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AJOL: African Journals OnLine AJOPP: African Journals Online Publishing Project International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) INASPs Programmes in Support of African Journals Presented by Roger Stringer

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INASP: Background The International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) is a programme of the International Council for Science (founded 1930), INASP established in 1992. It is a co-operative network of over 3000 partners. Aim: to improve world-wide access to information and knowledge through a commitment to capacity-building in developing and transitional countries

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INASP: Overview of activities (1) n Core activities Advisory and liaison services Links & resources Access to Information INASP-Health Links Publications INASP Newsletter handbooks manuals

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INASP: Overview of activities (2) Programme activities INASP-Health INASP-Rural Development Library Support Initiatives support to professional associations access to information & knowledge for the public Programme for the Enhancement of Research Information (PERI) Delivering information Disseminating local research Enhancing ICT Skills Strengthening local publishing

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Advantages of Online Journals Increases awareness and the visibility of local journals. Increases the use of local journals. Gives local journals an identity. Supports local scholarship. Provides an opportunity to increase the journals income. Helps improve the quality of local journals. Relatively low cost and low tech.

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AJOL: Objectives To provide access to research undertaken and published in Africa. To enable the results of research carried out in Africa to become more widely known. To strengthen the African academic publishing sector, by providing subscription income. To assess the impact of using the Internet to promote African-published journals. To hand over a sustainable and operating programme to an African host at the end of three years.

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AJOL: Components Journals in agricultural sciences; arts, culture and literature; health; science and technology; social sciences (back files for 5 years). Access to TOCs and abstracts of articles; links to full text where available; keyword search of journal contents. Information about the journal; instructions to authors. Document delivery; credit card purchases; proceeds returned to journals. Links to journals on Africa and other useful sites. Pages in French as well as in English.

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AJOL: Usage statistics Registrations 3189 as at April 2002 Over 100 new users per month Hits (excluding images) March 2002:48,275 April 2002:51,885 May 2002:53,567 Free photocopy requests Sept. 2000 June 2002: 296 Paid photocopy requests 35 (as at April 2002)

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AJOL: Costs, 2001 () Management and administration11,000 Journal subscriptions3,900 Web site costs (incl. staff)2,300 Database design500 Communications and stationery500 Office facilities and financial administration1,800 TOTAL 20,000 Note: No money spent on publicity in 2001.

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AJOL: Is it sustainable? Problems: Poor journal management: Irregular publication Haphazard subscription fulfilment Information difficult to obtain Poor content quality. Lack of online access to full text of articles. Difficult for African journals to compete when easy access to quality international journals is provided to developing countries.

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AJOPP: Objectives To acquaint 10 key African-published journals with the processes and routes of going online. To encourage each journal to determine its preferred methodology of going online. To provide each journal with advice and financial support in getting online. To provide models for other journals in Africa. To assess the effect of going online on journal usage and journal sustainability. To evaluate online as a future model for African journal publishing.

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AJOPP: Selection of journals Quality of content Currency (up-to-date). Regularity of publication. Proven ability to provide AJOL with TOCs and abstracts in electronic format. Willingness to meet the conditions of the project.

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AJOPP: The journals (1) Agriculture African Crop Science Journal (Uganda) African Plant Protection Journal (South Africa) Ghana Journal of Agricultural Sciences (Ghana) Zimbabwe Veterinary Journal Health African Journal of Reproductive Health (Nigeria)

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AJOPP: The journals (2) Science and Technology Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Ethiopia Insect Science and its Application (Kenya) SINET: Ethiopian Journal of Science Social Sciences Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review (Ethiopia) Journal of Social Development in Africa (Zimbabwe)

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AJOPP: The workshop (1) Day One: Overview and issues Current e-journal trends and developments Developed world and developing world Advantages of going online International reach; speed; additional features Financial and legal implications Costs; savings; new revenue; copyright Business implications Marketing; security; subscriptions; access controls; production work-flow; human resources

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AJOPP: The workshop (2) Day Two: Specific issues Online journal hosting services Including practical Internet surfing Developing a strategy Moving from print to electronic production What content to provide; current and back issues? Developing an Action Plan SWOT analysis Strategy checklist Feasibility and requirements Implementation schedule

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AJOPP: The workshop (3) Day Three: Practical computer work Cleaning up DTP files Online file formats HTML, SGML, JPEG, PostScript, PDF, etc. Software requirements Freeware, shareware resources FTP, compression E-mail attachments Requirements of hosting services

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AJOPP: The workshop (4) Day Four: Action Plans Discuss possible strategies Develop individual journal action plans Preferred method of mounting full text online Note: Participants needed to discuss their plans with their editorial boards, etc., before being able to decide final position.

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AJOPP: Getting online Twelve months later GJAS no action from the journal APP to go online with SABINET EASSRR to go online with MSU JSDA to go online with MSU ISA to stay online with Bioline [considering Ingenta] AJRH to go online with Ingenta ACSJ to go online with Ingenta [also with Bioline] BCSE to go online with Ingenta SINET to go online with Ingenta ZVJ to go online with Ingenta

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AJOPP: Monitoring After two years online, INASP would like to know: How many electronic subscriptions have been purchased; How many individual articles have been purchased; Who has purchased online services; Whether inclusion in mainstream journal delivery services has increased use Whether the availability of electronic text has increased or decreased print subscriptions; Whether the income from online services has increased journal sustainability; Comparative costs of print and electronic publishing; How feasible an option it would be to move from print/online to online-only publishing.

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INASPs Programmes in Support of African Journals For more information on AJOL visit: http://www.inasp.info/ajol For more information on AJOPP visit: http://www.inasp.info/psi/ajopp/index.html Thank you.