Internationalization of the Moroccan Journal of Chemistry: A bibliometric study: Heliyon

Abstract:  In this research paper, we analyzed the bibliographic data of the research publications issued by the Moroccan Journal of Chemistry between 2013 and 2021. As an open-access country-based research journal with a narrow area of interest and international online exposure, it will be interesting to see how it affects the local chemical research community through the comparison of the characteristics of the research outputs of the journal as retrieved from the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) with the features of Moroccan chemical research from 2014 to 2021 in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS). In this context, we generated scientometric networks using Gephi, a tool for large-scale data visualization, to reveal the patterns of the publications in the Moroccan Journal of Chemistry. When performing our analysis, we found a significant alignment between the research topics featured in the Moroccan Journal of Chemistry and the main research areas of the Moroccan chemical scholarly outputs, particularly Multidisciplinary Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, and Analytical Chemistry. We also identified that the Moroccan Journal of Chemistry functions as an incubator for establishing new traditions of research collaboration between Moroccan institutions and target nations such as Asian and African countries. As well, it is clear that the Moroccan Journal of Chemistry is an interesting venue for the most productive chemical researchers in Morocco for sharing preliminary research findings and discussing trendy topics.

 

IOP Publishing and SANLiC partner to minimise OA publishing barriers in South Africa    – IOP Publishing

“IOP Publishing, and the South African National Library and Information Consortium (SANLiC) have finalised a three-year transformative agreement as they work towards breaking down open access (OA) publishing barriers for researchers in the global south. The agreement, which is IOP Publishing’s first in South Africa, enables researchers at participating member institutions to publish their research openly with no costs at the point of submission. The agreement also provides reading access to IOP Publishing’s entire journal portfolio and most of its partner journals….”

Africa PID Alliance | Persistent Identifiers – Helix Analytics Africa | est. 2023

“Africa PID Alliance is a project by Helix Analytics Africa and Training Centre in Communication (TCC-AFRICA), which, encompasses a community of PID enthusiasts in and from Africa aiming to lead and realize a FAIR sharing of access to data using Persistent Identifiers in innovation, research, and technology within the cultural, scientific and cross-industry ecosystems. We provide the following solutions to achieve robust PIDs Digital Object Identifiers (DOI); Personal Data Protection (Control & Compliance); Data Auditing & Reporting…”

Africa PID Alliance Digital Object Identifiers Registration Concept Note | May 11, 2023

Abstract: “Persistent Identifiers are the pillars of an interoperable, persistent and reliable Open Research Infrastructure. This is the reason why a lot of countries/regions and organizations took the initiative to contribute to this network and help promote the use of PIDs through their academic and publishing ecosystems.    The objective of this document is to structure the feasibility, implementation and manageability of the project. A survey on the African continental level will shed light on or provide insights on the need of a DOI Registration Agency tailored to the continental context. One of the innovations that this agency will bring is a specific prefix for Africa that will provide; Ownership to African researcher over their content…”

Nabil Ksibi, Joy Owango, & Sara. (2023). Africa PID Alliance Digital Object Identifiers Registration Concept Note (Version 1). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7924069

#ODD2023 Stories @ Zimbabwe ?? – Open Knowledge Foundation blog

“GSU YouthMappers hosted the Open Data Day event on 10th March 2023 at Gwanda State University, Zimbabwe. The event theme was “Open Data and AI in Transforming Agriculture,” and was inspired by how research organisations are using open data obtained from satellite imagery and other sources to come up with tools that are being used in the agricultural sector to assess land and farm produce. This was the first event of such kind at Gwanda State University organised by GSU YouthMappers….”

Global health research abstracts: March ‘23 – ScienceDirect

“The African Journal of Emergency Medicine, in partnership with several other regional emergency medicine journals, publishes abstracts from each respective journal. Abstracts are not necessarily linked to open access papers however, all abstracts are accessible without subscription.”

New partnerships – a Right to Research in Africa | EIFL

“A major conference co-organized by EIFL, with national and international partners, took place in South Africa on 23-27 January 2023. ‘A Right to Research in Africa? A Week of Debates on Copyright and Access to Knowledge’ was attended by over 280 legal academics, researchers, librarians, policy-makers and Geneva-based diplomats from over a dozen countries in Africa and beyond. It was the first time these diverse groups, connected by a common interest in copyright, came together to hear and to learn from each other about the copyright framework needed to support modern research.

During the conference, researchers from South Africa, Kenya and Senegal described their first-hand experiences using digital technologies to address important questions on topics such as African languages, artificial intelligence and health, and the roadblocks they sometimes face due to copyright and licensing restrictions. 

Academics and practising lawyers analyzed the legal framework, answering questions on the rights of researchers in using copyright-protected works. Government officials provided insights into the policy-making environment, copyright reforms underway in Africa and developments internationally at WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Organization). The cross-cutting discussions helped to build partnerships, create a shared understanding of the issues and the importance of balanced copyright laws in supporting cutting-edge research in Africa.

Interviews conducted with researchers and senior policymakers from Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda have been made available online, along with the full conference sessions….”

#ODD2023 Stories @ Ghana ??

“Open Data Day event was held in Tamale, Ghana on 10th March 2023, with the theme “Open Data Revolution, Fueling the Future of AI” organised by Dagbani Wikimedians Usergroup. The event featured three speakers who shared their insights on open data initiatives, AI-powered solutions for various industries, and exploring AI for daily problems. It was attended by an audience from diverse backgrounds, including students, researchers, industry professionals, and open knowledge enthusiasts….”

Open science train-the-trainer tips | EIFL

“Enhancing open science and open research skills by organizing train-the-trainer activities, creating training materials, and advocating for research incentives and structures that support and promote the acquisition of open science and open research skills are among EIFL’s strategic goals. 

But bringing together trainers from almost 40 EIFL partner countries in Africa, Asia and Europe is a challenge – in-person meetings are too expensive. So we opted for free online meetings although we knew these would be challenging too, because it is difficult to find a time to suit many different time zones simultaneously, internet connectivity varies, and people joining online meetings from the workplace or home may get interrupted by work priorities and day-to-day life.

To minimize these difficulties, the bootcamp comprised synchronous meetings – live on Zoom – and asynchronous learning on OpenPlato, which is OpenAIRE’s Moodle e-learning management platform. OpenPlato had been used successfully in OpenAIRE train-the-trainer bootcamps that we helped to co-organize in 2022.”

EIFL support energizes Ethiopia OA journals sector | EIFL

“With support from EIFL, Addis Ababa University Libraries (AAUL) has increased access to and visibility of research from academic institutions across Ethiopia by upgrading the national open access publishing platform, Ethiopian Journals Online (EJOL), and adding 21 new journals from 10 institutions to the platform. 

As part of the ‘Enhancing Ethiopian Journals Online’ project, AAUL has improved the look and feel of EJOL, with customized pages for each journal, including updated journal profiles and useful information for authors and reviewers (editorial policies, author guidelines, reviewer guidelines). 

By configuring editorial workflows, the project has made the platform more efficient, and integration of DOIs has made journals and articles easier to locate. 

The project team also provided training for librarians, journal editors and editorial staff to familiarize them with the upgraded journals platform and its new functionalities. 

In addition, 20 journal editors took part in workshops on the use of the publishing software, Open Journal Systems (OJS), and  the eligibility standards and criteria required for indexing in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).  Journal editors also received journal policy templates.”

Collaboratively Exploring Solutions to the Funding Challenge for Open Infrastructure in Africa | Apr 22, 2023 | Invest in Open Infrastructure

“…We partnered with the West and Central Africa Research and Education Network (WACREN) last month to host a workshop in Accra, Ghana on March 15, 2023. The theme was “charting common pathways for collective action in advancing open infrastructure in Africa”. The workshop was a prelude to the annual WACREN Conference – an annual gathering that brings together researchers, librarians, open infrastructure funders, government officials, and National Research and Education Network (NREN) leaders and other stakeholders to chart common pathways to promote innovation, investment in infrastructure and service development to boost the capacity of the evolving African digital education and research landscape. Our goal for this workshop was to facilitate a conversation between participating research funders, NREN leadership, government officials, and other key stakeholders, for them to share their understanding of the importance of open research infrastructure and the challenges and opportunities they face in their work to develop, maintain, and adopt shared infrastructure. The workshop was also a chance for the IOI team to listen to and learn from open infrastructure practitioners in Africa. This listening process is critical to ensure that our work and engagements in the long term are additive to what the African open science community is building and responsive to the dynamics of the continent….”

Open Science as a Means to Decolonize Scientific Publishing and Foster Fairer Research Collaborations

“In this 120-minute virtual workshop, participants will jointly explore pathways that work towards decolonizing research partnerships based on the principles of Open Science as a global public good. It will start with a presentation of innovative publishing experiences of the scientific journal Mountain Research and Development, followed by insights on ambivalent Open Science practices from the perspective of the Open Science Team of the University Library of Bern, as well as a presentation from two Trainees of Open Peer Reviewers in Africa. Mercury Shitindo, PhD Fellow in Research Ethics at St.Paul’s University, Kenya, and PaaNii Johnson, Full Professor in Food Science and Technology, CSIR College of Science and Technology, Ghana will share their experiences of the Open Peer Reviewers in Africa project. After these short inputs, an interactive “open space technology” format will allow participants to propose topics for discussion and delve into a co-learning process.”

Copyright, Text Mining and AI Training Tickets, Tue, 18 Apr 2023 at 12:00 PM | Eventbrite

“Join us?for?a conversation with Faith?Majekolagbe, Michael Geist and Ruth L. Okediji on copyright issues?and recent developments around the world?regarding text and data mining, notably in Canada and African countries

Conversations?about the modernisation of copyright frameworks have?arisen around the world in light of the computational?analysis and processing of copyrighted content for?greater knowledge and information generation through?text and data mining?techniques and?inputs for AI?development?especially?the training of?machine learning models.?Do and should?copyright frameworks?supports?the unlicensed use of in-copyright works for text and data mining and the development of?artificial intelligence? What are the?interests at stake?…”

Advancing Open Access In Scholarly Publishing: Increasing DOAJ’s Coverage in Northern Africa | May 10, 2023 | Webinar Registration

“1-hour webinar hosted by the Forum for Open Research in MENA (F.O.R.M.) in collaboration with the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). **Limited Seats Available** **French Language Presentation** In this 1-hour webinar, Professor Kamel Belhamel (Managing editor of DOAJ), will explore the open access landscape in Northern Africa. The first half of the webinar will look at the barriers faced by scholarly publications when looking to develop and implement open access publishing practices. In the second half of this webinar, Professor Kamel will discuss the benefits for open access journals of being indexed in DOAJ, give some tips on DOAJ evaluation metrics, and explain what editorial boards can do to maximise their chances of acceptance into the index….”