The Journal of the Kenya Association of Physicians (JOKAP) is a peer-reviewed, no-fee (Diamond) open access medical journal dedicated to advancing clinical medicine, public health and medical research in Africa and beyond. The journal serves as a platform for disseminating high-quality research, clinical case studies, systematic reviews, and expert perspectives that contribute to evidence-based medical practice.

JOKAP was established in 2018 as the official journal of the Kenya Association of Physicians, which has 500 members. It was later adopted as the official journal of the East Central and Southern African College of Physicians (ECSACOP), which includes membership from Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

In 2024 EIFL awarded the Kenya Association of Physicians a grant for a project (October 2024 - May 2026) to improve the reach and impact of JOKAP by building the capacity of editorial staff and expanding the journal’s pool of skilled peer reviewers; enhancing and upgrading the quality of the journal’s website, and improving the journal’s visibility. 

What has changed as a result of the project?

Strengthened authorship capacity, improving submission quality and compliance with publication ethics

In partnership with the East and Central African Journal of Surgery (ECAJS), JOKAP designed and delivered an author training workshop comprising 22 sessions over a period of three months to equip students, postgraduates, and early-career researchers from across sub-Saharan Africa in health and related fields with practical tools for impactful research and publishing. Sessions guided participants on the steps from conceptualizing a research idea to manuscript preparation, research ethics, and strategies for publishing in peer-reviewed journals and post-publication activities. All sessions were recorded, edited and are available through the JOKAP website. 

The JOKAP-ECAJS Author Training Workshop demonstrated strong engagement, attracting a total of 960 participants, including medical students, registrars, physicians and surgical residents. 

“The post-course evaluation reflected an increase in participants' knowledge –  94% of the course participants reported that they were ‘Very Likely’ or ‘Likely’ to apply the skills learned, and 72% indicated that they were ‘Very Likely’ to implement knowledge gained,” said Dr Bundi Karau, the Managing Editor of JOKAP. 

In addition, 98% of the post-course evaluation survey respondents reported improved confidence in their research capabilities, and the majority indicated that they had plans to initiate research projects within six months (94%), intentions to submit manuscripts within 12 months (87%) and to pursue ongoing mentorship connections (76%). The journal runs a mentorship programme for upcoming authors and resident students in internal medicine, where the editorial technical team conducts one-on-one sessions on manuscript preparation, publication processes and manuscript submission. Members of the Kenya Association of Physicians who have research ideas have a platform where they can be guided on the steps in preparing a publication. 

Dr Paul Bundi Karau shared information about the JOKAP author training, and results of the training, during an EIFL webinar on training programmes for journal editorial teams, reviewers and authors in June 2026. 

To widen the reach of the training, JOKAP leveraged new partnerships with the International Federation of Medical Students Association (IFMSA), Medical students Association of Kenya (MSAKE), Kenya Medical Laboratory Students Association (KEMELSA), the medical education platform XYZEDI MED, and Standing Committee on Research Exchange (SCORE). 

JOKAP has an expanded pool of peer reviewers

Recruiting of reviewers took place during the East, Central and Southern Africa College of Physicians Scientific Conference (26-29 August 2025). In all, 72 new reviewers were recruited and trained on the basic principles of peer review, increasing the journal’s reviewed database by over 30%. 

To motivate and retain peer reviewers, JOKAP has introduced a Reviewer Certification Framework, including the initiation of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) accreditation. The Reviewer Certification Framework entails modular training by accredited reviewers and researchers for selected reviewers before onboarding as journal reviewers. All reviewers who complete the training receive 20 CPD points as part of their annual professional regulatory registration requirements.

Journal workflows are more efficient, policy and quality frameworks are more robust and the journal website is more comprehensive and user-friendly

• The Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform has been fully operationalized, streamlining manuscript submission, peer review, and editorial decision-making, significantly reducing turnaround times. 
• JOKAP editors and technical editors have been trained to manage the fully operationalized OJS platform and streamlined editorial workflows. 
• Peer review process has been strengthened via updated reviewer guidelines, structured feedback templates, and pre-review quality control.
• Author support has been strengthened with introduced checklists and improved communication tools to enhance manuscript preparation and compliance.
• Journal archives have been updated by adding missing papers and issues.
• Improved the practices in assigning DOIs, metadata accuracy and assigning DOIs to back issues to enhance discoverability 
• Journal interoperability has been improved with mandatory ORCID for all authors. 
• Regular audits of the editorial workflow to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies have been instituted. Email templates on the OJS platform have been updated, and routine follow-up on status of articles with authors takes place.

A turn-around time of more than one month for the first editorial decision has been reduced to less than one week since the training of editors and strengthening of editorial practices and workflow in the website.” said Samuel Mwenda, JOKAP’s editorial assistant.

• The journal’s website has been updated with revised guidelines for authors and reviewers, editorial policies, and submission instructions, improving accessibility and transparency.
• Pre-submission and pre-review checklists have been created, ensuring consistency and adherence to COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) and ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) standards.
• Editorial policies on plagiarism, the use of AI and archiving data have been revised and enhanced and plagiarism screening institutionalized.
• The JOKAP mailing list subscription form is now available on the website to attract subscribers.

Increased visibility

• Indexing in international databases: The journal is now indexed on African Researchers Magazine, DOAJ and ASCI Database and is available on AJOL, giving JOKAP visibility within research networks. To further improve visibility, by the end of the project, a number of indexing applications were either in preparation (PubMed, Scopus, and Medknow) or had been submitted and were awaiting responses (EBSCO, ESCI, and African Index Medicus). 
• Increased social media presence: JOKAP’s social media presence and audience have expanded across all the journal’s channels  (X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and WhatsApp) as a result of more intensive communications of JOKAP activities.  
• Search Engine Optimization through Google and Google Scholar accounts has led to better search and hits for the journal, increasing visibility among researchers and readers.

Who sustains JOKAP’s ongoing expenses? 

The Kenya Association of Physicians will continue to sustain JOKAP’s running costs, including maintenance of the OJS platform; stipends/remuneration for the technical editorial team which includes editorial assistants, interns and the type-setter; printing and distribution of the journal issues to the association’s members. 

Lessons learnt and recommendations to other journals and institutions supporting Diamond open access publishing

• Strengthening editorial systems and developing clear policies is essential not only for improving journal quality and efficiency, but also for meeting the rigorous requirements of indexing applications.
• A robust Diamond OA journal requires a strong editorial team. JOKAP has adopted an editorial intern model in which full-time interns contact editors, reviewers and authors, and work on day-to-day issues affecting the journal. 
• Once the journal is producing high quality work, it is easier to attract funding from the host institution and / or other institutional / individual donors. 
• Once efficient workflows have been instituted, the staff requirement decreases, and the daily cost of running the journal reduces.

The Kenya Association of Physicians 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. 

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