The Kenya Association of Physicians has initiated a project that will improve the reach and impact of the Journal of the Kenya Association of Physicians (JOKAP).
JOJAP is a peer-reviewed biannual no-fee open access journal, that publishes a diverse range of original research, case reports and review papers in the health sciences, with a particular focus on research in clinical medicine.
The journal is facing several challenges that hamper its growth. Among these is the lack of a publishing culture among medical professionals in Kenya and Eastern Africa, where qualified medical practitioners, residents and students generally lack training on manuscript preparation. JOKAP has few reviewers, which increases the turn-around time from article submission to final decision, and more reviewers need to be trained. Also, the journal does not have full-time staff to handle day-to-day editorial and technical work, such as incorporating DOI to accepted manuscripts and promoting search engine optimization for greater visibility of published research. In addition, the JOKAP website needs improving to make it more attractive and user-friendly for authors and readers.
The ‘Improving the reach and impact of the journal of Kenya Association of Physicians’ aims to address these challenges. It is one of 17 projects that have received grant support through a three-year project to strengthen no-fee open access publishing in Africa implemented by EIFL, AJOL (African Journals Online) and WACREN (the West and Central African Research and Education Network), with funding from Wellcome.
Timeline
October 2024 - October 2025
Activities
- Strengthen the editorial team by hiring an editorial assistant and engaging student interns;
- Train reviewers and potential authors on scholarly publishing;
- Enhance the security features and and upgrade the website;
- Improve search engine optimization and register the journal with international databases to improve visibility.
More about Journal of the Kenya Association of Physicians (JOKAP).
