Skip to main content

Open publishing of public health research in Africa

In our previous study, we shed light on how imperative it is to enhance the accessibility of publications in African public health journals. Building upon this groundwork, this study sought to delineate the current landscape regarding the knowledge of, obstacles to, and enthusiasm for capacity building in open publishing within the realm of public health research across Africa. The study used an online survey to glean responses from 91 participants from 16 African nations, comprising authors (75%), reviewers (53%), journal editors (40%), and journal publishers (19%), with some individuals assuming multiple roles. Notably, respondents possessed experience in both traditional and open access publishing modalities. Surprisingly, less than half of the respondents recognised the advantages associated with open publishing, such as enhanced accessibility, increased citations, and heightened transparency. Additionally, a portion of the respondents provided inaccurate responses, underscoring the need for educational interventions. Nevertheless, the survey unveiled a notable interest among participants in embracing open publishing paradigms, particularly through avenues like preprints and open peer review. Moreover, a significant majority expressed a desire for access to complimentary online courses and mentorship programmes. This study underscores the immense potential for empowering African researchers with the requisite skills to engage with online publishing platforms effectively. By offering guidance for future capacity-building endeavours, including access to online educational resources and mentorship initiatives, this research paves the way for fostering a robust open publishing ecosystem in Africa. The implications extend beyond public health, resonating across various disciplines where locally-informed solutions derived from indigenous research findings hold paramount importance. As such, the insights gathered from this study bear relevance for advancing scholarly communication practices across diverse fields. Click here to read further.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Treasure hunt

TREASURE HUNT FOR MY INFORMATION RETRIEVAL STUDENTS Answer the questions below. This forms part of your assessment for this course. Clue: Answer question one in order to answer the rest Answer these questions on sheets of papers with your index numbers. Submission date: 21/02/2017 1.       There is a building in Pretoria that used to be known as “Oom Jochemus’s Place”. Who was the architect? 2.       This architect designed another building: a cottage for the curator of which park? 3.       Who was this park named after? 4.       This person introduced the first coins in South Africa. When the coins were minted, the die broke and this gave rise to two varieties of coins. What were they named? 5.       The feature referred to above, is also the part of the name of a type of lizard. What is the genus name of these lizards? 6.        These lizards originate from which country? 7.       Who is this country’s largest export partner? 8.       What is the official loc
1 comment
Read more

Reference Management Systems (RMS) Preferences

This article discusses the findings of a study on students' knowledge and use of Reference Management Software in managing their referencing and citation needs. Using a descriptive study to distribute questionnaires among students of a health training institution, the authors share details on the respondents' knowledge of and preferred RMS, their primary use, and the why some do not use these tools. These interesting findings will be of academics in the scholarly communications ecosystem and especially, mentors and supervisors of research students. The full text of this piece could be accessed via:  https://tinyurl.com/bdz6amv6  
5 comments
Read more

BIBLIOMETRICS OR ALTMETRICS: THE LIBRARIAN HAS A ROLE IN INCREASING RESEARCH IMPACT

Over the years, there has been a tremendous increase in research output by researchers particularly those in Africa. The reasons for this phenomenon could be attributed to various factors. Firstly, it could be that African researchers have woken up from their slumber and have started working. Furthermore, this sudden rise in research output could also be ascribed to the “publish or perish” mantra in most academic institutions. This has emanated as a result of a string attached to promotion in most academic institutions. Faculty is required to publish a number of articles as one criterion to qualify for promotion. And as humans, everybody wants to attain a level of self-actualisation and so are forced to embark on a research agenda. This, perhaps might be a key reason for the increasing research output in Africa. Another reason that comes to mind is “funding”. This, conceivably, is the major reason. It is evident that most funding agencies have developed interest in Africa and f
Post a Comment
Read more