African Journal Partnership Project
XML Workshop with
Annual Review and Planning Sessions
23 - 26 April 2013
Accra, Ghana
NIH sponsors:
National Library of Medicine and Fogarty International Center, US NIH
Objectives:
Conduct XML workshop and hold annual review and planning sessions of partnership activities.
Participants:
African Health Sciences/BMJ
James K. Tumwine kabaleimc@gmail.com
Edgart Katarahweire kedgart@gmail.com
Edwin Musinguzi ice200m@gmail.com
Annales Africaines de Médecine/ Mali Medical/EHP
Ernest Kiswaya Sumaili skiswaya@yahoo.fr
Samson Mpezolo Nsaka nsaaka@yahoo.fr or annalesmedecine@yahoo.fr
Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences/Annals of Internal Medicine
Abraham Haileamlak asratab@yahoo.com
Tekle Ferede Metaferia tekle_ferede@yahoo.com
Eyuel Gesese Wolderufael eyuel.gessese@gmail.com
Christine Laine claine@acponline.org
Ghana Medical Journal/The Lancet
David Ofori-Adjei dofori4950@gmail.com
Freda Blankson-Mensah fredablanksonmensah@yahoo.com
Christabel Enweronu-Laryea chikalaryea@yahoo.com
Niall Boyce niall.boyce@lancet.com
Malawi Medical Journal/JAMA
Chiwoza Bandawe cbandawe@gmail.com
Thengo Kavinga tgkavinya@yahoo.co.uk
Demster Ngaume dngauma@medcol.mw
Annette Flanagin annette.flanagin@jama-archives.org
Mali Medical/EHP
Abdoulaye Chomba Koné achok83@yahoo.fr
Flabou Bougoudogo flabou@hotmail.com
Anne Abdrahamane girlajo@gmail.com
Medical Journal of Zambia/New England Journal of Medicine
Wezi PM Sunkutu drwezisunkutu@gmail.com
Pauline Fara polly_fara@yahoo.com
Steve Morrissey smorrissey@nejm.org
Sierra Leone Journal of Biomedical Research/Ghana Medical Journal/The Lancet
Aiah A. Gbakima gbakimaaa2009@gmail.com
Thomashire A. George thomasireg@yahoo.com.uk
Sidi Sowa abirmasowa@yahoo.com.uk
AJPP Co-Directors
Annette Flanagin annette.flanagin@jama-archives.org
Thomas (Tom) Goehl tjgoehl@yahoo.com
David Ofori-Adjei dofori4950@gmail.com
Council of Science Editors
David Stumph dstumph@resourcenter.com
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Institute for Scientific and Technological Information (INSTI)
Samuel Opare
Kaufman Wills Fusting & Company
Cara S. Kaufman cara.kaufman@kwfco.com (via Skype)
Fogarty international Center
Rachel Sturke sturkerachel@mail.nih.gov
Global Health Information Consultancy
Julia Royall julia.royall@gmail.com
National Library of Medicine
Dan Gerendasy gerendad@mail.nlm.nih.gov
Network of African Medical Librarians (NAML).
Christine Kanyengo ckanyengo@yahoo.com
Grace A. Ajuwon agajuwon@yahoo.com
Ovid Technologies, Inc. (Wolters Kluwer - Health)
Connie Munsters Connie.Munsters@wolterskluwer.com
SPi Global
Karina Felizardo karina.Felizardo@spi-global.com (via Skype)
Thomson Reuters, ScholarOne Manuscripts
Ian Potter Ian.potter@thomsonreuters.com
DAY ONE, April 23
XMLworkshop – David Ofori-Adjei, Samuel Opare, Christine Kanyengo (see ajpp-online.org for workshop report)
Ofori-Adjei welcomed the attendees and expressed the hope that by the end of the period the participants will have a
firm grasp of xml conversion.
The presenters outlined the major challenges of e-publishing and the difference between HTML and XML as well as
the pros and cons of each. Before discussing the software for conversions, the presenters explained the structure of
XML format and the use of XML as a tagging tool including the advantages and disadvantages. After the basics
were explained the options for software for making the conversion were identified including open-source solutions.
DAY TWO, April 24
The participants were then afforded much time for hands on experience in the preparation of text, figures, tables, etc.
Following the completion of the hands-on sessions, participants from Ethiopia and Mali made presentations on their
experience with the ScholarOne Manuscripts online submission system and Open Journals System, respectively, so
that other participants could appreciate how to incorporate XML format to their publications.
Lastly, Kanyengo made a presentation on how the National Library of Medicine processes materials for indexing
and the submission of materials for posting to Medline and PubMed Central.
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DAY THREE, April 25
CONFERENCE THEMES
1) Strengthening Capacity Building and Sustainability of the Journals
2) Improving Use and Management of New Technologies
3) Raising the Visibility of African Science and Medical Journals
Welcome and Introductions – Tom Goehl
Goehl welcomed everyone to the 8th AJPP annual meeting and then expressed deep appreciation to our host, David
Ofori-Adjei, for his efforts in arranging the meeting.
Goehl explained that each year the co-directors listen to what the partners needed and designed the program to
address those needs. This year’s XML workshop was a direct result of the needs expressed at last year’s meeting.
Also, new this year is the addition of specifically identified themes, which are interwoven within presentations over
the course of the two-day meeting.
AJPP has been successful because it started with a solid foundation by building the partnership on the expressed
needs of the African editors. He observed that success would not have been possible if it weren’t for the support
from National Library of Medicine and the Fogarty International Center and the administrative support of the
Council of Scientific Editors. But, success takes more that this. To reach our level of success took a cadre of other
interested individuals and organizations ----- our international journal editors and their journals, the corporate
support from Thomson Reuters and SPi Global, and volunteers who have freely given of their time and talents. New
this year is Ovid Technologies, Inc. (Wolters Kluwer - Health)
He then identified and welcomed the two new AJPP journals:
Sierra Leone Journal of Biomedical Research – Editor - Aiah A. Gbakima
Annales Africaines de Médecine --- Editor - Jean Marie Kayembe.
Welcome from NIH and CSE – Dan Gerendasy, Rachel Sturke, & David Stumph
Gerendasy and Sturke made brief comments about their interest in the project and admiration for the success that has
been achieved over these last ten years. They noted that they are both new to the project and feel they have much to
learn. They hoped to use their time at the meeting to become more schooled in the workings of the project.
Stumph welcomed everyone on behalf of the Council of Science Editors and explained that CSE continues to be
fully committed to supporting AJPP.
Keynote Address – David Ofori-Adjei (see ajpp-online.org for slide presentation)
Ofori-Adjei provided the keynote address for the meeting. He began by providing a history of the project starting
from an October 2002 meeting in Geneva of the World Health Organization (WHO). Growing out of that meeting
was the concept of the AJPP, which was further defined in a London meeting in September 2003 attended by the
original partners (African Health Sciences, Ghana Medical Journal, Malawi Medical Journal, Mali Medical, British
Medical Journal, The Lancet, JAMA, and Environmental Health Perspective/American Journal of Public Health
Hosting the London meeting were the editors of The Lancet and BMJ, Richard Horton and Richard Smith,
respectively. They noted that funding would be available from NLM, NIEHS, and FIC. These editors explained the
concept behind the project, i.e., finding ways to enhance the quality of African health and medical journals with the
ultimate goal of improving the health of people through publishing research. The project was to achieve its ends by
twinning or partnering an international journal with an African journal. In October 2003 a concept paper was
prepared and the African editors in group meetings with the international journal partners identified their needs.
In 2008, the project was expanded to include two new partnerships: Medical Journal of Zambia with the New
England Journal of Medicine and the Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences with the Annals of Internal Medicine.
At the 2012, annual meeting, the idea of three-way partnerships was suggested. The concept was to have the original
journal partners spread their knowledge and expertise to new African journals. Ghana Medical Journal and Mali
Medical, along with their international journal partners, agreed to be part of the first two three-way partnerships with
the Sierra Leone Journal of Biomedical Research and the Annales Africaines de Medecine
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Ofori-Adjei then listed the areas for attention in these partnerships that have developed during the 10-years of the
AJPP:
Task 1 – Identify Equipment needs
Task 2 – Identify Editorial needs
Task 3 – Provide Computers and Internet access; training of staff
Task 4 – Provide Author/Reviewer training
Task 5 – Training in Business planning and sustainable publishing operations
Task 6 – Provide Managing Editor support
Task 7 – Maintain journal Website
Task 8 – Internships
Task 9 – Commission Systematic Reviews
General partnership meetings, which have been held each year except in 2008 because of a delay in the award of a
follow-on contract with NLM, have been a key component of the success of the AJPP. At these meetings,
experiences are shared and new ideas developed. The assemblage of all members is such an important feature of the
project that the editors have consistently voted to use funds from the contract for this purpose.
Ofori-Adjei then noted that the partnership has won some medals for its successes but also has shown the scars of
battles. The medals are for the journals being accepted into PubMed Central, Medline, and other indexing services.
For the success of the journals in leveraging local support, providing training for other African journals, and
attracting private sector interest & support from SPi Global, Thomson Reuters (ScholarOne Manuscripts), Kaufman
Wills Fusting & Company, and Ovid Technologies, Inc. (Wolters Kluwer – Health).
The scars include uncompleted tasks, limited capacity building within their own journals, still issues in regard to
sustainability, and the embracing and use of technological developments. He urged all partners to put a ‘spine’ in
their efforts to meet all their unmet challenges.
Review of Action Items from 2012 Meeting – Annette Flanagin
Flanagin went quickly through the action items from last year. Details about the open action items from 2012 and
new action items from this year can be found at the end of this report.
AJPP Operational Issues – Tom Goehl
Goehl divided up his presentation into six topics:
1) Project Finances: He gave an update on project finances and reported that he met with the editors individually and
discussed their expenditures from the current fiscal year (FY2012 - July 2012 through June 2013).
a) He asked that the editors send all receipts for FY2012 expenditures by the end of this current contract,
which is 30 June 2013;
b) With carry-over funds of $32,452 from FY 2011 funds together with this year’s award of $210,000,
AJPP began this fiscal year with $242,452. To date CSE has distributed only $77,815, which leaves $164,637 not
spent. ($51,687 is at CSE and $112,950 is to be requested from NLM before the end of the fiscal year).
Why was so much money left? The main reasons include:
1) The expected expansion did not occur until very recently. Expenditures for new journals have averaged about
$25,000 per journal. (He expected to have spent $50,000)
2) AJPP budgeted $10,000 to $12,000 for each current journal member to support managing editors, interns, web
publishing, and limited updates for hardware and software. Only Ofori-Adjei and Sidibe requested significant amount of
money to support these identified areas. (He expected to have spent $60,000)
3) AJPP budgeted for two international workshops in the current fiscal year, representing about a $25,000 cost per
workshop. The XML workshop associated with the annual meeting is the only regional workshop that has been held.
Abraham has reported that he will be holding a regional workshop this spring. (He expected to have spent $50,000)
4) Annual meeting expenses were projected to cost about $50,000.
2) Review of Annual Evaluation Report: Goehl asked that the editors review the annual evaluation report with
special emphasis on their own journals and send comments, additions, and corrections to Flanagin, Ofori-Adjei, and
Goehl. Later in the program, Rachel Sturke, who is from the Fogarty International Center, discussed her plans for a
Comprehensive External Review of AJPP.
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In light of the unspent funds, he focused his review on the on-going expressed needs of the editors in the evaluation
report:
Page 7 ---- He first pointed out to the new editors that on page 7 there are a list of tasks for the project. Although the
new journals began their participation late in this fiscal year he hoped to be able to address the first three tasks
before the end of the fiscal year.
Page 9 ---- ScholarOne Manuscripts has been a great tool for the editors who are using it although they would all
like more training. MJZ has not yet had it installed and MM is waiting the French addition.
Page 11 ----- All editors still need help with business plans.
Page 12 ---- All except MJZ have been using interns successfully.
Page 13 ---- All editors want more training in XML. This need was addressed at the workshop this year. Websites
have been an important step for the journals. With the help of EHP, MM will begin taking over the hosting
responsibilities for their own site soon. Actually MM has two web sites now. MJZ is still having difficulties with
their website.
Page 15 ---- All editors want more training in use of DOIs. CrossRef agreed to waive membership and DOI fees.
Page 15 - 17 ---- All editors want training on making their journals more visible as well as training for clinicians and
scientists on communicating their results to the broader community. To date, no editor has stepped forward to host
such workshops.
As a reminder, he noted that although some workshops have been held this year, except for reports from AHS and
EJHS, he has not received reports for those workshops.
The workshop reports are to include:
a) list of attendees and their countries;
b) number of days of the workshop;
c) agenda/curriculum and learning objectives;
d) summary of evaluation forms and;
e) cost summary.
Page 18-19 ----- Funds to support two international workshops were set-aside in this year’s budget. The workshop
on XML, which was held in conjunction with this year’s annual meeting, is the first of those two workshops.
Haileamlak has said he planned a second international workshop but the topic has not been selected.
Page 20 ---- All editors want more training in research methodology including study design, biostatistics, scientific
writing, manuscript review, literature searching, etc. Workshops were listed as planned but no requests were sent
asking for AJPP financial support.
Page 20 ----- Updated computer hardware and software has been received by all but AHS and MJZ.
3) Location of annual meeting: If a new contract is awarded, the editors decided to hold the meeting in conjunction with CSE
annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas?
4) New Proposal to NLM for Follow-on contract: FY 2012 was the last year of the current contract with NLM. To
request NLM funding for the AJPP, he noted that a new proposal would need to be prepared and submitted. CSE has
agreed to work with AJPP again for another five-year period.
Flanagin, Ofori-Adjei, and Goehl drafted a new proposal for CSE to submit to NLM last October. To date, NLM has
not issued a request for proposals.
5) AJPP website (www.ajpp-online.org): Goehl has updated the AJPP website frequently during this year. The
website not only serves as a resource for the editors but is also a visible sign of the existence of the AJPP. He hoped
that the editors visited the site often and refer others to it. (USERNAME: ajppeditor; PASSWORD:
6africanjournals)
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6) Contact Information: He asked all attendees to check the Contact List that was circulated and update your contact
information. If your contact information changes during the year, please send the updates to Goehl. This year, he
hopes to add to the alphabetical list, a list of contacts by organization. If the editors wish he will also include in the
lists degrees and areas of specialty such as public health, environmental health, general medicine, geriatrics,
cardiology, etc.
Brief Reports on Status of African Journals and Partnerships
Each African journal editor gave a report on their successes, problems, and future Plans
Session One – Abraham Haileamlak (Moderator)
Ghana Medical Journal/The Lancet – David Ofori-Adjei (see ajpp-online.org for slide presentation)
Ofori-Adjei reported their successes to include: publishing on a regular schedule; increased number of articles
published; stable Editorial Committee; and appointment of a Deputy Editor-in-Chief. He reported needing updated
equipment such as computers, scanners, and printer. GMJ has updated its website.
GMJ has conducted training programmes in scientific writing and peer review. Ofori-Adjei has also developed
postgraduate programme that includes Investigative Medicine course using NLM material.
GMJ faces challenges of hiring a full time staff to handle publishing the journal; training editors to use ScholarOne
Manuscripts; and delays in receiving XML files from SPi Global
As Ofori-Adjei looks to the future he would like GMJ to focus on capacity building. He wants to see more postgraduate training in proposal writing, research report writing, and journal editing.
The keys to continued success of GMJ include increased visibility, working on sustainability, capacity building in
the areas listed above, developing a more efficient workflow, and further engagement of the media.
Mali Medical/EHP – Flabou Bougoudogo (see ajpp-online.org for slide presentation)
Bougoudogo made the presentation for Siaka Sidibe, who had to cancel at the last minute. He presented a brief
history of Mali Medical and noted that MM was accepted for indexing in Medline/PubMed in 2008.
He then gave an overview of last year’s publication data. There were more than 100 manuscripts included in the 4
issues per year that the journal publsihes. Nearly 60% were from other African Francophone countries. He reported
that MM uses two independant reviewers for each manuscript and the process is double blinded. The journal has
been open access since 2004 and has no paid subscribers. Currently, the acceptance rate is about 40%.
Bougoudogo noted that MM has taken the lead role in developing the Association of Francophone Editors. Showing
the international nature of MM, he mentioned that of the manuscripts submitted to MM 64% came from outside of
the country. MM has an active web presence with about 4,000 visitors last year coming from 81 countries.
•
He reported on their SWOT analysis. As for Strengths he identified their editorial board, CAMES recognition,
regional nature oft he journal, on time publication, appearance in major indexing services, and regional peer review
committee.
The major weakness for MM is the lack of local support (logistics and financial). The opportunities for MM are the
number of young authors and readers and the development of MM as a regional training center on scientific
publishing.The major threat to MM is that it has trouble attracting young researchers as editorial board members.
In the year ahead, Bougoudogo sees their hallenges as: 1) moving to online submission and review system
(Scholarone Manuscripts); 2) planning for a local or regional workshop for training for the new online manuscripts
submission and review system; and 3) building a regional training center in scientific publishing with support from
AJPP, Ministry of Education, and AFR.
Medical Journal of Zambia/NEJM – Wezi Sunkutu
To be added at a later date.
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African Health Sciences/BMJ – James K. Tumwine (see ajpp-online.org for slide presentation)
Tumwine thanked David Ofori-Adjei and GMJ for hosting the annual meeting this year. He also expressed his
appreciation for the help provided by AJPP partners, CSE, NLM, librarians, MEPI, etc. Their help made the success
of AHS possible. He identified AHS’s growing editorial team. He noted that networking has been a key component
of AHS’s development. He said that AHS is now publishing cutting edge research articles.
He identified the challenges that their country is facing including emerging epidemics, financial crises, and the
growing equity gap and the role that all researchers needed to play in addressing these issues. He also identified a
role for AHS in helping the development of better research methods, demystifying research for the public, helping
authors improve their manuscript writing, developing winning grants, and being at the forefront of online e-learning.
He presented his views on public health issues as the continent becomes more affluent such as a changing diet and
the increase in obesity. However, he urged us not to forget the diseases of poverty that still exist.
His vision is for AHS to focus more on e-publishing and training. He even sees the development of mini-AHS
publications that could serve diverse readership. For the future, he hopes to sustain the work of AHS through more
and more engagement of young talent, to exploit the spirit of volunteerism, to help fund the journal through charging
publication fees with exemptions, and to be successful at grant writing.
He finished with a poem presented here without editing:
POEM
If I were to end
The ills afflicting our Mother Africa!
Wasting valuable God- given resources of ‘time’
Neglecting to train and support our human resource
I would but sob away
No!
Now is not the time to sob away
Nor the place to celebrate
And I am not ending
It is time for serious reflection
On what has made others succeed
While for us, we
The wretched
Our women and children
Die in misery
Our systems consumed by lack of compassion
Love and integrity
Kleptocracy, notwithstanding!
We shall
Scream on top of our voices
Dream our heads off
Falling into oblivion and golden silence
Conspiring to sustain the deafening silence
Our women and children without
Mama kits
ORS or just mama breast.
But
This is no screaming match
It is a call for action
By all who care!
To dare our leaders in the villages and slums
Of Mama Africa!
To wake up and fight the afflictions of malnutrition,
and to guard our men from getting pregnant,
With pregnancies that cannot be born
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And for us
To use the mighty pen!
Rather the key board
And ipad
To fight for Mama Africa’s
women and children
To move higher and higher
For better health and prosperity
Without the maladies of old!
Session Two – Wezi Sunkutu (Moderator)
Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences/Annals of Internal Medicine – Abraham Haileamlak (see ajpponline.org for slide presentation)
Haileamlak gave a brief history of EJHS noting that it was established in 1990 and is hosted at the College of Public
Health and Medical Sciences of Jimma University. Since 2007 the journal is published three times a year. EJHS
joined the Partnership in 2008 and is partnered with Annals of Internal Medicine. The journal has an EIC, an
associate EIC, a managing editor, and seven editorial consultants. They use over 70 volunteer peer reviewers.
Each issue contains an editorial, a minimum of 8 original articles, one review, one brief communication, and 2-3
case reports. Since joining AJPP, the journal has been accepted for indexing in Medline/PubMed, EBESCO, and
AJOL. Manuscript management is now handled electronically using ScholarOne Manuscripts since 2011.
He then outlined their accomplishments in 2012. They conducted three local training workshops for editors and
reviewers including sessions on peer review and e-resource usage such as Zotero, OpenEpi, Endnote, ScholarOne
Manuscripts. They have received about 170 manuscripts for consideration for publication all using ScholarOne
Manuscripts, 35% were from outside Ethiopia. Only 43 manuscripts were accepted for publication. The journal
publishes three regular issues a year and one special issue. EJHS has applied for ICMJE membership and for grants
using the knowledge gained at the 2012 AJPP annual meeting.
Haileamlak is still in the process of developing a new business plan, restructuring the editorial board by adding new
members, more associate editors, and interns., and adding questions for authors on ScholarOne Manuscripts as a
mechanism for author feedback to journals with proofs. He also hopes to complete plans for a regional meeting in
August or September 2013. As for local training, he is planning on conducting three editors’ and reviewers’
workshops. He hopes to increase the frequency of the publication to four times a year.
Malawi Medical Journal/JAMA – Chiwoza Bandawe (see ajpp-online.org for slide presentation)
Bandawe divided his talk into success, challenges, and future plans.
He identified his successes as increasing: 1) the visibility of the journal as shown in their improved webstats; 2) the
addition of an intern to the journal; 3) an active Editorial Board; 4) conducting a writer’s workshop for lecturers; 5)
completed the scanning MMJ back issues; 6) developing a Facebook presence; and 7) laid the foundation for
potential future funding from NAC.
The challenges facing MMJ include a slow peer review process, high printing costs (he wants to eliminate the print
edition.), increasing the number of subscribers, advertisers, and overcome the SPi Global delays in getting material
into Pubmed.
For the future, he wants to get into Bioline, revamp the editorial board, establish a student MMJ Writing club led by
intern, start a blog, develop Press Releases, and add advertisements on their website. He also hopes to improve
journal’s content by setting up a Letters to the Editor section and inviting readers to write and comment on articles;
setting up a debate section in which invited experts to debate a particular contentious health issue for and against;
and add a Students section where well written research projects can be published.
Adding a business intern is a high priority. He plans to connect with Polytechnic to identify Business Marketing
intern who would be responsible for Business plans of MMJ and writing Portfolios to sell to potential advertisers.
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He hopes to identify and appoint Academic Associate Editors in specialist areas who would become involved with
the journal and identify 6 papers per year. He wants to identify and appoint Research Associate Editors linked to
Research Affiliates e.g. UNC projects, Johns Hopkins, Wellcome Trust, Bill & Melinda Gates. And finally, he hopes
to establish links with Society of Medical Doctors (SMD) and with Medical Council of Malawi (MCM). If the
MCM link is developed then he would hope that MMJ would become the MCM journal.
Sierra Leone Journal of Biomedical Research /Ghana Medical Journal/The Lancet - Aiah Gbakima (see ajpponline.org for slide presentation)
As one of the two new journals added to the AJPP, Gbakima introduced his journal to the group. He noted that
SLJBR is an open access, peer reviewed journal (ISSN 2076-6270–Print; ISSN-2219-3170-Online) that is published
by College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS), University of Sierra Leone (USL), Freetown. It
was published for the first time in July 2009 with a mission to allow healthcare professionals and researchers to
express their views and communicate their research findings to the world for teaching and reference purposes.
The scope of the journal is to include all fields of medicine and allied health sciences. The categories of articles
published include original articles (full-length research papers), review articles, case reports, short communications,
and letters to the editors. The staff consists of the EIC, a managing editor, Editorial Board, and an Editorial Advisory
Board. The peer review process uses two reviewers per manuscript. (Reviewers are not paid.) The journal, which is
published twice a year, publishes about 50 articles a year with a 60% rejection rate. SLJBR is affiliated with African
Journals On-Line (AJOL).
He identified the strengths of the journal as a committed editorial board and acceptance into AJOL. The weaknesses
include inadequate resources (funding, no full time staff, and limited office space and equipment). He also noted the
lack of up-to-date technology; limited numbers of committed manuscript reviewers, limited numbers of quality
manuscripts submitted to journal, and high cost of printing and distribution of journal.
His future plans call for finding funds to support the journal; increased training for editorial staff, researchers, and
students, adding interns, and improving the visibility of the journal.
Annales Africaines de Médecine/ Mali Medical/EHP – Ernest Kiswaya Sumaili (see ajpp-online.org for slide
presentation)
As the second new journal member of AJPP, Sumaili gave the history of their journal. (The EIC, Jean Marie
Kayembe, could not attend the meeting because of travel problems.) The journal is published by Faculty of
Medecine/ University of Kinshasa, DR Congo.
Prior to 2007, each faculty of the university had its own journal. In December 2007, Annales Africaines de
Médecine was started with a mission to assure wider dissemination of African and international health & medical
research ; to share local medical experience; to disseminate knowledge and practices; and to emphasize the visibility
of our institution.
The journal is published quarterly and consists of an editorial, original research articles, and case reports. Sumaili
said they have their own website (www.anafrimed.cd) and are indexed in African Index Medicus (AIM). The journal
has been active in promoting degree programs at regional universities and has an active continuing education
program. They are also active in promoting the one health concept through Sacids (Southern African Centre for
Infectious Disease surveillance).
Sumaili identified the weaknesses of the journal as lack of financial support by local institutions, few reviewers,
inadequate expert pool, slow response of reviewers, lack of training for authors and editors, poor tracking systems,
and limited publishing hardware and software.
Selection and Role of Interns and CME in AJPP Journals – Chiwoza Bandawe
Tumwine gave a historical background about the role of the intern and how indispensable they had become as part
of the African Health Sciences. Bandawe shared his experience having learnt from AHS.
The meeting agreed in principle that all journals should look into having an intern as a way of securing the future
editorial leadership. Bandawe agreed to foster activities for awareness and talks at colleges and research institutions
to target young scientists to help achieve this purpose. An intern and the process of learning was an essential part of
the AJPP objectives in terms of strengthening journals.
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Status of Medical Education Partnership Initiative in Africa (MEPI) - Julia Royall
Royall provided a brief update on the Medical Education Partnership Initiative in Africa (MEPI).
The FIC had announced grants to African institutions in a dozen countries, forming a network including more than
30 regional partners, country health and education ministries, and more than 20 U.S. and foreign collaborators. She
noted that MEPI was not accepting any more proposals and referred interested attendees to the MEPI website.
(http://www.fic.nih.gov/programs/Pages/medical-education-africa.aspx) A directory of awards and collaborating
partners can be found at http://www.fic.nih.gov/Grants/Search/Pages/Awards-Program-MEPI.aspx.
Even though the award process has been completed she strongly urged the AJPP partners to contact any of the
awardees about partnering with them on project of mutual interest.
Librarians as a Resource for AJPP Journals - Christine Kanyengo (see ajpp-online.org for slide
presentation)
Kanyengo presented a list of activities for which librarians can assist editors. For example, librarians help the journal
in several ways: 1) support biomedical scholarship by helping authors use information that have already being
published; 2) verify references after articles have been published in journals; 3) help editors conform to international
citation standards. She noted that the Network of African Medical Librarians (NAML) are especially qualified to
contribute to journal production of African medical journals.
She noted specific areas that librarians would be of help: 1) Copyright Agreements and Policies; 2) Metadata for
journals; 3) Persistent Identifiers; 4) developing Web Sites and Mobile Applications; 5) Coverage in traditional
bibliographic/indexing systems; 6) detection of plagiarism; 7) Training in Reference Management; 8) preservation
of digital content; and 8) training in effective searching. Kanyengo then discussed in more detail each of the areas
that librarians could help editors.
She finished her presentation by asking the attendees to consider the future role for librarians in journal publication.
She again noted the wealth of knowledge possessed by librarians and their expertise in diverse areas of documenting
human knowledge.
SPi Global Services for AJPP Journals and Review of XML Training Workshop - Karina Felizardo (see
ajpp-online.org for slide presentation)
Felizardo participated in the meeting via Skype. She previously had submitted her PowerPoint presentation, which
was shown during the meeting.
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She began her presentation by noting that SPi Global’s involvement in AJPP began in 2006. Currently, they provide
XLM conversions for six of the partner journals and have committed to provide the service for the two newest AJPP
journals. Specifically their work involves conversion of PDF files (image/searchable) into full-text XML files based
on PMC requirements. They have a 1-2 weeks turnaround time per shipment and provide a 99.95% character
accuracy. She also committed to help with making sure files are appropriate for OVID Technologies.
She outlined the workflow steps:
1) Receipt of files from different journal editors (via ftp and email)
2) Inventory and pre-production processes
3) XML conversion/tagging of data per NLM DTD and PMC requirements
4) Edit and DTD validation
5) Image cropping from source PDF files (if images are not provided). Cropped images are saved as TIFF images
and named as per project naming convention
6) QA checking
7) Delivery to PMC.
The most common problems encountered in working with AJPP journals include:
1) Incomplete PDF articles
2) Cut-off text
3) Blurred images, text and graphs
4) Corrupted PDF files
5) Incorrect PDF files/content provided
She hoped that improvement could occur if all files were sent to SPi Global thru FTP (not via email). She asked that
email notification be provided once the files are available for downloading on SPi Global’s end. She also
emphasized that timely responses to queries would be of great help to Spi Global. Editors should closely coordinate
with PubMed Central (PMC) as there are stages in the process that need the editors’ approval (i.e. preferences in
terms of formatting, how the content should be displayed in the site, etc.)
At the end of her presentation she identified the key contacts for Spi Global:
Production-related issues:
Lyn Fuentes - rosalyn.fuentes@spi-global.com
Golda Galarce – golda.galarce@spi-global.com
Management, Escalation:
Karina Felizardo - karina.felizardo@spi-global.com
New Agreement with Ovid Technologies, Inc. (Wolters Kluwer - Health) - Connie Munsters (see ajpponline.org for slide presentation)
Munsters began her presentation by briefing explaining the capabilities and global reach of Wolter Kluwer. She then
discussed the partnership objectives, and partnership structure.
Wolters Kluwer Health is a leading global information services and publishing company with 19,000 employees.
The company has three business units: Clinical Solutions (Up-to-Date); Professional and Education (LWW
textbooks); and Medical Research: Ovid and Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins (LWW)
She explained that Ovid helps researchers, librarians, clinicians, and other healthcare professionals find important
medical information so that they can make critical decisions to improve patient care, enhance on-going research, and
fuel new discoveries. The company offers a market-leading medical research platform of premium aggregated
content and productivity tools that make it easy to quickly search information and make informed decisions on
patient care, quality, and clinical outcomes
Ovid has a global reach with customers in 12,500 institutions in 118 countries. Doctors, nurses, teachers, students,
social workers, researchers, librarians, and other information specialists use Ovid as an informational source in their
work. Ovid’s depth is extraordinary with ~100 bibliographic databases, ~4,250 e-books, and ~2,200 journals.
She outlined the objectives of the AJPP/Ovid Partnership as follows: 1) Increase the visibility and distribution of
AJPP journals; 2) Deliver content via top global medical research platform alongside thousands of top ranked
journals; 3) Positive publicity and PR, adding credibility to the already strong sponsorship from Thomson Reuters
and SPi Global; and 4) Anticipating increased citation resulting from increased visibility via the OvidSP platform.
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A proposed system for the AJPP/Ovid partnership is as follows:
1) African journals deliver content to Ovid concurrently with delivery to NLM in NLM-XML format (ideally with
PDF included but not necessary)
2) Ovid creates package of AJPP journals that might be added to their customer’s entitlements free of charge
– TBD whether customers will “opt in” or “opt out” for access to this package of titles
3) Ovid bears all costs of loading and converting content to native Ovid DTD (Ovidbase SGML)
4) Potential opportunities to package African journals with respective partner journals – to be explored further
DAY FOUR, April 26
ScholarOne Manuscripts Basic Training Workshop – Ian Potter (see ajpp-online.org for slide presentation)
In a 90-minute session, Potter provided a thorough overview of ScholarOne Manuscripts, which was designed to
address issues reported by AJPP journals who are already using the software and to provide an introduction to the
two new AJPP journal partners.
The outline of his presentation included topics on system layout and navigation, manuscript submission, peer
review, production, administrative tools, reports, inviting papers, and site configuration. His presentation was well
received and evoked numerous questions. He then responded to specific questions from the editors who have been
using the system for several years.
Online training in the 21st century: Opportunities and challenges - Grace Ajuwon (see ajpp-online.org for
slide presentation)
Ajuwon addressed the issue of the growing importance of training using electronic means, such as using web-based
training, rather than by assemblage. She provided an array of definitions of online training/e-learning and gave
several reasons for the growth of such training: shortage of qualified teachers, cost, distance from training center,
professional duties, travel, etc. An example is the NAML's course on Finding, Organizing, and Using Medical
Information.
She said there were two modes of online training: 1) synchronous (instructor-facilitated) instructor and participants
are online at the same time i.e., virtual classroom and 2) asynchronous (self-directed, self-paced) i.e., uses content
repositories for offering content, and discussion boards, e-mail, chat for communication. Instruction can be delivered
by a combination of methods: static (learning portals), hyperlinked pages, screen cam tutorials, streaming
audio/video, live Web broadcasts), interactive (threaded discussions), chats, and desktop video conferencing.
The types of e-learning include online courses, live online training/virtual classrooms, blended learning, learning via
mobile devices and smart phones, social media for learning, video, and podcasts.
She enumerated the obvious advantages of online training and also noted the challenges such as, lack of awareness
among population; limited or absence of Instructor /student interaction, bandwidth and connectivity limitations, lack
of ICT skills, language barrier, and time management (Students may not complete the course). For those interested,
she provided a number of references to online training and e-learning.
ePublishing Issues – Cara Kaufman (see ajpp-online.org for slide presentation)
Kaufman participated in the meeting via Skype. She previously had submitted her PowerPoint presentation, which
was shown during the meeting.
Kaufman first gave an overview of the fundamentals of website development, then addresses the importance of
CrossRef, and finally gave a critique of each of the AJPP partners websites.
Essential elements of a website include search/advanced search, capability to browse current issue/archives, a
section about the journal, and sections that provide information for authors, subscribers/funders, advertisers, and
media. The website should also have a Contact page and you might want to include a feedback page. If the journal is
not fully open access than you will need a Register/subscribe/login page. For each of these sections she provided
details, which can be found in her PowerPoint presentation. Deciding how to render the content of the journal is an
issue. She outlined the advantages of using HTML and XML as well as for PDF only.
Over the last few AJPP annual meeting references to CrossRef have been made. Kaufman again explained what it
was and how it would add to the value of the AJPP journals. CrossRef is not-for-profit network founded on
publisher collaboration, with mandate to make reference linking throughout online scholarly literature efficient and
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reliable. The system provides for an infrastructure for linking citations across publishers. In the system, a unique
alphanumeric string is assigned to a digital object, i.e. e-journal article or book chapter. This alphanumeric string is
referred to as the Digital Object Identifier (DOI). In CrossRef system, each DOI is associated with set of basic
metadata and a URL pointer to the full text. This DOI then uniquely identifies the content item and provides
persistent link to its location on Internet.
Kaufman noted that if a journal uses the DOI system they can publish online ahead of print and the article would be
fully citable. She provided the contact information at CrossRef - Carol Anne Meyer, CrossRef, 50 Salem Street,
Lynnfield, MA 01940 USA. Meyer’s phone number is 781 629 9782.
Kaufman’s assessment of the AJPP journals’ websites can be found on her PowerPoint slide presentation on the
AJPP website.
She then addressed the issue of building usage for the journals. She again recommended that all AJPP journals ask
to be included in the Directory of Open Access Journals. Inclusion is just another way of increasing exposure for
their journals. Other techniques to build usage is to be fully indexed by Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, PubMed
Central, DOAJ, Yahoo!, and Bing. She suggested again that each AJPP journal link to each other AJPP journal.
Kaufman gave a listing of further ways to build usage. These ideas included: holding librarian training /author
workshops; sending out table of contents by e-alerts; participating in discussion forums/blogs; add a “Most read”
type feature; and don’t forget social media presence on Facebook and Twitter.
To evaluate your efforts in building usage she suggested that the editors monitor usage metrics on a monthly, by
issue, or at least annually. Don’t forget Google Analytics is a free service and does have video tutorials.
In the future, Kaufman suggested the editors focus on DOI, linking, semantic tagging, mobile optimization, and
inclusion in aggregators such as Ovid, DOAJ, and EBSCO.
Practicality of Smart Phone or Mobile Device Apps for journal content - Wezi Sunkutu
To be added at a later date.
Common Issues in Publishing AJPP Journals – James Tumwine
Tumwine opened-up a discussion of common problems facing the AJPP editors. Several themes emerged:
1. Finances: Having sufficient funds available to publish was seen as the driving engine that the journals needed in
order to be propelled forward.
2.Sustainability: The editors were constantly working to obtain the resources, both financial and human, to ensure
the journals continuity. Identifying successors for the EIC was another issue discussed.
3. Reviewers: Many editors said that although they had lists and contact addresses of potential reviewers, it was not
easy getting the reviewers to get timely reviews to the journals. The young reviewers were more enthusiastic than
those who were no longer so young.
4. XML conversions: These conversions were still a challenge even though many people had had training on this.
5. Partnerships: Members agreed that North-South and South-South partnerships were critical for growth and
survival of the journals. In this regard it was agreed that Ethiopia (Abraham) would host a workshop to initiate this.
Collaboration with African Medical Librarians and the MEPI initiative would also contribute.
Ten-Year Retrospective and Visioning Exercise – Rachel Sturke
Sturke opened the session by describing what she is hoping to accomplish with the project. Given that AJPP is
celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, the project aims to reflect on past achievements, as well as look forward
with respect to a changing landscape and emerging needs, priorities and opportunities over the next 5-10 years.
She hopes to building on the annual evaluations rather than duplicating them. The retrospective aim of the project is
to take a bigger picture view of the successes and challenges of AJPP over the past 10 years, how it has filled its
overall mission, and lessons learned. Coupled with, and building on this retrospective review, the project will take a
look forward with respect to the changing landscape and emerging needs, priorities and opportunities over the next
5-10 years.
The session was intended to provide an opportunity for input from the editors learning from them what they see as
critical areas to focus on. Sturke used the following questions to guide the discussion:
1) What are the greatest opportunities and challenges in promoting wider dissemination of African health and
medical research that is currently published in African health and medical journals over the next 5-10 years?
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2) What types of collaborations would enable stronger capacity and wider dissemination of African health and
medical research?
3) What is the role of technology in enabling wider dissemination?
4) What are the key capacity needs moving forward?
5) How can we best facilitate older journals leading capacity-strengthening in their regions?
6) How can we best ensure sustainability?
7) How can we best increase impact beyond the core AJPP journals?
8) Looking back, are there key challenges or successes that we could learn from? What areas should we focus on?
Sturke observed that she has learned a lot from participating in the meeting and she that this will be an exciting and
meaningful project, with a tangible outcome such as a visioning document and/or journal publication.
Moving forward in 2013-2014 – Chiwoza Bandawe
Chiwoza opened the discussion by asking what the editors felt were priorities for them. Capacity building was an
identifiable area for all editors. He asked what type of capacity is most needed moving forward and how to best
strengthen it? Ideas raised at the meeting included the role of internships in building capacity, use of online training,
and the use of librarians.
Goehl explained again that the AJPP was under review as its five year life span was ending in June 2013. Goehl
outlined there was still some money left and could be used for one more workshop. It was agreed that overall journal
management training would be most useful at this time. EJHS agreed to host the meeting in Ethiopia in August
2013.
There was agreement to move forward with incorporating other journals into AJPP in the form of three way
partnerships.
Summary –Julia Royall
Royall opened her summary statement by issuing a disclaimer that her review was not to be seen as a replacement
for meeting minutes. It is a not a recap of PowerPoint presentations (which will be posted at ajpp-online) or an
attempt to capture everything. She asked that readers overlook any omissions. The summary is a way to remind
people of some of the meeting points and impressions, and to celebrate them our time together.
Royall’s comments are included in the entirety here without editing:
“We gathered
For the first time in the Motherland
After all, we’re all out of Africa
David hosts – now a saint
John, Siaka, Jean-Marie – We miss you!
10 Years – and 5 new African journals in MEDLINE – research in African countries available to the world - a
benchmark to be proud of
New faces – great to see female faces - two new African journal partners – Welcome
New journals –
Lots of lacks but we smile – we know this will change - it validates what we do
USE this group – they are the best collaborators and support group you will have.
New collaborations – active outreach and inclusion of
Librarians
MEPI PIs
Old journals mentoring new journals
Interdisciplinary interaction – even engineers, the armed forces
We speak English and French in addition to our local languages
We also speak Skype
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We share our medals and scars.
We include different disciplines
AJPP is Catalytic – it is an enzyme
AND LIBRARIANS
from disembodied voices from afar at NLM in 2011, to Christine at the table last year, to 3 librarians adding their
perspectives this year
These folks are critical to your process: DOI – a persistent link/unique, DBs, websites, mobile apps, Google
analytics, social media, plagiarism, reference management, effective searching
“I have come in on Sunday instead of going to church to help a doctor with references for a paper due on Monday.
When I’m sick, I’m not even standing in a queue. . . Are we able to commit to future generations in Africa having
guaranteed permanent access to this digital content?”
MEPI
A program for strengthening medical education to improve health systems and the health of countries.
Some specific AJPP-MEPI interfaces are in motion:
James has a students writers club – 7:00-8:00 in the morning
Christine is converting dissertations to manuscripts
Grace is leading workshops on how to write
Abraham has learned lessons from site visits
Tom asks - Might AJPP have a project within a MEPI grant?
INTERNS
mentoring models
seniors mentor juniors
CME
10 points for publication in Malawi
might people pay for this?
XML
We also are learning to speak XML – so we can Go Local
VISIONS
6 journals/year
Birth to baby journals in different specialties and engaging more people in publishing process – published in
response to communities
Website are great – if still have disease of food, shame on you – why don’t we use our journals?
Website – are websites like airlines – proliferation – do we want to create dinosaurs or a million eyes?
Demystifying research
Journal as an educational platform to improve the community’s health – the PUBLIC’S HEALTH
How do we use e-learning?
AJPP brand
Resources –
Time – only 24 hours a day – person sitting in village and Annette in JAMA
only have 24 hours – we are not utilizing
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Human resources – young people – 80 M in Ehtiopia – what are you doing with 80 M?
100K students in 30 universities in Uganda
exploit spirit of volunteerism
And the numbers keep going up
Impact factor
No zero sum game, free or full price - those who can pay, should
SUCCESSES
Over 1M/mo – James – we should be aiming for millions
We are small journal in a small building but … we have no bureaucracy!
Foreign funding – NORAD in Ethiopia
CHALLENGES
Training peer reviewers, the gold standard – workshop – they can understand how a journal operates.
Carrots and sticks….– don’t give CME credit to peer reviewers until their review is in
Website – 10,000 hits in a week in Zambia – why not millions?
Visibility – link to one another’s journals
Power is here in Africa – muzungus are here to collaborate on what you want to do
Sign up for AJPP Facebook – it’s an exclusive club
COMMERCIAL PARTNERS
Keep helping us as we learn how to do these things ourselves, tweak the product so it works better, be prepared in
case it goes away. We are grateful to you, but also want to be prepared if you should have to leave.
Ovid – how one strong platform can perform a variety of functions – point of care, books, metrics – negotiate fee
and tweaking
SPi-XML
ScholarOne – we want comments separately from track changes. We can guide the reviewers.
Cara – via Skype – epublishing issues and individual site reviews
The more you link to others, the higher Google will place you in search results.
REGIONAL WORKSHOPS
Regional international workshop topic possibilities
Journal management and business plans
Interdisciplinary research and publication – folklore and African traditional med
Publication standards – when is the paper retracted? How do you find the authentic version
Visibility, reaching audiences, social media
PRIORITIES
Reviewers – how to train, how to motivate
Internet access – work with private sector, govt (find out about fiber optic backbone)
Mobile visibility – central AJPP place where people can search across multiple journals)
Technology skills needed
Funding – business model
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Human resources
Ten year retrospective – Envisioning!!
Sustainability: curating what has already been published – quality control and availability for the future
Where we are and how we got here
Could we have gotten here more efficiently? What do we change for new journals?
Mentorship – to what extent do we get feedback from our partners when we meet?
Three way partnerships
Going through issues together –sharing and bouncing ideas off of each other re practical matters
Reach of dissemination
Focus on professionals typically neglected – ex midwives
Vision for future –
What it is
How we use
Moving forward as individuals, as a group, or both as appropriate
SPECIFICALLY 2013
International workshop on business plans with everyone leaving with a skeletal plan
Update old financial forms as part of this.
Abraham hosts in Ethiopia
Next AJPP meeting 2014 – CSE – San Antonio
Following year 2015 – Addis?
Proposal for mobile visibility - David, Abraham, Grace, chaired by Christine.
Contract with NLM– Tom and Annette
Interns
Managing editor
Hosting website
Local training
New h/sw
2 new journals per year
2 international workshops per year
NIH and CSE may have guidance
Web-based blended learning
Other funds can also be routed to CSE
FINALLY Listening to the people –
A quick story from a senior Ghanaian scientist I spoke with two days ago:
Said the village chief to the well-intentioned malaria researcher: we know you are interested in malaria,
but our problem is teenage pregnancy
To dream our heads off
a call for action
to use the mighty pen.”
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