INASP was established in 1992 as the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications. Founded by the International Council for Science (ICSU) in cooperation with UNESCO, TWAS and AAAS, the organization’s original goal was to improve worldwide access to science information.
As our remit evolved, access to information became part of a wider vision of helping research and evidence from the South make a greater contribution to solving local and global development challenges. Our work expanded to supporting Southern journals to improve the visibility of Southern research, working with policymakers to use evidence, and with researchers to produce and publish impactful research.
We outgrew our old name of International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications. Now our full name is International Network for Advancing Science and Policy but we are simply known as INASP.