The project “Open Access and APC costs: A comparative study on scholarly publishing practices in Africa” is led by François van Schalkwyk (Stellenbosch University, South Africa) and Fernanda Beigel (CECIC). The CECIC research team also includes Victor Montoya and Manuel Bruccoleri. It is funded by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), and the implementing agency is African Minds.
Among its main objectives, the project aims to implement the International Survey on Publishing Practices and Article Processing Charges (APCs) across the African continent. This survey was initially conducted between 2023 and 2024 in several countries as part of the research project “A comparative analysis of open science, access, and circulation of knowledge in Latin America and Africa”, directed by Fernanda Beigel (CECIC) and funded by the Global Research Institute of Paris (GRIP).
It is worth highlighting the considerable effort made to ensure broad coverage across Africa, including a French translation of the survey and offline versions adapted to existing disparities in digital infrastructure.
The survey not only addresses the issues related to Open Access with APCs, but also explores researchers’ knowledge of green and diamond publishing routes, as well as how prestige is defined for academic journals in different disciplines. It also delves into researchers’ perceptions of the challenges and future of scholarly publishing, complemented by a qualitative analysis of the final section of the survey, which is dedicated to the ethical debate surrounding the commodification of science.
The survey was targeted at the African Scientists platform and researchers associated with science academies across all African countries. Through this, the project seeks to investigate the practices and perceptions of a wide range of scholars subjected to similar evaluation systems and publication pressures.