishing agreements are legally and ethically binding.

Mark's background spans pastoral leadership, cultural analysis, religious deconstruction, and organizational management. He built Sankofa from a conviction that African and diasporic communities deserve publishing infrastructure that does not ask them to compromise their identity in exchange for access.

Decision Integrity

The single most important structural commitment Sankofa makes is the complete separation between editorial decisions and revenue activities.

An author who purchases editing, design, or marketing services from us receives exactly the same editorial review as an author who purchases nothing. Service revenue does not earn favorable editorial consideration. It never has and it never will.

This is not just a policy statement. It is operationally enforced. The people who evaluate manuscripts are not the people who manage service sales. These functions are separated by design so that financial incentives cannot contaminate editorial judgment.

We do not sell publication. We publish based on standard. If that standard cannot be maintained, we will say no to revenue before we compromise it.

Editorial Ethics

Editorial ethics at Sankofa are grounded in three principles: intellectual rigor, cultural integrity, and standards-based acceptance. These are not aspirational values. They are the criteria by which every manuscript is evaluated.

Intellectual Rigor

We welcome strong ideas, difficult arguments, and work that challenges received wisdom. We are not afraid of controversy when it is grounded in evidence and honest intent. We ask only that claims be made responsibly, that logic be coherent, and that the purpose of the work be constructive or analytically serious. We do not publish content whose only purpose is to provoke.

Cultural Integrity

Sankofa exists to serve African and diasporic communities. Cultural grounding is not exclusion. It is responsibility. Work that engages our communities with seriousness, honesty, and care will find a home here. Work that extracts, distorts, or condescends will not.

Standards-Based Acceptance

Every manuscript is evaluated against the same documented criteria. We do not lower the bar for authors with platforms. We do not raise it for authors without them. The work is the measure.

Content Integrity and Compliance

Submissions to Sankofa are subject to content review for originality, accuracy, and compliance with our publishing standards. Authors bear responsibility for the content they submit. We provide the infrastructure. The integrity of the work belongs to the author.

Plagiarism and Originality

All submitted work must be original or properly licensed. Manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism detection tools. If plagiarism is identified before publication, the submission is rejected. If it is identified after publication, the publishing agreement is terminated and distribution is suspended. There are no exceptions to this.

AI Usage Disclosure

Authors may use AI assistance in their writing process. This is not prohibited. It must be disclosed at the time of submission. Authors who submit undisclosed AI-generated content are treated the same as authors who submit plagiarized material. Transparency is required because it protects both parties. An institution that accepts undisclosed AI content loses the ability to vouch for the integrity of its catalog.

Defamation and Legal Risk

We do not publish defamatory or slanderous material. Work that includes allegations about real people or real events may require documentation, legal review, or clarifying language before publication proceeds. Authors bear the cost of any required legal review. Sankofa reserves the right to decline works that carry significant legal exposure regardless of their literary or analytical merit.

Author Ethics and Professional Conduct

Publishing is a professional relationship. Sankofa brings its full institutional capacity to every author we accept. We expect authors to bring the same professional commitment in return.

This is not about formality. It is about the kind of working relationship that produces good books. Authors who communicate clearly, meet their commitments, and engage with editorial feedback honestly produce better work. That outcome serves the author, it serves readers, and it serves the community whose stories we are building a record of.

Royalty and Financial Ethics

Sankofa's financial relationship with authors is built on one principle: your money belongs to you. We do not take a percentage of author earnings. We do not use royalty payments as leverage. We do not create financial structures designed to obscure what authors are actually earning.

Net royalties are calculated as gross retail sales minus retailer fees, distribution fees, per-unit printing costs, and payment processing fees. Every deduction is reported. Every line is visible. Authors who subscribe to the Author Portal can see this in real time. Authors on standard reporting receive a full breakdown every six months.

We will never introduce a new deduction without prior written notice to affected authors. Financial opacity is one of the oldest mechanisms of exploitation in the publishing industry. We have designed our systems specifically to prevent it.

Conflict of Interest

Conflicts of interest are a reality in any institution. The question is not whether they will arise. The question is whether the institution has a clear policy for handling them when they do.

Sankofa avoids conflicts of interest in manuscript evaluation, service recommendations, vendor selection, and partnership decisions. Where a conflict exists or is reasonably perceived to exist, we follow a defined protocol.

Privacy and Confidentiality

Every manuscript submitted to Sankofa is treated as confidential from the moment of receipt. We do not share manuscripts with outside parties, discuss their content publicly, or reference submitted work in any external communication without the author's written permission.

Ghostwriting engagements are protected by written non-disclosure agreements. The NDA is mutual and permanent. Sankofa will never disclose involvement in a ghostwriting project under any circumstance.

Author personal data including names, contact details, banking information, and manuscript files are handled using secure operational practices and verified third-party processors. We collect only the information required to deliver our services. We do not sell author data. We do not share it with marketing partners.

Authors and users may request access to, correction of, or deletion of their data at any time by contacting compliance@sankofapublishers.com.

Enforcement and Remedies

Standards without enforcement are suggestions. Sankofa treats its governance commitments as binding. When they are violated, there are defined consequences. This applies to authors, partners, service vendors, and to Sankofa itself.

When authors violate our publishing standards through plagiarism, undisclosed AI usage, defamatory content, or breach of professional conduct, Sankofa reserves the right to reject submissions, suspend distribution, or terminate publishing agreements. We communicate the reason directly.

When Sankofa fails to meet its own commitments to authors, those authors have the right to raise the matter in writing to compliance@sankofapublishers.com. We investigate all credible complaints. We respond within ten business days. If we have made an error, we say so directly and correct it.

No institution is above accountability. Sankofa certainly is not. We have built these structures because we intend to be held to them.