In 2023, Bristol University Press became the first publisher to sign up for the Africa Charter for Transformative Research Collaborations. This is an Africa-centred framework for advancing a transformative mode of research collaboration that will advance and uphold the continent’s place in the global production of scientific knowledge.
The charter was co-created by several of Africa’s major higher education associations and universities. The initiative is now participating in a wide programme of engagement with funders, academic bodies, research assessments, publishers and science governance, to bring about deep and permanent change.
As signatories of the Charter, we have committed to a process of aligning our publishing policies and guidelines with the dissemination of research that adheres to the key principles of transformative collaboration. We are also playing a small role as a ‘publisher champion’, joining discussions on how to implement the ambitions of the Charter.
BUP’s flagship Global Social Challenges Journal (GSCJ) is at the forefront of our commitments. The journal regularly publishes works that critically engage with questions of equity in North–South research partnerships, including a provocation by some of the key authors of the Africa Charter. This paper details the need to rebalance Africa–Global North relations in the global scientific effort and is well worth reading.
BUP is committed to publishing voices from Africa and the Global South more broadly as we seek to tackle the complexities of the global social challenges that we face. GSCJ, as do all our journals, puts equity and diversity at its core. The editorial board is geographically diverse, with 48 scholars and practitioners from 22 countries spread over six continents. Our content reflects our deep commitment to diversity and social justice and to decolonising the knowledge ecosystem. So far in 2024, 38% of corresponding authors of accepted manuscripts have been from the Global South.
The journal seeks to nurture new talent in diverse ways. We have recently launched a mentorship programme for early career researchers in the Global South and diasporas. Our intent is to stimulate further reflection on how younger social scientists in the Global South identify and process contemporary global social challenges and to learn more about how context (historical, cultural, political and economic) may have a direct bearing on what we deem significant, and on how we perceive and attempt to resolve these challenges. The first tranche of six authors has been accepted onto the programme and matched with a mentor from the editorial team who will coach them as they develop their paper. When papers are ready for review, they will be subject to the usual double anonymous peer review process, and published only if they meet the academic standards of the journal. We are also instituting two awards for the best annual research article and best intervention from an early career researcher in the Global South and diaspora.
Access to high-quality scientific research is another essential part of rebalancing the relationship between the Global North and South. To this end, we are proud to be one of the many publishers that make their books and journals freely available to institutions in lower-income countries via Research4Life.
Creating a path to equitable open access publishing is another important step towards equalising the relationship between research communities in the Global North and South. A well-known drawback of the current author pays/Gold OA model is that its benefits are often limited to authors based in wealthier countries who can afford to pay Article Processing Charges (APCs). Our journals address this disparity by waiving APCs for first authors based in low-income countries. We are also participating in several initiatives geared towards making more of our books open access taking part in an innovative community-funding scheme to flip the Global Social Challenges Journal to a diamond open access model, whereby articles will be published with no fees to either reader or author.
We are proud to be taking part in the transition to a more just research ecosystem, one that welcomes diverse voices and perspectives to build a fairer world.
Find out more about the Africa Charter.
Read the fully Open Access Global Social Challenges Journal on Bristol University Press Digital.
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