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Cape Town — An attempt to make African science more
visible by tracking the scientific publications of
the continent's scientists is underway. Africa
Science Trackers (AST), based in Stellenbosch, South
Africa, aims to record every peer-reviewed paper by
African scientists published in both national and
international journals as well as information
available through non-conventional channels -
so-called 'grey literature' - since 2000.
AST has already collated information on more than
200 electronic and print journals from the
continent, most of which come from Nigeria and South
Africa.
AST is hoping that its data will also be included
in international listings.
"We want to tackle the under-representation of
African researchers in international indices such as
Web of Science, Scopus and Pascal," says Taurai
Imbayarwo, a Zimbabwean science metrics researcher
and the founding director of AST.
Volunteer southern African scientists have been
creating the database for the last ten months but
AST hopes to survive as a functioning business by
charging researchers from outside Africa - including
researchers in the diaspora - to use it. It will be
available free to African scientists and
institutions by the end of 2010.
"There is good peer-reviewed science on the
continent. But this science, for various reasons, is
not visible. The number of African scientific
journals is not known. Vast amounts of research
never circulate beyond the author's institution,"
says Imbayarwo.
"If research done in Africa by Africans is lowly
cited internationally, it is hardly going to be
utilised to improve the socioeconomic development of
Africa and its peoples," he adds.
At least three consecutive issues of a journal
are needed for evaluation prior to being registered
by AST. If a journal is rejected, publishers can
resubmit a year later.
So far all the journals have met international
standards including peer-review, a diverse editorial
board, and regular and timely publication, Imbayarwo
says.
Ssempa Nurudean Norman, programme manager for the
Agency for Science and Technology Advancement in
Uganda, a partner in the initiative, says recording
African scientists and their publications, whether
working abroad or on the African continent,
encourages greater scientific collaboration and
sharing of expertise. |
