AuthorAID@INASP: Background and Rationale

Increasingly, researchers, development agencies and others focus on the content of the research – its potential for reducing poverty, enhancing quality of life and economic development. Developing world scientists express their desire to increase the visibility of their contributions to the global body of scientific knowledge for application locally and around the world.

Capacity strengthening collaborations have, however, frequently neglected the need to support publication of research. The result is a serious (and growing) under-representation within the scientific literature of authors closest to the challenges that beset the developing world. The lack of their voices and their research potentially weakens future amelioration of poverty.

INASP has successfully supported emerging country journals to improve their publishing practices and gain greater international recognition through online publication. However, this support has not addressed the content published by these journals and therefore their impact on research and policy.

Authors from resource-poor settings report their uncertainty about suitable journals: their unfamiliarity with editorial conventions and the persistent pressure to write in English; conflicts with collaborators about authorship and author order; unfamiliarity with statistical tools to analyse data; and, more generally, editors' and publishers' inattention to 'development' topics. The editors of journals throughout the world present a complementary picture – many manuscripts have merit (including adequate research design and data collection) but may require too much additional analytic or editorial effort and are rejected early in the review process.

The AuthorAID Concept

AuthorAID is first and foremost a concept formed in recognition of a publishing gap and its consequences. It seeks to overcome this inequality through activities to support authors in developing countries prepare research manuscripts, policy-relevant commentaries and editorials for publication.

For authors in low income countries who would like developmental editing assistance, too few well-published senior scientists and experienced editors are near at hand. Globally, however, scientific mentors and editors to support authors are not in short supply, nor are the tools and self-help resources. Although not as desirable as having mentors and resources on site with the authors, information communication technologies (ICTs) can be used to support authors who seek it.

For further information:
Closing the 'publishing gap' between rich and poor. SciDev.Net 7 September 2005.
EDITORIAL: The Publishing Gap Between Rich and Poor: the Focus of AuthorAID, Journal of Public Health Policy (2006) 27, 196–203. Download