AuthorAID - Guest post: Introducing AfricArxiv - a preprint repository for African researchers
ab1630's bookmarks 2018-08-26
Summary:
"Guest post from AfricArxiv co-founder Johanna Havemann, introducing the AfricArxiv preprint repository, and explaining how you can use it.
What are preprints and preprint repositories?
A preprint is a version of a research paper which is shared with the rest of the scientific community, usually before peer review and publication in a journal. Preprints have evolved to be an integral part of Open Science because they allow Open Access to research context, methodology and output before the often lengthy and competitive peer-review process of traditional publishing. A preprint repository is a digital archive to deposit unpublished manuscripts (preprints), i.e. the final version of a research article draft before submission to a peer-reviewed journal. One other benefit is that funders and employers can access immediate results and research output. More than 80% of all academic peer-reviewed journals accept manuscripts that are hosted on a preprint repository. On June 25, the first pan-African preprint repository was launched: AfricArxiv.org.
Why do we need an Africa-specific preprint repository?
Having a repository specific to the African research community can trigger interdisciplinary research within the continent as well as globally with research institutions overseas. AfricArxiv is a platform for African scientists to publish their research output immediately and free of cost. This makes it possible to receive feedback on your work, improve the manuscript for submission to a peer review journal and identify potential collaboration partners for future projects. Additionally to submissions in English, French and Portuguese, we welcome submissions in local African languages such as Akan, Twi, Swahili, Zulu, and we are building a pool of editors that can briefly check and approve these. It is often easier and sometimes more feasible to describe your work in your native tongue, especially (but not only) in social sciences...."