The Adventist University of Africa (AUA) in Kenya has initiated a project to enhance the quality and sustainability of three Diamond open access journals: the Pan-African Journal of Education and Social Sciences; the Pan-African Journal of Health and Environmental Science, and the Pan-African Journal of Theology.
The ‘Improving the Quality of AUA Pan-African Journals: Capacity Building’ project will strengthen editorial and technical capacity of the editorial team by providing training in manuscript handling, peer review, ethical publishing, the publishing workflow and Open Journal Systems (OJS) management. It will also strengthen peer reviewers’ skills in conducting quality reviews, create a database of qualified reviewers who provide timely, constructive feedback and institutionalize peer review training at AUA's Research Office for continuous reviewer development.
The Pan-African Journal of Theology will be resubmitted for DOAJ indexing and all three Pan-African Journals will apply for indexing in other relevant databases. Long-term financial independence for the journals will be secured with institutional or donor support, and enhanced by the improved overall quality and reputation of the journals resulting from the project.
The project is among 30 that have received grant support through a three-year project to strengthen no-fee open access publishing in Africa implemented by EIFL, AJOL (African Journals Online) and WACREN (the West and Central African Research and Education Network), with funding from Wellcome.
Activities
- Recruiting and reconstituting Editorial Board members
- Building editorial and technical capacity of journal editorial teams and Editorial Boards
- Engaging qualified, active, and diverse reviewers from various geographic and institutional backgrounds, strengthening peer reviewers skills and institutionalizing peer review training within the university
- Applying for indexing in relevant indexing services
- Developing a plan for future financial independence of the journals
Timeline
September 2025 - August 2026
More about the three journals -
