An online workshop for open publishing of public health in Africa
Zoom
There is a need for local research in Africa to help provide an evidence base for policy development, but the researchers lack the opportunity to publish their findings in local journals with results readily available to other researchers or policymakers. Greater academic credit is currently given to researchers who publish in high-impact international than local journals. Most international journals either have high article processing charges or their contents are hidden behind paywalls.
Many African countries have no health journals or only one. A survey by PublicHealth.Africa found journals not indexed in scholarly search engines, and one-half of the journals levied full Article Processing Charges to be paid by the author or their institution. A subsequent survey of African teachers, researchers, editors and publishers found their experience of open-access publishing limited, as was their knowledge of its advantages and disadvantages.
Two-thirds of the respondents expressed a desire to join a mentoring programme and to have access to online courses relevant to their interests. Based on this experience, this workshop is designed to explore how to develop an ecosystem for the open publishing of African research in public health.
Target Audience: Librarians (including medical librarians), early career public health researchers, respondents to previous PHA surveys and participants in the peer review course, and other interested and relevant parties.
Expected Outputs:
Action plans from four breakout groups
Registration: https://wacren.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Evcu-qrT0pG9Z50NbqVnBY6k-0ZAD1dELa
