Many researchers and students in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda struggle to access and publish scientific and technical articles because of financial barriers including publishing fees and subscriptions to research libraries. To help, IEEE has made its Xplore Digital Library more accessible by offering discounts on subscriptions and lowering fees to publish articles. But the number of papers published by technologists in the three nations still lags behind those from other developing countries.
It might be that many researchers haven’t received training in methodology, been instructed on how to write academic articles, or fully understand the process for publishing in scientific journals.
Staff from the IEEE Publication and Information Products group and IEEE volunteers held educational workshops this year in the three countries. The sessions covered the publishing process, IEEE publication outlets, ways to ensure the integrity of research papers, and tips for making better use of IEEE Xplore.
“We want to make sure those in this region are on par with other research communities and ensure they have the support and knowledge they need to make informed publishing decisions,” says Kristopher Zakrzewski, the IEEE area manager for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Central Asia. “Our goal is to give them the tools they need to increase visibility and allow them to participate in global conversations in the technology space.”
Workshops on the publishing process
More than 120 participants attended the workshops, which were held in February at the Novotel Nairobi Westlands hotel, the University of Rwanda, and Makerere University, in Kampala, Uganda.
IEEE volunteers who are also authors showed attendees how to prepare, submit, and publish papers. They covered the peer-review process and the benefits of working with IEEE, which publishes about 30 percent of the world’s technical literature on electrical engineering and computer science.
IEEE Senior Member Nelson Ijumba presented at the session in Rwanda. Member Kennedy Ronoh led the Nairobi workshop. Sheila N. Mugala spoke to attendees in Kampala.
“The great thing about these sessions,” Zakrzewski says, “is that each had a local author who presented tips and best practices to ensure that new and returning authors have the information they need to prepare their paper for submission, determine where best to publish their article, and find the right journal or conference that would be the best fit for their research.”
One of the facilitators at the Uganda session was IEEE Senior Member Mayur Kumar Chhipa, head of engineering at the International Business, Science, and Technology University in Kampala and vice chair of the IEEE Uganda Section. The university has about 200 engineering students and about 50 researchers.
More than 100 people attended Chhipa’s session, where he shared practical guidance on conducting literature reviews and identifying high-impact research.
“Researchers in Uganda typically present their paper at an IEEE conference, and that’s it,” he says__.__ “What we’re trying to do is encourage them to take the next step and get their paper published in an IEEE journal.”
He encourages his students to submit a summary of their thesis to an IEEE conference, he says.
“Otherwise,” he says, “their thesis sits in the university’s library or collects dust on a bookshelf.
“When you publish your research, the world knows you are a scholar who has done good work. Having a paper published at a conference or in a journal can help you get into a master’s program globally.”
IEEE Xplore access
Attendees were given an overview of the features of their IEEE Xplore subscription. The digital library contains more than 7 million technical documents from industry-leading journals, conferences, ebooks, and eLearning courses, as well as partner content.
IEEE provides access to the library to more than 50 universities in Kenya through a subscription agreement with the country’s Library and Information Services Consortium, which includes university and public libraries and research institutions. Sixteen universities in Uganda and one institution in Rwanda receive discounted subscriptions.
“It was really important to establish the direct correlation between having access to the technical literature and the publishing output from their university and the region as a whole,” Zakrzewski says.
Many publishing options
The workshops covered publishing options offered by IEEE. That includes both traditional and open access journals, with more than 200 periodicals in total.
There are approximately 180 hybrid journals, which contain a mix of subscription-based and open-access articles, and 30 gold open access journals.
Open access is a publishing model that makes scholarly research and literature freely available online to everyone. Instead of institutions paying for subscriptions, authors or funders typically pay an article processing charge (APC) of between US $2,160 and $2,800 to have their piece published. IEEE offers authors in Kenya a 50 percent discount off the APC rate, and authors from Rwanda and Uganda can publish in IEEE open access journals for free.
The open access program provides authors with greater visibility for their research and enhances discoverability, Zakrzewski says, leading to an increased number of references and citations.
Publishing with IEEE opens additional opportunities including scholarship awards, research assistant job offers, networking opportunities, and speaking engagements.” —IEEE Senior Member Mayur Kumar Chhipa
IEEE Xplore contains more than 200,000 open access articles, he notes. More than 109,000 articles have been published in IEEE Access, a multidisciplinary open access megajournal.
“IEEE supports author choice,” Zakrzewski says. “We really want to make sure that an author has the option to publish the research that will meet any consortium, funder, university, or coauthor requirements—which is why we’re focusing on growing our open access program to complement our traditional publishing program and offer more options to authors.”
The sessions are having an impact
Participants at the Uganda session told Chhipa that they appreciated the IEEE Xplore Digital Library demonstrations and found the guidance on academic publishing valuable.
“Many attendees mentioned that the session helped them better understand how to search for relevant literature, evaluate the quality of research papers, and write stronger manuscripts for publication,” he says.
“I have observed increased interest among students and faculty in using IEEE Xplore as their primary research resource,” he adds. “Researchers are also more aware of ethical publishing practices and are developing stronger research proposals and manuscripts.
“The program contributes to building a stronger research culture by encouraging evidence-based research, international collaboration, and higher-quality publications, which will ultimately enhance the global visibility of research from Uganda and Africa.”
Publishing has its privileges
Chhipa says getting your research published has many benefits, and IEEE staff and members agree.
IEEE and several of its societies offer student grants to help cover the expense of traveling to conferences and presenting papers. The money typically covers airfare and a hotel room. Some grants also pay for conference registration fees, Chhipa says.
Chhipa assists students at his university with writing and submitting research papers to IEEE journals and conferences. Students gain confidence when their paper gets accepted, he says. One who attended the recent IEEE session was informed that his paper was accepted by an IEEE conference—which Chhipa says he was excited about.
He encouraged that student to apply for a travel grant.
“Maybe he’ll get it. Maybe he won’t. But at least he learned how to write a paper, apply for a visa to attend the conference, and book an airplane ticket,” Chhipa says. “It will help him grow personally and professionally.”
Presenting a paper at an IEEE conference can be life-changing, he says.
“It opens additional opportunities,” he says, “including scholarship awards, research assistant job offers, networking opportunities, and speaking engagements. This is how publishing a research paper in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library can directly, positively impact the life of students and scholars from Africa, especially Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya.”
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