Abstract:
Academics all over the world place emphasis on research and
publications, not only because it is presumed that research enriches both
teaching and the learning process as well as contributing to the body of
knowledge, but also because it is a major determinant of institutional
prestige. To the academic staff, therefore, publishing achieves that dual
purpose of enhancing both one's position and the status of the institution.
However, scholarly publishing in Africa is still struggling to keep pace with
the rest of the world. Various reasons for this are discussed in this paper.
The author also highlights the issue of Predatory or Standalone journals
which are trying to take advantage of challenges in scholarly publishing
to exploit the African Scholar or writer.
As one of the solutions to this problem, the author suggests that scholars
in Africa should take advantage of the opportunities and benefits of Open
Access (OA) Journals. These provide unlimited access to online peer reviewed
scholarly research works. They are also digital, online, free of
charge, and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions, The role of
the Academy of Arts and Sciences in assisting the OA agenda is also
emphasized.
