Science communication brings research to the people - Sida

"INASP is driven by the idea that social and economic development must be guided by research. But a lot of research is invisible or hard to get published. And some researchers in low income countries still lack knowledge of current academic debates because they lack access to the latest journals. Therefore, INASP has negotiated with large academic publishers so that universities in low income countries, often with scarce resources, can afford to offer access to high quality research to their students. At the beginning they got 95 percent off, but nowadays the number is around 80 percent. But access to knowledge is not enough. There is also a need for educated librarians and working systems for e-resources. Furthermore, the researchers need to learn how journal articles should be structured, and other ways of improving the likelihood of publication. INASP therefore arranges a range of courses in low income countries, with the ambition that they are eventually driven locally. And there is nothing wrong with the enthusiasm ... INASP has also developed their own publication tool, Open Journals System, with over 19.4 million article downloads. They have founded a range of regional organizations, with the aim that they be driven locally. One spin-out is African Journals Online (AJOL) ... For research results to reach the public, someone needs to present complex issues in brief and simple texts. The news site Scidev.net is world leading in development research journalism. Every year, 1.5 million people take part in their news and opinion texts. The head Nick Perkins is not surprised by the interest. According to him, technology and research will keep playing an important role in our societies for a long time. ..."