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

AJOL: African Journals OnLine AJOPP: African Journals Online Publishing Project International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP)

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AJOL: African Journals OnLineAJOPP: African Journals Online Publishing Project

International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP)

INASP’s Programmesin Support of African Journals

Presented by

Roger Stringer

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 informationand knowledge through a commitment tocapacity-building in developing and transitionalcountries

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

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

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 journal’s

income. Helps improve the quality of local journals. Relatively low cost and low tech.

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.

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.

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)

AJOL: Costs, 2001 (£)

Management and administration 11,000 Journal subscriptions 3,900 Web site costs (incl. staff) 2,300 Database design 500 Communications and stationery 500 Office facilities and

financial administration 1,800

§ TOTAL20,000

§ Note: No money spent on publicity in 2001.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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)

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

INASP’s Programmesin 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.