TY - JOUR
T1 - Profiling African Health Journals
T2 - A Bibliometric Study
AU - Ogunfolaji, Oloruntoba
AU - Tangmi, Adrien
AU - Dada, Olaoluwa Ezekiel
AU - Sebopelo, Lorraine Arabang
AU - Sichimba, Dawin
AU - Djoutsop, Olga M.
AU - Ghaith, Hazem S.
AU - Cheserem, Jebet Beverly
AU - Negida, Ahmed
AU - Abu-Bonsrah, Nancy
AU - Kanmounye, Ulrick Sidney
AU - Esene, Ignatius
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Ogunfolaji, Tangmi, Dada, Sebopelo, Sichimba, Djoutsop, Ghaith, Cheserem, Negida, Abu-Bonsrah, Kanmounye and Esene.
PY - 2022/11/10
Y1 - 2022/11/10
N2 - Objectives: This study aimed to map out African health journals using publicly-available information on major databases. Methods: The authors searched the African Journals Online Library (AJOL) and Scientific Journal Rankings (SJR) databases from their inception in 1998 and 1996 respectively to 17 October 2020, and identified African health journals. The authors extracted data on journal scope, PubMed indexation, open-access status, publishing fees, Journal Publishing Practices and Standards rating and bibliometrics. The data were compared with health journals from other regions using the Chi-square test and odds ratio. Results: AJOL had 173 health journals registered on its database. One hundred (57.8%) journals were actively publishing. Fifty-seven (32.9%) had a 1-star Journal Publishing Practices and Standards rating and 4 (2.3%) had 2-star ratings. 112 (64.7%) had no star rating. The journal scope spanned all aspects of health. Few health journals were PubMed (n = 20) or SJR (n = 22) indexed. On average, African journals had lower total publications (median [IQR]: 52.0 [29.0–74.8] vs. 140.0 [75.8–272.5]), total references (55.0 [19.5–74.8] vs. 160.0 [42.0–519.8]), and H-index (12.2 [5.0–14.0] vs. 39.1 [10.0–53.0]) (P=0.01) compared to other regions. Conclusion: African health journals face unique challenges that require targeted interventions.
AB - Objectives: This study aimed to map out African health journals using publicly-available information on major databases. Methods: The authors searched the African Journals Online Library (AJOL) and Scientific Journal Rankings (SJR) databases from their inception in 1998 and 1996 respectively to 17 October 2020, and identified African health journals. The authors extracted data on journal scope, PubMed indexation, open-access status, publishing fees, Journal Publishing Practices and Standards rating and bibliometrics. The data were compared with health journals from other regions using the Chi-square test and odds ratio. Results: AJOL had 173 health journals registered on its database. One hundred (57.8%) journals were actively publishing. Fifty-seven (32.9%) had a 1-star Journal Publishing Practices and Standards rating and 4 (2.3%) had 2-star ratings. 112 (64.7%) had no star rating. The journal scope spanned all aspects of health. Few health journals were PubMed (n = 20) or SJR (n = 22) indexed. On average, African journals had lower total publications (median [IQR]: 52.0 [29.0–74.8] vs. 140.0 [75.8–272.5]), total references (55.0 [19.5–74.8] vs. 160.0 [42.0–519.8]), and H-index (12.2 [5.0–14.0] vs. 39.1 [10.0–53.0]) (P=0.01) compared to other regions. Conclusion: African health journals face unique challenges that require targeted interventions.
KW - Africa
KW - African health
KW - PubMed
KW - PubMed indexation
KW - bibliometric study
KW - journal scope
KW - open-access
KW - research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85142536209&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/ijph.2022.1604932
DO - 10.3389/ijph.2022.1604932
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85142536209
SN - 1661-8556
VL - 67
JO - International Journal of Public Health
JF - International Journal of Public Health
M1 - 1604932
ER -
