Based at an African organization and publishing a no-fee open access (OA) journal or books? Apply to join a new Community of Practice that launches in December 2024. 

Over 140 African no-fee journal editors have already expressed their interest in participating in the Community of Practice to share experiences, discuss opportunities for collaborations and partnerships, and collectively advocate for no-fee OA publishing (often referred to as Diamond OA) on the continent and globally. 

Moderated by WACREN (the West and Central African Research and Education Network), the Community of Practice is a part of the ‘Collaboration for sustainable OA publishing in Africa’ project implemented by EIFL, AJOL (African Journals Online) and WACREN, with funding from Wellcome.  

Rapid changes in scholarly publishing trends make it difficult to navigate the landscape, and respondents in the EIFL landscape study of no-fee open access journal publishing in Africa expressed the need to stay informed about trends and to participate in the community of practice. More than three-quarters of the respondents would also consider collaborating with other organizations on training, support and/or advice on publishing policies and best practices, IT, production, communication and editorial services and advocacy for Diamond OA publishing support. 

The Community of Practice maintains a mailing list for communications and will host monthly meetings to discuss topics of interest and identify areas for collaboration. The first meeting is scheduled for 22 January at 10:00 UTC and will cover the following topics: training for editors, reviewers and authors; AI tools and their limitations; recognition of the work of editors and peer reviewers; and the use of Persistent identifiers.  

For any questions or additional information, please contact: no-fee-publishing@wacren.net.