Ina Smith, the Planning Manager, Scholarly Publishing Unit, Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), & DOAJ Ambassador Southern Africa, gave an in-depth presentation on how African researchers and journals can increase their visibility and impact through DOAJ.
Watch the recording
The slides are available at https://africarxiv.ubuntunet.net/handle/1/1704
Questions that were addressed during the session
What are the key criteria for journals to be indexed in DOAJ, and how can African journals meet these standards?
How can researchers and institutions in Africa benefit from having their journals and articles listed in DOAJ?
What are some common challenges faced by African open access journals, and how can DOAJ help address these issues?
Can you share any success stories of African journals or researchers who have gained significant visibility and impact through DOAJ?
How does DOAJ support the development and sustainability of open access publishing in regions with limited resources, such as parts of Africa?
Speaker’s Profile:
Ina Smith
Ina Smith is a strong advocate for open science, especially in Africa and South Africa. With over 20 years of experience, she has worked at universities like the University of Pretoria and Stellenbosch University, focusing on repositories and journal publishing. She has a Master’s in Computer Integrated Education and has helped implement important projects like UPSpace and SUNScholar.
Since 2014, Ina has been the Planning Manager at the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). She is a DOAJ Ambassador for Southern Africa and led the review of the DOAJ Ambassador Programme in 2024. She also led the African Open Science landscape study and helped create the African Scientists Directory. Ina’s work in open science has earned her several awards, including the LIASA Librarian of the Year in 2016.
Related resources
About the webinar series
This webinar was co-organized by UbuntuNet Alliance and Access 2 Perspectives as part of the ORCID Global Participation Program.
ORCID is the persistent identifier for researchers to share their accomplishments (research articles, data, etc with funding agencies, publishers, data repositories, and other research workflows.
AfricArXiv is a community-led digital archive for African research communication. By enhancing the visibility of African research, we enable discoverability and collaboration opportunities for African scientists on the continent as well as globally.