Open Book: African scholars facing economic crunch | Research Information

"A lot of factors affect the chances of acceptance of papers from sub-Saharan Africa by editors in the north. But even when the scholars outdo themselves or surpass expectations, the publication fees charged by international open access journals are so high as to be out of reach. True enough, some journal publishers offer waivers to researchers from developing countries, but such journal publishers are few and far between. There is also the prospect of getting grants to support publishing in open access journals, but these are competitive and sometimes laced with local politics. The option of self-sponsorship is definitely out of the question. With an average annual salary of about €4200 ($4500), considering publishing a single article in even a moderately priced journal at about €1220 ($1510) is almost preposterous for an African academic.... Some studies have accused editors of international journals of neo-colonial science and bias against research that emanates from the South. While still battling these perceived or real threats to African science and productivity in the global scene, paywalls and subscriptions, lack of access to funding, high exchange rates and highly priced publication fees are another form of discrimination perpetuated by many gold open access APC-based journals against disadvantaged researchers in an era that prides itself with openness, globalisation, diversity and sustainability. "