Are preprints the future of African research, or are they destined to remain on the sidelines? Despite their potential to revolutionize how research is shared and collaborated on, preprints—draft articles shared before peer review—haven't quite taken off in Africa. This is according to experts who spoke at a recent webinar on November 12th. The event, organized by the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Inasp, and the Academy of Science of South Africa (Assaf), dove into the role of funders in boosting open access publishing across the continent.
Susan Veldsman, Assaf's scholarly publishing director, highlighted a key challenge: researchers' lukewarm reception to preprints. She noted that despite significant efforts to introduce open research repositories and related services, they simply aren't gaining traction. "Researchers at this point in time are just not interested in preprints," she stated.
Alice Chadwick El-Ali, leading an Inasp project, pointed out that preprints could speed up the availability of research findings, but only if they're acknowledged in research assessments. And this is the part most people miss...
Nokuthula Mchunu, an open science advocate from South Africa's National Research Foundation, shed light on the influence of traditional incentives. She explained that the emphasis on impact factor journals makes it difficult for researchers to embrace new models. Review panels for funding applications often lack the tools to assess non-traditional outputs like preprints. The bottom line? Open science will struggle to take hold until openness is properly rewarded.
Martin Ongol from Uganda's National Council for Science and Technology echoed these concerns, emphasizing the focus on conventional publishing metrics in many universities, as well as the obstacles posed by infrastructure and digitization gaps.
Veldsman urged the open access community in Africa to align its efforts with researchers' actual needs and values. "We must be clear as to what is it that Africa and South Africa particularly needs,” she said.
The panelists also discussed the impact of hefty article processing charges levied by open access journals, arguing that these funds could be better utilized to improve local publishing infrastructure. They agreed that improved connectivity, repository infrastructure, and data management support are crucial for open access publishing, but these efforts would be ineffective without a shift in how research quality is evaluated.
But here's where it gets controversial... Could a change in research assessment, infrastructure upgrades, and a rethinking of financial incentives be the key to unlocking the potential of preprints in Africa? What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
