Type of Review: Annual Review
Project Title: Programme for the Enhancement of Research
Information 2 (PERii)
Date started: 1/6/08
Date review undertaken: 19/6/12 – 13/7/12
Instructions to help complete this template:
Before commencing the annual review you should have to hand:
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the Business Case or earlier project documentation.
the Logframe
the detailed guidance (How to Note)- Reviewing and Scoring Projects
the most recent annual review (where appropriate) and other related monitoring reports
key data from ARIES, including the risk rating
the separate project scoring calculation sheet (pending access to ARIES)
You should assess and rate the individual outputs using the following rating scale and
description. ARIES and the separate project scoring calculation sheet will calculate the overall
output score taking account of the weightings and individual outputs scores:
Description
Outputs substantially exceeded expectation
Outputs moderately exceeded expectation
Outputs met expectation
Outputs moderately did not meet expectation
Outputs substantially did not meet expectation
Scale
A++
A+
A
B
C
Introduction and Context
What support is the UK providing?
The Programme for the Enhancement of Research Information (PERii), primarily focuses on
making research publications available and accessible to those in the South. It works with partners
globally to:
Ensure developing and emerging countries are part of international knowledge networks
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• Support is given to researchers in developing and emerging countries to write, publish and
communicate their research findings nationally and internationally, so their work can have
maximum impact and they can take their place in the global research community.
• No matter where they are, researchers in developing and emerging countries must have access to
the same research as their international peers. PERii builds relationships between countries
and publishers to ensure affordable, sustainable subscriptions to online resources from across
the globe.
strengthen the skills of individuals working in the research communication cycle
• Training and supporting researchers, journal editors and publishers, librarians and ICT professionals
to make the most of technological and online opportunities for research communication.
• Trainees go on to train their peers, extending the programme’s reach and enhancing the capacity
of the research community.
• Facilitating the exchange of experience and skills through publication, networking and mentoring,
ensuring that lessons learned in one country can be capitalised on in others.
work to improve the technology that helps communicate research
• It is important that research systems in developing and emerging countries make use of appropriate
computing and software innovations.
• PERii enables people to research, make available, and get the best out of research communications
technologies.
DFID, Sida (Swedish Development Agency) and Norad (Norwegian Development Agency) jointly
fund the INASP (International Network of Scientific Publications) to manage and implement the PERii
programme.
What are the expected results?
The programme aims to improve the uptake, influence and use of research in the
development of national and international policies on poverty reduction. The programme aims
to directly achieve the following results:
1. To enhance the capacity of those who make research accessible (such as editors and
publishers, librarians and Information and communication technology professionals) and
also to support researchers to have better access to research and to use and
communicate research content.
2. Enhanced real and virtual networks of people and systems – through increased and
sustainable availability of information and knowledge required to enable high quality
research; Heightened awareness of and engagement in the building of sustainable
country owned systems, peer-to-peer processes and international networks and
integration into organisational and institutional policy of research information,
knowledge, systems and networks
3. Enhanced policy and practice, through the provision of analytical case studies and
best practice.
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What is the context in which UK support is provided?
Unless the research DFID funds is made available, accessible and useful the investment
becomes almost a worthless investment. There are many ways of enhancing the
usability of research but a fundamental requirement is that it should be available to
those who can use it and can act on it. Functioning research and knowledge systems
are essential for sustainable development and growth. They lay the foundations for
countries to take control of their own development agendas and to find effective local
solutions to the problems of poverty alleviation and sustainable development.
Strengthening the research and knowledge system is complex, but an essential step is to
strengthen the availability, access and use of international research by researchers and
policy intermediaries in developing countries and the availability, dissemination and access of
research outputs from researchers in those countries. Ways for doing this include
supporting the staff in these systems, including researchers, librarians and Information
technology experts, to improve efficiency and effectiveness; supporting the quality
production and dissemination of locally produced research; providing better and
sustained access to research information. DFID works with a range of these
intermediary organisations to strengthen and develop research information systems.
Section A: Detailed Output Scoring
Output 1: Capacity of editors and publishers to disseminate national research content via international
databases and Journals Online platforms (JOLs).
Output 1 score and performance description:
A++ outputs substantially met expectation
Progress against expected results:
This output has been awarded an A++ as the milestone has been substantially exceeded. The
milestone was considered ambitious, but the approach implemented by PERii has proven to be
far more successful than anticipated. Some countries have reached near saturation point in making
these journals accessible, that is they have made all of those that exist available online.
The indicator is - Inclusion of national journals in international databases and JOL index size. The
milestone to reach by 2011, is a 20% increase in JOL index size [JOL index size = 675 titles (246 Asia,
12 Latin America, 417 Africa)] from 2009, but 50% was reached. 90% sample of 10 random articles
(from 10 different titles) published in 2011, were available through Google Scholar.
Citations of research from developing & emerging countries – citations per document from a sample of
countries using SCImago (2010, single year period); Bangladesh 0.74, Bolivia 1.65, Cuba 0.62, Kenya
1.86, Malawi 1.92, Nicaragua 1.33, Pakistan 0.7, Rwanda 1.17, Tanzania 1.72.
Cites per document grow with time, so figures for a single recent year will be lower than for a fixed
older period. The purpose of providing these figures is to see the relative cites per document between
countries over the time period reported on. More meaningful data will be available at the end of 2012
when analysis is undertaken to look at cites per document over a period of 4 years. The hypothesis is
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that increased visibility of publications from target countries will lead to increased citation rates.
There are details from more countries and more detailed analysis of research productivity and
citation patterns in a selection of countries participating in PERii and a range of control countries in the
research report: A study of Latin American countries supported by INASP 1996-2008, Dr Ricardo
Arencibia-Jorge, INASP, 2010 [ http://www.inasp.info/bibliometrics ]
Additional research productivity analysis for Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan and Bangladesh is also
included in the country profiles prepared as part of the Research Environment Study published by
INASP and RIN. See: http://www.inasp.info/research-environment-study
Recommendations:
This phase of PERii has dealt very well with issues of visibility and accessibility of on-line journals.
The next phase should address issues of sustainability (in access) and quality of the journals.
Impact Weighting (%): 15
Revised since last Annual Review? Y (note the impact weightings have all been revised due to the
programme logframe being amended to meet the new DFID requirement on logframes. In
practice the weightings for the output remain the same)
Risk: Low: because the range (types and numbers) of partners is high, then overall there is a low
level of risk associated with this output, even if impact of the risk in any one case is potentially high.
Revised since last Annual Review? N
Output 2: Capacity of librarians & ICT professionals to facilitate access to & use of research
content.
Output 2 score and performance description:
A+ - outputs moderately exceeded expectation
Progress against expected results:
The capacity of librarians and ICT professionals is very variable across and within countries, so it is
quite difficult to measure this result as a whole.
98% (2011) and 93% (2011).of respondents in a relatively small sample state they have used the
training that was provided by librarians for accessing research content. This compares to targets of 65
and 70% for the respective years. In this respect the milestones have been achieved, however, the
programme should review the relevance of these. For example, should the programme be assessing
use through observation, rather than asking questions to the respondent about use.
The second milestone, usage of institutional online scholarly literature collections for which training
has been provided to end user, has far exceeded expectations. The programme has seen, in
2011, 190% increase in full text downloads as a result of PERii facilitating better access.
Recommendations:
The team noted that this might not be the most appropriate measure as the capacity is so
variable as a starting point within and between sections of the target communities. Some
differentiation of more advanced/least advanced institutional representatives and between
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different target groups (librarians, ICT network technicians, etc.) should be undertaken in future.
Despite over achieving on the milestones, the team feel that more work is needed in this area. It is
evident that Librarians might not always be the best placed people to train researchers.
Impact Weighting (%): 15
Revised since last Annual Review? Y (see note under output 1)
Risk: Low: because the range (types and numbers) of partners is high, then overall there is a low
level of risk associated with this output, even if impact of the risk in any one case is potentially high.
Revised since last Annual Review? N
Output 3: Researchers ability to access, use & communicate research content.
Output 3 score and performance description:
A – the outputs met expectation
Progress against expected results:
This output has been given an A because the output has been very successful in some areas
((access and use – indicated in the usage of research content). A lower level of success has
been achieved in the area of communicating research publications to other researchers and at
another level (communicating to policy makers) then the success has been lower, as the
programme has not targeted this enough and its generally difficult.
The first indicator, Publication rates for articles in peer reviewed journals by researchers based
on target countries, has been achieved. There is a question, however, as to how much of this
achievement is attributable to PERii as a direct result of the AuthorAID programme (which
provides direct support to researchers to write for publication). The publication of
bibliometrical research from target country researchers has been exceeded in some cases:
Bangladesh 2,066 (+100%); Kenya 1,472 (+49%); Malawi 202 (+59%); Pakistan 6,985 (+124%)
(data source: Research Environment Study. A series of reports on Kenya, Malawi, Pakistan and
Bangladesh undertaken by the Research Information Network on behalf of the International
Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications http://www.inasp.info/researchenvironment-study)
The second indicator, Communication of research outputs (originating in targeted countries) via
national & international media, is measured through case studies and these targets have been
achieved. Again, there is a question as to the relevance of this indicator to what PERii is trying
to achieve and whether any increase in communication of research outputs can be attributed to
PERii.
 Six case studies that examine research/media and researcher/journalist interaction in
developing countries are available through PANOS
 Promoting Research Communication – Panos Eastern Africa’s experience
 http://panosrelay.org.uk/wp-content/static/2012/01/Promoting-Research-CommunicationPanos-Eastern-Africas-Experience-Paper.pdf
 Barriers to effective health journalism
 http://panosrelay.org.uk/wp-content/static/2011/08/Vincent-R-rf.pdf
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Reporting research on tax and governance in Kenya
http://panos.org.uk/wp-content/files/2011/01/Panos-London_Reporting-tax-case_studyweb.pdf
A journalist’s guide to reporting research findings
http://panos.org.uk/wp-content/files/2011/06/A-journalists-guide-to-reporting-researchfindings.pdf
Research makes the news: Strengthening media engagement with research to influence
policy (four case studies, two from INASP partner countries)
http://panosrelay.org.uk/wp-content/static/Research_makes_the_news_final1.pdf
Recommendations:
The indicators need amending to reflect achievements through the AuthorAID programme, for
example, is it possible to measure the increase (or not) in researchers publishing rates to being
mentored through the AuthorAID programme. The relevance of the second indicator needs
addressing. The output needs to be more specific to the PERii programme and what it is trying
to achieve, which is really about supporting researchers to publish, rather than to
communicate. Hence, the programme should consider how the ‘communicate’ part of this
indicator could be addressed by other organisations or programmes (such as DFID supported
GDNet or Mobilising Knowledge for Development).
Revision of the indicators to more easily differentiate between access, use and communicate (and
in particular differentiate communicate on the basis of “to whom” – other researchers or policy
makers).
Impact Weighting (%): 15
Revised since last Annual Review? Y (see note under output 1)
Risk: Medium: whilst there are challenges with incentives and motivations to undertake
research in many places, the range (types and numbers) of partners is high, then overall there is a low
level of risk associated with this output, even if impact of the risk in any one case is potentially
high.
Revised since last Annual Review? N
Output 4: Policy makers and influencers ability to access and use research content.
Output 4 score and performance description:
A – the outputs met expectation
Progress against expected results:
The milestone is that Policy makers and influencers from at least 10 partner countries report:
knowledge of reliable sources; ability to search online for information; and ability to judge quality
relevance and bias of information following INASP training. The target was to train 200, but 406
were trained. Of those surveyed following their training, 85% (n=239) reported an increase in their
capacity that would change the way that they worked. No discernible difference on response
based on gender.
This output aims to build the capacity of policy makers to take up and use timely, relevant and
credible research in their policy making. Key achievements in 2011 included:
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• 156 policy makers and influencers from across Africa have attended training in Information
Literacy to enhance their skills in finding and using research information. These include civil
servants, legislators, parliamentary staff and journalists
• 25 master trainers from across Africa took part in a pedagogy programme (including a one
week intensive workshop) to build their skills in delivering training to policy makers in how to
access and use research. In a follow-on event, 35 staff from the Nigerian Council for
Technology Management were also trained in pedagogy skills
• 20 parliamentary staff from 8 African countries attended training on Writing Health Policy Briefings
(run in collaboration with EVIPnet at the WHO)
• 65 parliamentary and government staff from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Ghana have attended training in
writing policy briefs
• 18 parliamentary staff from nine African countries attended a one-day effective communication
workshop
• Needs assessment on communication strategies of five African ICT research networks carried out;
15 researchers from these networks attended a four day training workshop on communicating
for policy influence; each of the five networks is now receiving mentoring support on aspects
of communication
• 21 participants from government and civil society groups attended a one day training workshop on
developing a strategy to link health research and policy making in Kenya
• 5 members of the Ethiopian Academy of Science attended a two day workshop to develop
their communication strategy
• 23 stakeholders from parliaments, government bodies, CSOs and academia met for a three day EIPM
steering committee meeting in Nairobi to reflect on the EIPM programme so far and make future
plans
• Two participants from the Training of Trainer programme have set up the Zimbabwe EvidenceInformed Policy Making Network which aims to coordinate future capacity building activities
• Ten grants of $5000 awarded to support research into evidence-informed policy making. Research
will have a particular focus on the capacity and motivation of policy makers to use research
evidence
Recommendations:
This is a new area for PERii and there is recognition that the potential to achieve here is vast. It is an
important area as it brings together an important user of research – the policy decision maker.
The training achieved so far minute compared to the scale of the problem. The demand for such
training is immense and the scale of the problem, in terms of current understanding and use of
research is also vast. Bringing this component into the PERii programme has enabled it to
focus on actual use of research information, not only availability and accessibility. There is a
major risk which has been identified, that the incentives are currently not in place that
encourage policy makers to use research evidence. Need to carefully monitor how this may
affect achievement of this output (as the output emphasises use).
There is a strong demand for this work, so PERii should consider how to scale-up this component of
the programme in its next phase.
Impact Weighting (%): 15
Revised since last Annual Review? Y (see note under output 1)
Risk: High policy makers in many instances do not have sufficient incentives to adopt research
evidence.
Revised since last Annual Review? N
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Output 5: Southern partners' capacity to monitor, evaluate and revise their training and
capacity development activities using appropriate tools and approaches
Output 5 score and performance description:
A – the outputs met expectation
Progress against expected results:
The facilitators in institutions have improved and they are gradually taking on the roles necessary to
monitor and evaluate the training and to revise the training on an on-going basis. They are gradually
taking on the role that PERii used to do. The milestones - production of at least five case studies on the
capacity of southern partners, have been achieved, as detailed below.
The impact of information retrieval skills training for nurses: a case study of KEN-AHILA/INASP course
in Nairobi, Kenya. Symphrose Ouma and Nasra Gathoni. Paper present to 12th Congress of the
Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA), Burkina Faso, 2010. See:
http://www.inasp.info/media/www/documents/2010-Presentation-Impact-IR-skills-training-for-nurses-inKenya.pdf
Library Study on the use of Databases in line with the PERii Program and evaluation of the impact of
PERI in the first phase of subscription of Electronic Resources. Ramírez et al (Nicaragua), April 2010.
See: http://cenida.una.edu.ni/PERI/pdf/bibliometrico/ingles.pdf
What works for you? The effective transfer of teaching methodologies in Tanzania, Dr Evans Wema,
INASP, 2010. See: http://www.inasp.info/media/www/documents/2010-What-works-for-you-Wemap.pdf
Seeing the Big Picture; Open Learning Exchange Rwanda strategy in promoting, monitoring and
evaluating e-resources in Rwanda, Jacques Murinda, 2011. See: http://www.inasp.info/seeing-the-bigpicture
M&E of E-Resources in Academic and Research Institutions in Kenya (Summary), Gathoni, N. et al,
2011. See: http://www.inasp.info/me-of-e-resources-in-kenya
The Impact of E-Resource Usage in Academic Research Institutions in Tanzania, Wema, E. Manda,
P, 2011. See: http://www.inasp.info/the-impact-of-e-resource-usage-in-academic-and-researchinstitutions-in-tanzania
Recommendations:
This is an area that will continue to need support, especially to enable staff to have the
skills and confidence to adapt and modify training to suit their needs.
Impact Weighting (%): 5
Revised since last Annual Review? Y (see note under output 1)
Risk: Low - core capacity of programme and partners and central to previous work and integrated
into all activities, so difficult to isolate and ignore.
Revised since last Annual Review? N
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Output 6: Availability of information & knowledge required to enable high quality
research that is provided by physical & virtual networks of people & systems from within target
countries.
Output 6 score and performance description:
A++ - the outputs substantially exceeded expectation
Progress against expected results:
This output has achieved the milestones set for the end of 2012. The main reason for awarding this an
A++ is that by the end of 2012, the source of subscription costs payments for peer-reviewed
international & national journals in target countries should have reached 95%. In 2011 99% of
subscription costs were paid for by partner country consortia using locally raised or managed
funds. Total value of all subscriptions paid for under the programme = US$1,946,358.
PERii contribution = 1%; Self-funded by consortia using donor funding locally held 39% (of which 6%
payment in advance of 2012 subscriptions); Self-funded by consortium members 60%; Direct
publisher invoicing (negotiated by INASP) 0.38%
There are two further indicators under this output, both of which have been achieved or substantially
achieved.
Availability of journals
Overall, the target is to achieve a 90-100% overlap in the choice of peer-reviewed international &
national journals in target countries, that is comparable to that available in the rest of world. The
programme has achieved 85-100% depending on subject area.
The total number of available full text items, journals, books or reports available through PERii to
partner countries in 2010 was 35,606, an increase of 3,743 from 31,863 in 2009.
“Researchers in sub-Saharan Africa commonly highlight poor journal access as a serious
hindrance to their academic work, but thanks to partnerships between librarians, publishers and a
number of access initiatives, the four universities studied had 79% of the top 20 journals across 15
subject areas in 2009. But while availability and electronic access is improving dramatically in many
universities, actual usage amongst staff and students does not appear to be keeping pace.” From
“Growing knowledge: access to research in east and southern African universities, Jonathan Harle,
Association of Commonwealth Universities, October 2010. [
http://www.acu.ac.uk/publication/download?id=291 ].
See also: Academics slow to use online journals, SciDev.net, 9 December 2010 [
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/african-academics-slow-to-use-online-journals-.html ] and Publications
available but not accessed, University World News, 28 November 2010 [
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20101127113225107 ]
A revised and updated research paper by INASP and the ACU on the availability of journals in subSaharan Africa is under revision after initial comments following submission for publication in PLOS
One. It is hoped that this will be accepted for publication in 2012.
JOLs
The other indicator measures the nationally published research available via Journals Online Services
that are managed and maintained locally in partner countries. The target is 4 by the end of 2012. 3
services are already available:
AJOL = stable availability throughout 2011, although one period of extended downtime of server.
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Hosting and reliability issues addressed with AJOL and hosting provider changed.
VJOL = variable availability during 2011 but some concerns with content updating not being
undertaken as required. Discussion with local partners to address concerns and provide assistance as
required. Concerns about local management capacity.
PhilJOL = variable availability after transfer in April due to server maintenance and security
issues. Discussion with local partners to address concerns. Improving availability.
Recommendations:
The achievements under this output are good. For the subscriptions and the availability of journals,
PERii has almost reached saturation point in the countries in which it is working. There is little more
that can be done to support these countries if the availability and cost has almost reached 100%.
However, there is continued need to support the capacity building element of the programme. PERii to
outline further areas of capacity support that are needed in a new funding proposal to DFID, Sida and
Norad.
DFID, Sida and Norad to have discussions on how to improve the reporting, monitoring and evaluation
of the programme to improve value for money in managing the programme. For example, through
holding joint annual reviews, joint evaluations and streamlining reporting processes.
Impact Weighting (%): 15
Revised since last Annual Review? Y (see note under output 1)
Risk: Low: INASP engaged with publishing partners via Publishers for Development and has
significant influence in this area.
Revised since last Annual Review? N
Output 7: Engagement in the building of sustainable country owned systems, peer-topeer processes & international networks from people in target countries.
Output 7 score and performance description:
A+ - Outputs moderately exceeded expectation
Progress against expected results:
An A+ has been awarded as the milestones for 2012 were achieved in 2011.
Institutional policies & practice that support staff to engage in research communication work &
networks.
The target is for five new case studies published in 2011 – the following have been produced:
A Group Effort: Using regional and in-country expertise to ensure top-quality access to PERii
resources, INASP, 2011. See: http://www.inasp.info/a-group-effort-the-ccwg
Peer Approved: AuthorAID writing workshop helps improve research publication at the National
University of Rwanda (NUR), INASP, 2011. See: http://www.inasp.info/peer-approved
The Zimbabwean Institutional Repositories: Facilitators and barriers to implementation, Esther
Nyambi, 2011. See: http://www.inasp.info/zimbabwean-institutional-repositories
Research in the Palm of Your Hand: Cambridge University Press’ low bandwidth mobile access point
CJOm, 2011. See: http://www.pubs-for-dev.info/publications/case-studies/
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Preparing for Publication: Taylor and Francis / Routledge contribute to publishing workshop in
Cameroon, Janet Remmington, 2011. See: http://www.pubs-for-dev.info/publications/case-studies/
By end of 2011, the target is to see at least 100 men and 100 women researchers/ research
intermediaries newly active in national & international networks. There are 52 named individuals
[60% M, 40% F] supported to engage in national or international networks via direct programme
support. There are a further 200+ individuals engaging in national or international events (workshops,
meetings or conferences) for the first time in 2011, particularly drawn from the EIPM (evidence
informed policy making) programme area as new partners have been engaged for the first time.
Gender breakdown assumed to represent the average of all activities (59% M, 41% F, n=2,546 people
in all INASP supported events in 2011).
Examples of the new network engagement
Two librarians (one from Kenya and one from Malawi) sponsored to attend ICADLA-2 (2nd
International Conference on African Digital Libraries and Archives), University of the Witwatersrand,
South Africa. Conference theme "Developing National and Institutional Digitization Strategies".
Two librarians (one from Kenya and one from Ghana) sponsored to attend 14th International
Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations, Cape Town, South Africa. Ghanan
participant won "Best Paper Presentation", plus "Best poster" (with co-author).
Ten new institutional members joined the Vietnam national e-resources consortium following a one-day
workshop and annual meeting in September facilitated and supported by INASP.
Twelve new institutional members joined Vietnamese Economics Consortium (launched in December
2010), and now has 29 member institutions.
Membership of the Tanzanian library consortium COTUL grew to 40 paid up members in 2011
Three Country Coordinators from Bolivia, Honduras and Nicaragua shared a panel at the IFLA satellite
pre-conference in Guatemala on “Library Collaboration”.
Recommendations:
The output is on track.
The indicator for output 7 does not provided a measure of sustainable country owned
systems, which is really a higher level objective as the programme cannot be held
accountable for whether or not this is achieved. It is recommended that the evaluation
should include a focus on the extent to which this has been achieved.
Impact Weighting (%): 10
Revised since last Annual Review? Y (see note under output 1)
Risk: Low: because the range (types and numbers) of partners is high, then overall there is a low
level of risk associated with this output, even if impact of the risk in any one case is potentially high.
Revised since last Annual Review? N
Output 8: Policy & practice of research information, knowledge, systems & networks
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demonstrating integration into organisational & institutional policy and planning.
Output 8 score and performance description:
A – outputs met expectation
Progress against expected results:
The potential scale of this output is massive as the programme hasn’t defined any organisations. The
measures for this output are about documenting intent, rather than actually seeing any physical
changes or identifying ways to measure institutional change.
The target was to reach 80% of sampled institutions stating their organisational capacity had improved
as a result of improved policies. In 2011, 100% of 5 surveyed institutions in Nicaragua and Honduras
reported enhanced capacity following programme and policy development.
During 2011 five institutions in Nicaragua and Honduras were visited or surveyed to investigate their
organisational capacity following engagement with PERii over the preceding three years. 100% of the
institutions reported some degree of enhanced capacity and in many areas this was easily
demonstrated and clearly visible. Increase organisational capacity included:
 Improved library policies, services and infrastructure
 Increased skills and confidence of service delivery of librarians
 Increased awareness off, access to and usage of electronic journals and databases by
researchers
 Clearer support and policy integration of research communications within institutional
strategy
Another indicator asks for examples of new institutional policies to improve research information
& communication and the final asks for examples of pilots/case studies/best practice documents or
systems shared via Open Access publications. Both targets have been achieved or are on track to
achieve by 2012.
Selected examples – institutions’ policies
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana) has a mandatory submission policy
for all university members (students, researchers and faculty staff) to deposit their research work,
including conference papers, lecture notes and anything of academic and research use into the
institutional repository. See http://www.knust.edu.gh/downloads/49/49054.pdf
A national plan and standards recommendation has been agreed in Cuba for all libraries under the
aegis of the Higher Education Ministry to adopt the open source ABCD library management system in
conjunction with the use of the international MARC standard. See:
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1941459&show=pdf
Strathmore University (Kenya) adopted an Open Access policy for inclusion of all research outputs by
all members of staff in their institutional repository. The policy is mandated by the Vice Chancellor’s
Office. See: http://www.eprints.org/openaccess/policysignup/fullinfo.php?inst=Library
Kenya Methodist University Library implemented an information literacy policy that will introduce
information literacy into the curriculum of all programmes at the University.
Cambridge University Press adapted their mobile interface design as a low-bandwidth desktop entry
portal as a result of attending the 2010 PfD conference. See http://pubs-for-dev.info/wpcontent/uploads/2011/05/2011-00-CJOm-Research-in-the-Palm-of-Your-Hand.pdf
Zimbabwe Economic Policy Analysis Research Unit publications policy changed to prioritise a regular
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"ZEPARU National Economic Barometer" publication for distribution to key economic ministries as a
policy advisory and information service. See http://www.zeparu.co.zw/
Daffodil International University (Bangladesh) has a mandatory online information literacy training
requirement for all final year students to ensure their preparation for the final year research projects.
The policy is supported and championed by the Vice Chancellor.
Published examples of best practice or case studies
Rebirth of library and information science education in Ethiopia: retrospectives and prospectives
(Yared Mammo, Haramaya University, Ethiopia) International Information & Library Review 43, 2011,
110-120. See: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057231711000233
Rethinking information ethics education in Ghana: Is it adequate? Perpetua S. Dadzie International
Information & Library Review, 43 (2), June 2011, 63–69. See:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057231711000221
Information literacy competency of freshman business students of a private university in
Bangladesh. Md. Zahid Hossain Shoeb Library Review, Vol. 60 (9), 2011, 762 – 772. See:
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1955868
2011 World Library and Information Conference: 77th IFLA General Conference and Assembly:
- Burnett, P. & Belcher, M. Building Capacity: Lessons learnt from an intensive online health
information training programme in Vietnam.
http://conference.ifla.org/sites/default/files/files/papers/ifla77/162-burnett-en.pdf
- Belcher, M., Burnett, P. & Gwynn, S. Widening Access to Serials in the Developing World: The
role and philosophy of INASP. http://conference.ifla.org/sites/default/files/files/papers/ifla77/164belcher-en.pdf
- Burnett, P. Overcoming the Barriers to Accessing Research Collections in the Developing World: An
international collaborative approach. http://conference.ifla.org/sites/default/files/files/papers/ifla77/113burnett-en.pdf
Newman K, Belcher M and Gwynn S. Assessing and supporting human capital for evidence-informed
policy making: Reflections from experiences in Africa. Presented at the third International Conference
on Intellectual Capital Management, Iran, October 2011 http://www.iicm.ir/en/PresentationPapers.aspx
Creating digital library collections in Malawi (Geoffrey Salanje, Bunda College of Agriculture,
University of Malawi) presented at International Conference on African Digital Libraries and Archives
(ICADLA-2) conference. See: http://www.slideshare.net/JohannesPhaladi/salanje-geoffreypresentation-2
Institutional repositories for open access: the Ghanaian experience (Abednego Corletey, KNUST,
Ghana) presented at 14th International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations. See:
http://dl.cs.uct.ac.za/conferences/etd2011/papers/etd2011_corletey.pdf
Building Institutional Repositories in KLISC member Institutions in Kenya: current status and
emerging Challenges (Rosemary Otando, University of Nairobi, Kenya) presented at 14th International
Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations. See:
http://dl.cs.uct.ac.za/conferences/etd2011/papers/etd2011_otando.pdf
Recommendations:
The PERii programme is in its final year (ends March 2013). It would be useful to identify a new
indicator that attempts to measure the level of institutional change as a result of PERii activities.
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Impact Weighting (%): 10
Revised since last Annual Review? Y (see note under output 1)
Risk: Low: because the range (types and numbers) of partners is high, then overall there is a low
level of risk associated with this output, even if impact of the risk in any one case is potentially high.
Revised since last Annual Review? N
If the project involves more than 4 Outputs please copy the box above and
paste below.
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Section B: Results and Value for Money.
1. Progress and results
1.1 Has the logframe been updated since last review? Y
The logframe has been updated to meet the new DFID requirements for logframes. In
the process of updating the logframe wording has changed slightly at the goal and
purpose to fit the new structure of outcome and impact.
The previous 3 outputs have been increased to 8 outputs and associated re-grouping
of OVIs into different Outcome indicators. As part of this process, some of the previous
OVIs have been grouped into single Outcome indicators e.g. merging examples of
case studies and best practice across stakeholder groups into single indicator.
Re-working the input financial elements to reflect the changes to the outputs outlined
above.
1.2 Overall Output Score and Description:
A+ - Outputs moderately exceeded expectation. The programme has scored above
expectation due to the high results achieved in outputs one and six. The targets set were
realistic but the way PERii has worked with partners to negotiate publishing rates, to
provide access and to support (through training of trainers capacity programme) to
country coordinators has proven to be very successful. This is recognised in the
number of countries that are able to self-finance subscription fees.
1.3 Direct feedback from beneficiaries
According to Professor Atta-ur-Rahman (former Minister of Science and Technology and
former Minister for Information, Pakistan) (personal communication) in 2003 published research
from Pakistan was almost non-existent. As a result of PERii he believes that they are now in
the same league as Egypt and Malaysia in terms of publishing. Another direct beneficiary of
PERii considers the programme to be invaluable in terms of nurturing the research culture
and researcher careers. The training of trainers programme is excellent. This particular
country prefers to deal through PERii as they get a better rate, however, the publishers tend
to deal directly with the country. IN the future they hope to be able to negotiate their own
good rates.
The number and subject diversity of e-resources arranged/subscribed through PERii
has increased during the year and this led to the increased level of satisfaction by the
academic and research community. the resources have also developed their content
tremendously. this has led most institutions to embark on more training and promotion
activity (Nebyou Azanaw, Ethiopia County Coordinator, Annual Review 2011)
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1.4 Summary of overall progress
Overall the programme is performing well. This is evident in the following results and
impact stories:
 Training provided to 2700 researchers, academics, librarians and editors in over 750
institutions. of which 72% locally facilitated
 600 mentors supporting over 2800 mentees (early career academic authors)
 400 policy makers trained in using and assessing evidence for policy
 9.85 million downloads of full text articles from 676 titles through Journals Online (edited
and published in Africa, Asia and Latin America)
Some stories of impact:
Empowering women by reducing the ICT gender gap
Information and Communication Technologies have enormous potential to empower women,
however research suggests that they have less access than men. INASP carries out training
for university ICT staff on bandwidth management. It is typical that whilst women are
generally underrepresented in the field (CIT), when it comes to training they were often
excluded based on institutional decisions. INASP put together a technical training
workshop specifically for women technicians to help address this. By Building the
skills of female technical experts they increase the number of role models for young
women in the university.
Overcoming antimicrobial resistance with traditional remedies.
INASP support journals published in the south to make their material available to a global
audience. This means that local scientists are able to carry out research on local medicines
and disseminate the work to a global audience. For example, in 209 researchers form
the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh published a paper regarding two local herbal
remedies in the Journal of Scientific research – one of 81 journals made available on the
Bangladesh Journals Online platform (supported by PERii). Since that time, the full text
article has been downloaded 3149 times and has been cited in 10 further research
papers.
Improving health care by training health care professionals
IN Vietnam, excellent health care is available but access to that care is not evenly
distributed throughout the country. In particular rural and poorer communities face
barriers to access to the latest developments and services. INASP worked with a
network of health information librarians to develop a national network of skilled,
confident and effective trainers to train researcher and health care professionals in the
use of research evidence. The initial group of 22 master trainers went on to train over
1500 health researchers and practitioners throughout the country.
1.5 Key challenges
3.2.1 Motivation within policy-making institutions
In 2011, work within the evidence-informed policy making component of PERii continued to be
affected by the poor culture of learning and development within policy making institutions. In some
cases, staff members are motivated to attend workshops only by the per diems and there is
little appetite to continue learning within institutions once a workshop is over. Amongst more
senior staff and officials, corruption is rife in many countries and use of evidence seems to be a
fairly minor consideration in policy making decisions.
These problems are highly challenging and systemic, and clearly INASP is unlikely to change them.
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However, we will aim to mitigate their influence in a number of ways: identifying ‘champions’ (at both
junior and senior levels) and working with them; ensuring that participants for workshops are
chosen by a competitive process so that people feel that attendance is a reward not a right;
clarifying what participants will and won’t receive before they agree to attend any workshop
(including being clear about type of accommodation offered); and ensuring that plans for ongoing institutional training are included in any plan for workshops supported by INASP.
3.2.2 Sustainability of activities currently enabled via PERii
The 2010 Steering Committee meeting agreed that a simple definition of sustainability for all
areas addressed under PERii was in fact difficult. One key area where things were clearer is in relation
to access to e-resources and the information services around those, in that regard a definition
of sustainability would be “the ability to manage all aspects of e-resource licensing,
subscriptions, payments and effective service delivery from within the local community at an
institutional and national level.” Achieving this and moves towards full local management,
support and resourcing across all activities currently enabled by PERii remains a key focus of
INASP’s work:
Administration, management and implementation of training, e.g. 90% of workshops run by
country partners, 72% facilitated by local experts or an expert from within the immediate region
• Funding of journal subscriptions by country consortia, e.g. 60% of costs paid with locally held
and supplied funds, see Section 1.1
• Supported negotiation for journal subscriptions
• Loading of national research content into JOLs, e.g. 45% of NepJOL, 46% of SLJOL and 18%
of BanglaJOL journals loaded locally
• Transfer of Journals Online to country management, e.g. AJOL
However, it is not a simple picture and different components of PERii’s work progress at different
rates depending on context and capacity in the partner country, the complexity of the work
involved, and capacity within INASP and its activity partners.
For example, work on ensuring that international journal content is available to researchers has
had considerable success, and the quality and range of content available to researchers in Africa is
comparable to that of their peers in Europe28. The majority of this content is now self-funded
by consortia that have developed within the countries, many libraries now have the motivation, skills
and resources to run end-user training, and some direct negotiation for content is underway.
This has been achieved through partnerships with publishers and with libraries in developing
and emerging countries, and supported through aligned capacity development and training.
Whilst this has been much more successful than was envisaged at the beginning of PERI in
2000, it has also taken much more time to achieve in a way that could become country-owned and
independent of INASP.
In 2012 an approach to sustainability will be developed which will involve agreeing time-limited action
plans with in-country consortia and partners for selected programme areas, with regular
reviews and clarity of expectations for both INASP and their partners. This is not a new
approach and has been tried before – the difference this time is that we will employ sufficient
staff to be able to work closely with countries to agree something realistic and follow-up on it in
a timely manner.
This is no simple task and requires significant, systematic and persistent effort by both INASP and
their country and activity partners. Piloting of new models, e.g. if and how Journals Online
services can become self-sustaining, and development of mutually agreed pathways to that
sustainability should be a core focus the work going forwards.
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1.6 Annual Outcome Assessment
The outcome for the programme is to reach a position where, within targeted developing
countries, an enabling environment for research communication is owned & driven by a sustainable
local network of stakeholder partners. A review of Pakistan and Bangladesh Policy and
research commitments indicates the following:
Pakistan policy and research commitments (report extracts):
Pakistan government financial and policy support to universities and public research centres
increased budget allocation from Rs3.9 billion in 2001-02 to Rs21.7 billion in 2005-06, to Rs50.5
billion in 2008-9. Accompanying range of governmental policies to support the research sector,
including; Foreign PhD fellowships, Domestic PhD fellowships, Pakistan Education and
Research Network (PERN), National Digital Library (NDL), National Research Programme for
Universities (NRPU)
Bangladesh policy and research commitments:
National Science and Technology Policy (NSTP) was revised and latest version adopted in
November 2010. Some of the key areas this policy sets to address include:
- To place S&T as the basis for formulation of national development plan for economic and
cultural development
- To build a strong foundation for development, promotion and application of S&T for
sustainable prosperity
- To develop quality human resources, infrastructures and institutions for science and technology so
as to create a strong, creative, innovative and competitive nation in the world wide knowledgebased society National Science and Technology Policy
It is not possible to reliably establish what proportion of funding is being allocated now or in the
future to support these policy objectives. Several sources give around 0.6% of GDP being currently
spent on R&D (given that the GDP of Bangladesh was $100.1bn in 2010, it is deduced that total
R&D expenditure currently amounts to $620.5m) and there are clear statements to increase this
to 1.0% (2015) and 1.4% (2021). But how that will be achieved is not concisely stated in a single
place. Rather a significant number of policies, plans and sectors are all involved in this area.
Whilst the absolute level of funding is not clear, it is clear that lots of initiatives are underway in
this area. How effective these are remains to be seen.
An evaluation is planned for later in 2012.
2. Costs and timescale
2.1 Is the project on-track against financial forecasts: Y
2.2 Key cost drivers
The key cost driver is staffing. However, only 9% of the budget is for co-ordination and
management which includes permanent administrative staff. A large part of the programme
budget is for technical staff, though these costs are reducing as capacity is being built
in programme partners.
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2.3 Is the project on-track against original timescale: Y/N
Yes.
3. Evidence and Evaluation
3.1 Assess any changes in evidence and implications for the project
The field of open access is changing at a considerable rate and more funders of
development and other research are putting in place open access policies. In addition the
publishing industry and general dissemination of research findings via academic peer
review articles and journals is going through a period of transition. Open Access does
seem to be accepted and growing as a proportion of scientific output across the board.
How this will change access and usage patterns in general and in developing countries
particular over the coming years remains to be seen.
The implications for this on PERii are that they should:
 Have continued engagement with Open Access publishers to ensure that the latest
developments in this area feed into the wider programme.
 Ensure Open Access policies and mandates are included in the work that they do
with their southern partners.
 Continue to represent the interests of the research community from the south in Open
Access developments and policy discussions (which are currently being undertaken
largely in the north).
3.2 Where an evaluation is planned what progress has been made?
An evaluation is not planned by DFID. However, as a condition of Sida funding to PERii
there should be an evaluation before the end of the grant (December 2012). We are in
discussion with Sida about the scope of the evaluation. Sida will fund the evaluation,
DFID will contribute with technical support on the design of the evaluation, reviewing
and approving consultants and reviewing and approving the evaluation report. The
evaluation is an important document for both reviewing PERii and also for validating
the need for any further support to PERii.
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4. Risk
4.1 Output Risk Rating: Low/Medium/High
Low – this phase of the programme ends in March 2013.
4.2 Assessment of the risk level
The risk level is assessed based on the continued good performance of the programme and the
fact that INASP has built up an extremely good reputation. Risk is also spread through working with
other partners (such as Research 4 Life) and through having access to and working with a large
network. In many instances the programme has been working with the same partners for the
past ten years.
One output where the risk is high, is output 4, which relates the new area of work on evidence
informed policy. The high risk is that in many instances policy makers do not have sufficient
incentives to adopt research evidence.
4.3 Risk of funds not being used as intended
No evidence to suggest funds are not being used as intended. Audited accounts suggest a low risk.
4.4 Climate and Environment Risk
Low
5. Value for Money
5.1 Performance on VfM measures
Efficiency (in relation to inputs used and outputs achieved)
PERii use a training of trainers model and this takes place within a country or region.
This has a multiplier effect as more trainers are being trained and INASP staff facilitate very
few trainings. So more training is done for the same cost, with the same level of quality,
and the training is localised. Local capacity is also being built.
Trainers are not paid if they are providing training services within the organisation, as it
is usually part of their normal work. If they provide training to others, outside their organisation
or normal work they receive a facilitation fee. 72% training is now run locally.
There remains a challenge with evaluating trainers. PERii does follow-up on trainees to
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assess behaviour change, which includes field visits and observations. It is noted that for
some trainers, despite them achieving well in the training, once back in their institution
they revert back to their old ways. This is often due to the institution not supporting the
trainees and how the training can be used in the institution.
PERii used to support national networking events, with the programme funding the
whole event. Now in many of the successful consortia that are self- funding, they are keen to
make the networking events happen so have organised and run these themselves. Over
the last few years the costs of networking activities is zero.
Programme management is now more efficient in PERii due to better donor coordination,
for example through having a single annual report and joint donor meeting.
There is better efficiency in liaison with publishers. For example, the development of an
online registration and administration system, which allows for much better and wider
interaction with the same INASP staffing levels. e.g. from 1000 to 1800 registered
institutions with the same number of staff managing that process. But there is still a
need to improve the efficiency of some business processes that can be supported by
such online tools if the programme is to continue its expansion.
Processes for evaluating training are more efficient. For example, evaluation forms used
to be sent out by post and on-line. The trainees would complete these and then send them
back to be analysed by INASP staff. Now the whole process is on-line and the
responses are analysed on-line by the facilitators and local partners who hosted the
training events.
Economy (reduced costs whilst maintaining quality)
In the first year of PERii, self-funding from countries was low (less than 50%). Now selffunding is 97% for journal subscriptions, yet donor funding has increased overall. Funds are
going to other activities and less to subscription costs.
Although staff numbers have remained the same, whilst funds have increase, the country
network coordinators have taken on more responsibility. These coordinators are not paid for
their time but their institutions support them to varying degrees - e.g. 50%
secondments; part of main or only job, in some cases it's in addition to their day to day
responsibilities. There remains a challenge in the way national coordinators are
selected, with some still being appointed because of seniority rather than ability or
enthusiasm to engage.
The programme is now much stricter on costs, especially for workshops. It looks to
make savings where possible, for example by not paying fees for meeting places which are in
the hosts institution.
Effectiveness
The programme provides capacity support to country coordinators and facilitators and
researchers themselves. They are able to support delivery of the outcomes by themselves. for
example with AuthorAID, researchers are improving their research writing skills they
are able to produce more quickly and to a higher quality therefore allowing more time
to spend on
Use of interns to expand staff capacity working on the programme; 2010 2 interns, 2011,
3 interns and this year 2 interns will be engaged. This is an active strategy to get more
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capacity to conduct specific tasks, areas of work or in particular research studies.
INASP follow best practice guidelines in engaging interns, which includes; payment of
expenses, work plans, supported placements, progress reviews, etc. It is also a useful
way to identify potential new employees of job applicants. Intern placements are
advertised and selected via interview following standard practices.
5.2 Commercial Improvement and Value for Money
none recommended as the programme is near completion and indicates good value for
money.
5.3 Role of project partners
The project partners, especially the country coordinators are essential to achieving the
programme’s impact.
5.4 Does the project still represent Value for Money : Y
5.5 If not, what action will you take?
6. Conditionality
6.1 Update on specific conditions
none
7. Conclusions and actions
PERii is a well performing programme, indicated by the overachievement of most indicators. It
also represents good value for money, especially the AuthorAID programme and the training of
trainers. The programme has achieved tremendous results in the past ten years, almost to the
point where the initial problem (availability for scholarly publishing) is no longer a problem. As
the 2011 Annual Review cites: ‘In 2011 research continued to show that the range of scholarly
books and journals on offer in universities in developing countries where INASP works is
broadly comparable with that in European institutions. This is a huge achievement for INASP,
their partner countries and the publishers who have been prepared to supply their titles at
discounted projects, and in some cases, free of charge. This means significant levels of access
22
to scholarly books and journals in the 1622 institutions and 23 partner countries.
The contributions made by partners institutions towards subscription costs and towards
training programmes is also a great achievement. Ultimately it is hoped that these organisations
will become self-sustaining so that PERii is no longer needed. However, there are many more
organisations who could benefit from PERii support in training and negotiations with
publishers, alongside support services to enhance use of the services.
Although PERii works with institutions, it focuses on research information systems and more
specifically availability and access to scholarly publishing. There is now a recognised understanding
that this needs to be considered as part of an integrated research information, management
and knowledge system. This requires PERii to work much more closely and in an integrated
way, with other programmes that aim to support the enabling environment for research uptake
and use. For example, through working more closely with those programmes that, for example
support research management offices or others that aim to build capacity in the organisation
and management of research within an organisation.
The evidence informed policy component has identified a strong need and demand for this area.
Generally, although through a relatively small sample, it is evident that those designing and passing
policy do not always have the skills to fully understand, review, analyse and critically assess
the evidence and research that is presented to them.
There is a strong need to continue with both areas of this programme, but also to address the
rapidly changing environment of research publication and access through open access and data
initiatives.
8. Review Process


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





Donors’ Annual Review Meeting, 30th April 2012 (DFID, NORAD and Sida, PERii
programme staff)
PERii partners meeting, Oxford, 19th June 2012 (individual discussions with partners
from Pakistan and Bangladesh
20th Anniversary Symposium, 20th June 2012
Meeting at Sida, 12th July 2012 – Hannah Akuffo and Catarina Nilsson
INASP Annual Review 2011
PERii Annual Report to donors 2011
PERii Logframe review 2011
PERii stories of impact
www.inasp.info
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