African Journals Online

African Journals Online
Name	African Journals Online
Type	Non-profit organization
Founded	1997
Headquarters	Johannesburg, South Africa
Area served	Africa

African Journals Online

African Journals Online is a pan-African online publishing platform that aggregates scholarly journals from across the continent. It seeks to increase visibility of African research by providing a searchable index and hosting services that connect researchers, libraries, and policymakers. The platform operates within networks of academic institutions, research councils, and international funders to address challenges in scholarly communication across Africa.

History

The platform emerged during a period of digital transition shaped by institutions such as the University of Cape Town, University of Nairobi, Makerere University, University of Ibadan, and University of Dar es Salaam collaborating with international partners including the International Development Research Centre, the World Bank, the Open Society Foundations, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the Wellcome Trust. Early initiatives were influenced by movements at Harvard University, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Stanford University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology that promoted open access and digital repositories. Leaders in African publishing ecosystems such as the African Union, national research councils like the National Research Foundation (South Africa), and regional bodies including the Economic Community of West African States contributed to policy dialogues that framed the platform's development. Key adopters among journals were linked to academies and societies such as the Royal Society, the South African Medical Research Council, the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the Nigerian Academy of Science, and the Sudan National Academy of Sciences.

Mission and Objectives

The stated mission aligns with objectives espoused by organizations such as the International Council for Science, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the African Academy of Sciences, and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa. Core goals include enhancing discoverability for periodicals affiliated with institutions like the University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Zimbabwe, Addis Ababa University, and Cairo University; supporting editors from societies comparable to the South African Institute of International Affairs and the Egyptian National Library and Archives; and facilitating inclusion in indexing services akin to Scopus, Web of Science, and subject repositories such as PubMed Central and SSRN. Advocacy efforts parallel campaigns by the Creative Commons movement and policy frameworks adopted by funding agencies including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the European Research Council.

Platform and Services

The technical and service offerings are comparable to platforms developed by CrossRef, DOAJ, Open Journal Systems, JSTOR, and Project MUSE. Services include metadata aggregation, digital archiving similar to protocols used by the Digital Public Library of America, persistent identifier assignment with systems like DOI Foundation and Handle System, and capacity-building workshops resembling programs run by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and the Association of African Universities. Hosting and discovery integrate standards promoted by ORCID, COAR and NISO, while preservation partnerships reflect practices of the National Library of South Africa and the British Library. The platform supports multilingual interfaces used across countries from South Africa to Morocco, Kenya to Egypt.

Content and Coverage

The collection spans disciplines represented at institutions such as the University of Pretoria, Tunis University, University of Ghana, Cheikh Anta Diop University, and University of Mauritius. Journal subjects include public health journals linked to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, agriculture titles connected to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, humanities journals related to the African Studies Association, and social science periodicals associated with institutes like the Institute for Security Studies (South Africa). Coverage profiles echo indexing practices of MEDLINE for biomedical content, AGRIS for agricultural research, and RePEc for economics literature. The platform aggregates outputs from publishers ranging from university presses to learned societies such as the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs.

Partnerships and Funding

Funding models and partner networks mirror collaborations among entities such as the United Nations Development Programme, African Development Bank, Commonwealth Secretariat, and philanthropic organizations like the Ford Foundation. Technical and institutional partners include national libraries (e.g., National Library of Nigeria), consortia resembling the Research4Life network, and international indexing services such as Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic. Capacity-building and sustainability have involved higher-education consortia including the Association of African Universities and bilateral cooperation with universities like Brown University, Columbia University, and University of Edinburgh. Grant support has been provided through mechanisms akin to those of the European Commission and bilateral aid programs managed by agencies like DFID and USAID.

Impact and Evaluation

Impact assessments reference metrics and frameworks used by organizations like the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications, SciELO, Altmetric, and the Hanken School of Economics for citation and usage analysis. Evaluations consider increased visibility for journals from institutions such as Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University of Botswana, and Université Cheikh Anta Diop; improvements in editorial capacity similar to training outcomes reported by the African Journal Partnership Program; and inclusion in regional research assessments coordinated by the African Union Commission. Studies draw comparisons with digital initiatives at the Library of Congress and global open access developments promoted at conferences like the Open Access Week and the World Conference on Research Integrity.

Category:Academic publishing in Africa