Open Access Publishing in
the African Context
Progress, challenges, opportunities
Pierre JT de Villiers
Managing director: OpenJournals Publishing
African Online Scientific Information Systems (AOSIS)

AOSIS - OpenJournals Publishing
(est. 2005)
• First open access publisher in RSA
• Portfolio – 22 journals
• Full publishing service
• Online, open source technology: OJS
• Article processing fees/sponsorship
• Continuing professional development
www.openjournals.net

Current situation (OA)
• African Journals Online (AJOL)
– 360 Peer reviewed journals - 26 countries
• Directory of Open Access Journals
(DOAJ)
– 4366 journals  54 African
– Nigeria (19), RSA (14)
• SABINET (RSA): 44/264 (17%)
• Own research 2009: RSA 59/253 (23%)

The impetus for OA in Africa
Report on a Strategic Approach to Research Publishing
in South Africa. Academy of Science of SA, 2006
ARL statistics

Libraries brace for big cuts
In the face of the downturn, libraries and publishers brace for big cuts
By Lee C. Van Orsdel & Kathleen Born -- Library Journal, 4/15/2009

Internet access in Africa
RSA = 9.4%

Other Challenges
• Prestige of toll periodicals
– Established toll journals (ISI) with impact factors
– Pressure from institutions/review panels
– Misinformation on quality of OA journals
• Ability to pay “article processing fees”
– Limited research funding
– Poor institutional support
• Lack of computing skills
– editors, reviewers, readers

Opportunities
• Sharing African research with the world
– Exposure through OA
– Bypass “northern bias” in indexes
• Most journals small & sponsored
– OA viable for many
• OA can make a local journal truly
international

SA Family Practice (SJR)
0.038
SCImago. (2007). SJR — SCImago Journal & Country Rank.
Retrieved August 24, 2008, from http://www.scimagojr.com

South Africa – Government support
•Open access publishing platform
•Quality journals (auditing)
•Measuring impact

Costs, productivity (OJS)

AOSIS – OJP
“moving mountains in Africa”
www.openjournals.net