What is the Publications Board?

The Secretary-General, for the purpose of increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of United Nations publishing activities in implementing the mandates of intergovernmental bodies, promulgated the Publications Board in ST/SGB/2012/2. The purpose of the Publications Board is to establish the publishing policies and standards of the Secretariat, including offices away from Headquarters and regional commissions, so that:

• United Nations publications remain a source of high-quality, relevant and timely information for Member States, policymakers, practitioners, scholars and the public at large.

• United Nations publishing activities and practices are aligned with the overall goals and priorities of the Organization with regard to relevance, marketability, dissemination, production, cost-effectiveness and preservation.

The role of the Publications Board is to determine the policies governing the preparation, production, distribution and sale of documents, and to coordinate the planning and supervise the execution of the publications programme. 

Only these publications have priority, and these titles will be processed - i.e., translated in all mandated languages and printed - at no cost to the author department. Once a publication is included in the publications programme, no changes can be made without the authorization of the Publications Board. Should author departments need to add a title or bring a change to an item on the publications programme such as implement a new mandate from an intergovernmental body, a detailed request should be submitted to the Secretariat of the Publications Board for its approval.