African Journals OnLine (AJOL)

AJOL logoThe AJOL project was started in 1998 with the objective of cataloguing African-published journals and making them more visible and therefore improving their sustainability through increased subscription and greater impact. The project started with 8 titles, but continues to grow with 271 titles included by mid-2007. The titles included are from a wide range of disciplines including medicine, agriculture, social science, arts and humanities.

Each journal on AJOL has its own area with a homepage, information about the journal (for example, the list of editors and instructions for authors) and contact details. For every published issue a table of contents (with abstracts where available) is provided online, with the opportunity to order the full text article. For a growing number of journals full text papers are available on the website, Open Access, or via a link to the journal’s own site. Each journal makes its own decisions regarding the content of their homepage and information area and whether to make their full text articles available on the website.

Journal participation is free of charge and document delivery to the lowest income countries can be supplied at no charge. A small remuneration for every article ordered is paid to the journals.

In 2005 management of AJOL transferred to Africa and it now operates as an independent, not-for-profit organisation within Grahamstown, South Africa. There are plans to continue to develop AJOL and build on its success by introducing greater flexibility for the participating journals, including the possibility of managing their editorial processes online.

To visit the website please go to www.ajol.info

For more information about AJOL, please send an e-mail by clicking here

Publications

African Journals OnLine (AJOL) Evaluation Report 2003-2005 This report follows on from the first evaluation conducted in 2003 and the aim is to assess the development and status of the service at the time of its handover to African management in 2005. Particular emphasis is placed on providing detailed information to the participating journals.
African Journals OnLine (AJOL): An Internal Evaluation, 2000–2002 This report provides the results of a survey and evaluation of the AJOL service undertaken at the end of 2002. The survey included the participating journals, as well as users, and presents a report of the current success of the programme, with suggestions for improving it in the future.