With support from EIFL (October 2024 to October 2025), the University of Ghana (UG), implemented a project to strengthen the management, overall efficiency and output of no-fee (Diamond) open access journals hosted by the UG Journal Management Services 

The project is based on results of a needs analysis which found that University of Ghana’s 15 open access journals, that were facing several challenges, including skills in journal management, organizing web content, dealing with reviewer related problems, keeping up with current journal practices, indexing in databases of international repute and financial sustainability.

Five Diamond open access journals were selected to participate in the project:

• Contemporary Journal of African Studies, published by the UG Institute of African Studies, and covering a wide range of fields including history, politics, society, culture, media, language/arts, religion/philosophy, and other aspects of ‘Global Africa’.
• Ghana Journal of Geography, published by the university’s Department of Geography and Resource Development. The journal covers both physical and human geography, offering a forum for scholarship rooted in the geographical and environmental realities of Ghana, Africa and the broader developing world. It helps build a locally grounded knowledge base, advance academic debate, and encourage context-relevant research that might be overlooked in global North journals.
• Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology, published by the university’s Department for the Study of Religions. The journal offers a forum for rigorous scholarship on religion, theology, and related fields from African and global perspectives.
• Health Sciences Investigations Journal, published by the university’s College of Health Sciences. By centering African health priorities, the journal provides an accessible platform for high-quality health research across medicine, public health, biomedical sciences, and allied health fields in Ghana and the wider continent. It plays a meaningful role in diversifying global knowledge production, informing locally grounded policy and practice, and elevating African perspectives within international health research. 
• Science and Development Journal, published by the UG College of Basic and Applied Sciences. The journal covers a wide spectrum of scientific fields, including agricultural, biological, physical and engineering sciences, with emphasis on linking scientific inquiry to development-related challenges and agendas. It helps bridge gaps between rigorous science and practical development needs, offering a credible outlet for researchers aiming to contribute to sustainable development, innovation and policy-relevant science. 

What has changed as a result of the project?

A university-wide journal policy has been drafted

“The draft of a university-wide journal policy with a clear guideline on establishment and operation of UG journals and proposals for a more central university funding of journals is the most significant change stemming from the project.” – Austin Dziwornu Ablo, coordinator of the EIFL-funded project and Co-Editor of the Ghana Journal of Geography.

The draft 'University of Ghana Journals Governance Policy’ was developed by a team of experts from the university’s College of Education, College of Humanities, College of Basic and Applied Sciences and College of Health Sciences. At the request of the university’s management, the team of experts engaged with all 15 UG journals to ensure that the perspectives of all editors would be included in the drafting process. In addition, in drafting the policy the team drew on other national and international journal policies and best practices. 

The draft policy is comprehensive, including proposals for institutional and editorial governance, staffing, peer review, capacity building, quality standards and funding. Policy to guide editorial teams on the ethics of using AI in journal publishing and permitted uses of AI editorial tools in editing and peer review has also been included.

A key proposal in the draft  policy is for the establishment of a centralized Journal Management Office, to be led by a Journal Oversight Committee, with office space in the Research Innovation Directorate of UG, to coordinate and support all journal activities. 

The Journal Oversight Committee will be tasked to work with all UG journals to develop policies for individual journals and to ensure that these align with the overall UG journals policy. It will also work with journals to unify and standardize journal website designs and journal article templates, and set and monitor adherence to journal standards. Another key proposal is for the allocation of dedicated staff from the university’s Information Technology Directorate (ITD) to support journal publishing and website management. 

The project identified the need for coordinated annual reviews of UG journals performance. The first annual review, involving all UG journal editors, ITD staff, library and other stakeholders, took place in December 2025. Once the journal policy has been adopted, arranging annual reviews will be taken over by the Journal Oversight Committee.

With respect to journal sustainability and funding, the policy’s core recommendation is for a proportion of research overheads and central costs from the university to be allocated to supporting journals. “This will ensure that UG journals remain free,” said Elvis Kwason Tiburu, Editor-in-Chief, Science and Development journal.

The draft policy has been submitted for review by the UG Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Provost, after which it will be sent to the University Academic Board for approval. 

Improvement of editorial processes and management of journals

The project team organized a series of workshops on key topics, including Current Technologies in Publishing, targeting university management, journal editorial teams and technical staff. “Several of the proposals in the draft UG journal policy emerged from discussion during these workshops, which also raised awareness about current inefficiencies and weaknesses affecting journal workflows that could be immediately remedied, including an upgrade of the Open Journal Systems (OJS) software,” said Austin Dziwornu Ablo. 

“All the journals have already started implementing strategies to improve their efficiency and quality of publication. The five journals participating in the project published a total of 79 articles during the project period.” - Austin Dziwornu Ablo 

Some editors and the editorial teams, for example, of the Ghana Journal of Geography and the Contemporary Journal of African Studies are now fully using the OJS from the submission of articles by authors through the OJS system to the assignment of handling editors, reviewers and communication with authors. This has improved tracking of articles and overall efficiency of the journals. Health Sciences Investigation Journal also reported that guidance during the project on adopting robust OJS software streamlined their  submission, peer review, and publishing processes.

Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology has revamped its editorial board, with new and current scholars included. 

Based on the workshops, journals are building a pool of reviewers that will improve the review turnaround time. 

Health Sciences Investigation Journal has drafted strong policies on copyright and Creative Commons licensing, data sharing, and publication ethics. This created a trustworthy framework that attracted more serious submissions.

“EIFL’s support went beyond philosophy. They provided critical capacity-building resources that professionalized our operations.”  –  Amin Baba Agongo, Editorial Board Member for The Health Sciences Investigation Journal 

Enhancing journal visibility

During a workshop on indexing, editors and editorial teams of journals were taken through criteria and processes for indexing in SCOPUS.  The Health Sciences Investigations Journal is already indexed in SCOPUS and the Ghana Journal of Geography is putting together an application for indexing in SCOPUS that will be submitted in 2026.  

Enhanced communication and collaboration between journal teams

“The workshops provided an opportunity for editors and editorial assistants from different journals who usually work in isolation to share knowledge and experiences, enabling peer learning,” says Joseph Yaro, Editor in Chief, Ghana Journal of Geography. 

“For example, during one of the workshops on marketing strategies for journals, diversification of the editorial teams and international advisory boards was discussed. Ghana Journal of Geography Editor in Chief, Joseph Yaro, shared experiences of how by engaging editorial board members from East Africa, submission diversity increased from scholars in East Africa. Prior to that, a significant proportion of the contributions were from English speaking West Africa particularly Nigeria. But by including reputable scholars from other regions, submissions from those regions increased and thus the readership of the journal. This was also confirmed by the Contemporary Journal of African Studies (CJAS) which also has a diverse editorial board.” said Austin Dziwornu Ablo.

There is now a mailing list, and WhatsApp groups that all editors and editorial assistants are currently on and use to share information. 

"Furthermore, EIFL’s network connected us with a no-fee-Diamond Community of Practice in Africa – other library-supported journals, editors, and advocates. This broke our isolation, allowing us to solve problems collaboratively and stay abreast of global trends in scholarly communication," said Amin Baba Agongo.

The University of Ghana’s project is one of 33 projects that have received grant support through a three-year project to strengthen Diamond 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.

 OA-AFRICA-GRANTEE