LIBSENSE OA Week emphasizes visibility, equity for scholarly communication

LIBSENSE marked the 2025 International Open Access Week with a series of activities that emphasized visibility, equity, sustainability, and control in scholarly communication.

The highlight of the week was a joint LIBSENSE-DOAJ webinar that explored the significance of knowledge ownership for African research and the need to strengthen African scholarly journals through the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The session addressed common challenges faced by researchers, authors, and journal publishers across the continent while providing a comprehensive overview of Open Access and the benefits of DOAJ indexing for enhancing visibility and accessibility. Dr. Oluchi Okere, DOAJ Ambassador for West Africa, emphasized the urgency of the mission, stating, “We must find local solutions to enhance the impact of African journals to ensure they are recognized and valued globally.” 

Participants learned about the essential criteria for scholarly journals seeking DOAJ inclusion, including the necessity of maintaining a dedicated and secure website alongside adherence to open access principles. The webinar outlined best practices for applying to be indexed, covering key areas such as policies, editorial teams, publication history, peer review, licensing, and archiving. Watch the video here.

A parallel French-language session, led by Kamel Belamel, DOAJ’s Ambassador for North Africa, focused specifically on enhancing the credibility and visibility of journals in Francophone North, Central, and West Africa. The session addressed region-specific challenges including limited funding, lack of institutional support, and cultural resistance to open access models. Participants explored practical solutions such as capacity building, sustainable funding models, and the adoption of open-source platforms. Discussions covered critical considerations for journal publications, including business models, archiving policies, and the use of Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), while acknowledging the financial hurdles African journals face. The session also highlighted community projects promoting open access publishing and addressed concerns about DOAJ’s efforts to gain recognition from CAMES, the viability of the Diamond Open Access model, and guidance on launching open access journals. Watch the video here.

LIBSENSE Nigeria also hosted a webinar titled “Owning Our Research Infrastructure: Rethinking Visibility and the Hidden Costs of Access,” which featured presentations from Prof. Angela Okpala, Dr. Dominic Dankwah, and Dr. Sadiat Salau. The session explored Africa’s dependency on external research systems and how this affects visibility, access, and sustainability. Panelists discussed hidden financial and social costs of current models while imagining new pathways through open technologies, institutional repositories, and collaborative frameworks that position African scholarship as open, visible, and self-determined.

LIBSENSE Ghana also organized a roundtable on Creative Commons licensing that brought librarians and researchers together to explore how CC licensing empowers knowledge creators to retain rights and promote responsible sharing. The 60-minute session included presentations and reflective discussions that unpacked practical pathways for adopting CC licensing in research practice, helping participants understand the roles of authors, publishers, and institutions in knowledge ownership and developing recommendations for embedding CC licensing in institutional strategies. Watch the video here.