Originally published at https://ubuntunet.net/stories/africarxiv-open-science-webinar-series-a-year-in-review/
Author: Harold Bowa
AfricArXiv, a free digital archive for African research, has played a pivotal role in advancing open science on the continent. Established in 2018 and hosted by UbuntuNet Alliance since 2023, the platform is being tailored towards meeting the needs of African researchers, leveraging the Alliance’s extensive network. Utilizing the open-source repository system D-Space, AfricArXiv currently holds digital scholarly items, including research papers, preprints, conference papers, datasets, presentations, posters, and more. UbuntuNet Alliance, in collaboration with Access 2 Perspectives, launched the AfricArXiv Open Science Webinar Series in October 2023, supported by the ORCID Global Participation Fund. This initiative aims to empower researchers, librarians, and institutions with insights into using digital tools and persistent identifiers to enhance the discoverability of African research and streamline scholarly workflows for efficiency. Since its inception, 26 webinars have been conducted, and more to come in 2025.
“Over the years of operating AfricArXiv, it has become clear to our team that effective Science Communication is achieved through interconnected scholarly services that facilitate the archiving and dissemination of the research results that are being shared through our platform. It is important for researchers, librarians, and research funders alike to be aware of the key components and actors in that process which is why we initiated the webinar series to present the various aspects and actors to our audience. From the list of sessions held so far you can see that local, regional and global teams and services act together to make African scholarship widely accessible and to provide access for African scholars to engage on the global scientific discourse.”
— Dr Johanna Havemann, CEO at Access 2 Perspectives.
The webinar series has followed a collaborative model, engaging stakeholders across diverse domains to provide participants with actionable insights. These stakeholders include:
- Scholarly community services such as The Lens, Knowledge Futures, COKI, and FAIRsharing providing features for indexing, standardizing and analytics of scholarly achievements.
- Private sector providers such as Zendy, Overton and Science Open offering innovative open science tools and services.
- Researcher community initiatives such as the African Reproducibility Network (AREN) and the Rwanda Preprint Club presenting unique solutions implemented in their fields and regions.
- Digital Infrastructure providers such as ROR, ORCID, DataCite, and Crossref sharing best practices and challenges in establishing interoperability for discoverability of scholarly items.
- Policy-advocating organizations like the African Open Science Platform (AOSP) and UNESCO, offering regional and global perspectives on Open Science.
The sessions explore topics like digital archiving, diamond open-access publishing, open science principles, and digital library management. This approach ensured a comprehensive understanding of the evolving open science ecosystem, tailored to the African context.
Prominent organizations that contributed to the series include DOAJ, DataCite, Crossref, ROR, UNESCO, Figshare, the Africa Open Science Platform (AOSP), ZENDY, and Invest in Open Infrastructure, just to name a few. The series resonated strongly with the research community, with some sessions attracting over 100 participants. A standout session focused on publishing at minimal or no cost, which highlighted innovative approaches to ensuring research outputs remain F.A.I.R. (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). This session addressed a critical issue for African researchers facing financial barriers in publishing.
To ensure maximum reach, all sessions were recorded and are available on the AfricArXiv Website at https://info-africarxiv.ubuntunet.net/open-science-webinar-series/ . This resource continues to serve as a knowledge hub for researchers who may have missed the live sessions or wish to revisit key discussions. The AfricArXiv Open Science Webinar Series will continue in 2025, expanding its scope to include more organizations, innovative tools, and impactful projects shaping Open Science in Africa. Upcoming webinars will feature advanced topics such as integrating artificial intelligence into scholarly workflows and strategies for building sustainable digital repositories.
Registration for the 2025 series is now open and can be accessed through the webinar series hub.
This initiative would not be possible without the generous support of the ORCID Global Participation Fund, Access 2 Perspectives, and the many partner organizations and individuals who contributed their expertise. Their collective effort continues to shape opportunities that lie in the present and future of Open Science in Africa. Through this webinar series, the AfricArXiv team reaffirm their commitment to fostering a vibrant, inclusive, and globally recognized research ecosystem for African scholars.