Open Journal Systems (OJS) is free and open source software for managing the entire researcher-to-reader workflow for submission, peer review and production of scholarly journals. It is the most widely used scholarly publishing platform in EIFL partner countries and worldwide.

Teresa Hackett, Manager of the EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme, reports from Geneva where she joined advocates for copyright law reform promoting the adoption of modern copyright laws that maximize access to knowledge. She attended two events: the launch of the new Centre on Knowledge Governance and the 47th session of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights.

A new player in Geneva - Centre on Knowledge Governance 

EIFL, AJOL (African Journals Online) and WACREN (the West and Central African Research and Education Network) take pleasure in announcing the award of 16 more grants that will strengthen the quality and sustainability of no-fee (Diamond) open access journals and journal hosting platforms across Africa. 

The grants were awarded to 16 projects aimed at strengthening over a hundred no-fee open access journals and platforms in nine countries (Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo and Tunisia).

Researchers are invited to join this webinar that explores the future of scholarly communication by bringing together perspectives from Africa, Europe and Latin America to examine how Diamond open access can contribute to a more equitable and community-driven scholarly publishing ecosystem. 

This EIFL webinar for journal editors, publishers, librarians and others involved in DOI registration will show how providing comprehensive metadata when registering DOIs for research output supports indexing, citation tracking and interoperability with scholarly databases. 

Iryna Kuchma, EIFL Open Access Programme Manager, will speak at the International Conference: The library shaping tomorrow, organized by EIFL’s partner, The State Scientific and Technical Library of Ukraine (SSTL), to celebrate its 90th anniversary. 

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana has initiated a project that aims to enhance the sustainability, quality and functionality of its official journal, the Journal of Science and Technology. 

A Diamond open access journal, the Journal of Science and Technology (JUST),  mainly publishes articles resulting from original research in different aspects of science (physical, biological and chemical), the humanities and technology. 

The Ghana Library Authority has initiated a project aiming to transform the Ghana Library Journal into a more robust, visible, and sustainable Diamond open access journal serving the academic community in Ghana and beyond.

The Ghana Library Journal publishes research for librarians, library administrators, information scientists, academics, educators and students with an interest in Librarianship and Information Science.

EIFL has renewed its agreement with SAGE Publishing for access to and publishing in SAGE journals for a further three years, until December 2028.

Free access

Under the renewed agreement, libraries in 11 EIFL countries can get free access to the SAGE Premier collection of over 935 leading international peer-reviewed journals:

• Armenia, Congo DR, Ethiopia, Georgia, Myanmar, Palestine, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Ukraine,  Zambia

Discounted access

Join the EIFL online meet-up of open science trainers, which will discuss a checklist for organizing a successful hybrid event. There will also be time to discuss your open science training plans and challenges. 

• Date and time: 20 January, 9:00 UTC
• Registration: Please register here to participate in the meet-up

EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme Manager, Ramune Petuchovaite, will join the African Public and Community Libraries Virtual Summit, organized by the African Library and Information Association and Institutions (AfLIA).

The EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) has released two new 'Small Bites' training videos for public librarians and public library trainers on the topic, Library project development. Both videos focus on writing project reports for donors, and may also be useful for other kinds of libraries that have implemented projects and are writing reports. 

EIFL’s partner library consortium in Malawi, the Malawi Library and Information Consortium (MALICO) and EIFL have organized an online meeting for MALICO member institutions and partners to learn how to update and register ROR IDs. 

Public librarians who have completed training-of-trainers programmes organized by the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme (EIFL-PLIP) team and partners in Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Uganda and Zambia are invited to attend this informal knowledge-sharing event, the final T-break for 2025.

Iryna Kuchma, EIFL Open Access Programme Manager, will speak about benefits and opportunities of the EIFL Open Access Programme for member institutions of the Consortium des Bibliothèques de l‘Enseignement Supérieur de Cote d‘Ivoire (COBES-CI). The event is organized by EIFL's partner, COBES-CI and Université Virtuelle de Côte d'Ivoire.

Milica Ševkušić, EIFL Open Access Programme Project Coordinator, will be among facilitators of the 8th OpenAIRE Open Science Train-the-Trainer Bootcamp. 

Ramune Petuçhovaite, EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme Manager, will attend the 12th Baltic Librarians’ Congress (CoBaL).

The Congress of Baltic Librarians, organized by librarians from the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), is held every five years.  The 2025 Congress will focus on the role of libraries in strengthening literacy in society.

Hawassa University in Ethiopia has initiated a project that aims to enhance the quality and sustainability of five journals: Hawassa University Journal of Law, the Journal of Science and Development, the East African Journal of Biophysical and Computational Science, the ETIOINQUIRY Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities and the Journal of Forestry and Natural Resources. 

The five journals are Diamond open access journals published by the university. 

EIFL’s Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager, Teresa Hackett, will attend two events in Geneva: the launch celebration of the Centre on Knowledge Governance and the 47th session of WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights.

The mission of the Centre on Knowledge Governance is to promote justice and sustainable development in policy-making institutions that govern access to and use of information, such as WIPO, WHO and WTO.

Join us for the EIFL online meet-up of open science trainers, which will address a range of topics, including hybrid events as a training format and a checklist for organizing a successful hybrid event; using OpenAlex, and the acceptability of the use of AI (artificial intelligence) in academic writing among students. There will also be time to discuss open science training plans.