Scholarly communication is the process whereby academics, scholars, and researchers share and publish their research findings so that they are available to the wider academic community and beyond. Traditionally scholarly communication has occurred in formal works such as journal articles, conference proceedings, book chapters, and books. However, the landscape is changing dramatically. Conference presentations, informal seminar discussions, face-to-face or telephone conversations, official journal and book publications, and grey literature have all been part of scholarly communication in the past (Johnson et. al., 2018). New modes of communication, such as email exchanges, email listservs, preprints, and, increasingly, social media and digital objects, have gradually complemented existing forms over time. The publisher’s role is frequently confused with that of the printing or manufacturer, but it is far more extensive. A significant duty for the journal publisher is to identify new, niche markets for the introduction of new journals or the expansion (or closure) of current journals. This entrepreneurial aspect aims to meet both the academic community’s demand for new journals and to generate a satisfactory return on investment. It is worth noting that journal publishers have been instrumental in the birth of some disciplines through their early belief in them and support of new journals. According to Johnson et al. (2018), the journal publishers are expected to assume multiple roles, including those of manufacturer, electronic service provider, marketer, distributor, and electronic host.

Scholarly communication identifies issues and finds solutions for more effective ways of sharing the research outputs with researchers. Scholarly communication emphasizes that choosing an appropriate journal is an important step in the early stages of the research process because different journals require different article lengths, approaches, and bibliographic styles. Journals represent much more than simply a publication outlet with many considering them to be a proxy for quality. Journal credibility and predatory publishers are also considered. Again, there are many opportunities for researchers to share their research outside of the published work. There are more popular tools available such as Google scholar citations, ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Publons, ORCID, and Altmetric. It is not an exhaustive list when it comes to managing the online presence of researchers.

A large proportion of the research undertaken is supported by public funds. The researchers do the research and write up their work in journal articles, conference papers, book chapters, or books. Once submitted for publication editors (other researchers) assess the work and send it out for peer review which is conducted by the academic community. Researchers do not receive payment or royalties for their published articles. Also, the tasks of peer review and editing are considered to be part of the scholarly process and are undertaken without payment. Once the work is published, institutional libraries (which are publicly funded) pay large amounts for subscriptions to journals. This means that people affiliated with these institutions can access the research but those without an affiliation cannot. Practitioners such as pharmacists, teachers, nurses, and entrepreneurs are unable to see the latest developments in their field.

Open access publishing models are now changing the narrative by enhancing the visibility and accessibility of research, increasing citation impact, promoting knowledge equity and enabling wider dissemination of scholarly work without financial barrier for readers. Peer review is the system used to assess the quality of scientific research before it is published. Independent researchers in the same field scrutinize research papers for validity, significance, and originality using peer review tools to help editors assess whether research papers should be published in their journal (Machovec, 2019). Also, it can be difficult to know where to start as copyright issues vary (Mrowinski, 2020). Copyright protection, copyright ownership, and copyright license are intended as a guide to some of the basic issues surrounding copyright that the research community may encounter.

Journals in the developing world face challenges in becoming known and respected in the international research landscape. Since 1998, the Journals Online project has established a network of local journal platforms to help African journals gain an online presence and increase their global visibility. Concerns are often raised about the perceived quality and transparency of publication processes for African journals. This, in turn, limits the perceived credibility of the research published within those journals. According to African Journals Online, (2022), the journal publishing practices and standards (JPPS) framework provides detailed assessment criteria for the quality of publishing practices of African journals and is initially being used to assess the journals hosted on African Journals Online platforms.

Journals assessed against the journal publishing practices and standards criteria are given one of six levels: inactive title, new title, no stars, one star, two stars, and three stars (African Journals Online, 2022). The assigned Journal Publishing Practices and Standards levels serve a dual purpose. One, readers are assured that the journals meet an internationally recognized set of criteria at a particular level. And two, journal editors can have detailed feedback from the JPPS assessment helps them identify ways to improve their publishing practices and standards to achieve a higher level at the next assessment. The Journal Publishing Practices and Standards framework has been established and managed by African Journals Online and International Network for Advancing Science and Policy (INASP). Assessments of all African Journals Online partner journals were carried out in 2018 and went live on the African Journals Online website in 2019 (African Journals Online, 2022).

Over the past few years, the state of scholarly publishing particularly in terms of the publishing of journals has dramatically changed. According to the Smart and Murray (2014) survey conducted, 330 responses were received from participants. Responses represented approximately 30% of known African-based journals publishing actively, yet no definitive list of all such journals exists, making it impossible to note exactly what percentage of journals were represented in responses. Journal publishing appears to be concentrated in two African countries: South Africa and Nigeria.

Many journals are scholar journals that is, journals that are supported by a few individuals or small group of scholars who publish a single scholarly journal in their field of study (Smart & Murray, 2014). Consistent with this finding, the chief editor handles day-to-day journal operations. Over 60% of journals were published by a group based out of a university, scholarly society, or professional association. Only 19% of journals were published by a commercial publisher. The top 100 publishers publish 67% of all journals, and the four largest (Elsevier, Springer, Wiley-Blackwell, and Taylor & Francis) all publish well over 2,000 journals each (Atkinson, Valentine & Christer, 2015). African Journals are generally quite young the highest concentration of journals was founded in the early 2000s. Most entities with an online presence established it during or after the year 2000.

Most journals are available in both print and online. Unlike journals in many other parts of the world, most African journals still feel the need to offer printed versions, despite it being the biggest expense item for the majority of African journals. Some of the reasons shared for printing journals are requirements by university libraries and readers and promotion committees at universities. Concerns about accessibility for the target readership were heightened by the lack of reliable internet access.

The financial status of journals is still a bit clear, although many implied a scarcity of resources. Nearly one-third of African journals indicated that they operate in a moneyless environment, with no income or revenue, instead of relying on volunteers and goods and services support from institutions. Cost recovery for all publishing models is quite difficult, direct funding from a national government was not a particularly significant source of income (Tarkang & Bain, 2019). Institutional support from universities was generally via in-kind support such as office space, office equipment, telephones, and internet access. Serious concerns are evident as well, often tied to bigger development and infrastructure issues outside of the publishing industry.

Impact factor was is an overarching but extremely difficult to attain a goal in terms of the inappropriateness of the use of impact factor as a metric of the quality of African journals (Pandita & Singh, 2021). Many raised pain points and frustrations surrounding impact factor in that their target authors (African researchers) are encouraged to publish in overseas journals. A disconnect emerged between African universities’ promotion policies that reward authors for publishing overseas, high impact factor journals, and the pressures faced by African journals to publish high-quality, contextually-relevant, development-oriented research (Smart & Murray, 2014).

The context of open access is also complicated. Roughly two-thirds self-identified their journals as being open access, yet responses indicated confusion around that term (Machovec, 2019). It is more likely that most of those journals are offering their content online in full text for free, and only a small subset of those journals includes any re-use rights under Creative Commons or another open licensing scheme (Rowley, 2022). Many of the open access journals noted a loss of income they had previously received from subscription income, which is a challenge.

Despite some ambiguity in the definition of Open Access, many African journals remarked on its importance for the future of journal publishing in the region. Concerns around the complexities of Open Access in Africa were voiced, as well as frequent mention of the need for financial sustainability and additional sources of income for journal publishing (Machovec, 2019). There is a need for further professional development and capacity building, particularly related to the technical aspects of supporting journals, moving journals online, working with online submission systems, XML markup, and other related ICT skills.

African Journals Online (AJOL) is the world’s largest and most authoritative portal for scholarly journals published in Africa. African Journals Online has worked to improve global and continental online awareness, access, and usage of quality and peer-reviewed published African research. African Journals Online is extensively used, this is evident by millions of monthly downloads by site users from practically every country on the planet. Africa accounts for more than half of the repeat consumers. African Journals Online has hosted 583 journals, including 306 open-access journals (African Journals Online, 2022).

The most prevalent barriers or obstacles to worldwide publishing, according to Khafaga Shehata & Eldakar (2018), are a lack of awareness of publishing channels accessible in the field of specialty, a lack of training in publishing procedures, and the anxiety of scholars about electronic publishing.

The findings of the current status of journal publishing in African countries in terms of the number of journals in Africa, African countries’ distribution of documents, African countries’ distribution of cited documents, African countries’ distribution of citations, and African countries’ distribution of citations per document are evident in the section.

The findings of the challenges associated with journal publishing in African countries about the high esteem with which international journals are regarded, financial constraints, Peer-review turnaround time, and Inadequate education and advocacy are as follows:

There should be various exciting sets of education and training programs aimed at a specific groups within the research community, including researchers, lecturers, postgraduate students, librarians, researcher administrators and policy makers. Education should focus mainly on Open Research practices and policies, the publishing landscape, and research data management. Engaging them will lead to delivering training sessions that are tailored to the needs of a specific group. This training should encourage discussion and sharing of expertise. They should be educated on various aspects of scholarly publishing and research management that is from choosing where to publish to starting peer review and promoting your research. Education and training programs should run throughout the year highlighting key issues and topics in scholarly communication, Specifically, they must continue to expand their professional skills and build their capacities, especially about the technical facets of supporting journals, bringing journals online, using online submission systems, working with open journal system (OJS) and other ICT-related abilities.

Finding an African journal with a high impact factor is difficult but not impossible, there are a lot of them. Publishing in such journals can facilitate earlier dissemination of researcher, while strengthening publication records and enhancing scholarly reputation. The key to a paper being accepted is knowing the appropriate scholarly outlets and knowing how to handle editorial decisions. Prior to submission, it is essential to carefully review author guidelines, as well as the goals and scope of target the journal(s), to determine whether the proposed manuscript aligns with the journal’s requirement and accepted article types. Given the diversity of publication formats, some of which are specific to particular journals, available options should be evaluated before submission.

Academic institutions most especially universities should establish scholarly sommunication office (SCO) to spearhead campus wide initiatives to open, share and preserve scholarship. Such an office should develop a robust and comprehensive set of evidence-based policy frameworks relating to registering institution wide journals through the provision of advice (advice unit) and administrative support.

Senior colleagues on appointment and promotion committees should endeavour to normalize open access publication as a means of demonstrating academic accomplishment. Research centres and other prospective repositories of open access material must be far more transparent about their content quality assurance and review procedures.