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How to keep science local
Comment and analysis–
Whose science is it anyway? The prestige of international journals and a lack of thriving local alternatives is distorting research in the developing world, says Priya Shetty THE most vital debates at scientific conferences rarely take place during the formal sessions. At the World Health Organization (WHO) meeting of African health ministers in Algiers last month, the hot topic during the lunch breaks was the desperate need to improve the state of academic publishing in developing countries. This might seem a surprising choice, given the pressing challenges facing these nations. But the lack of local journals in which to publish scientific research, in particular in fields such as health, has serious consequences. Local journals exist in developing countries, but many are failing. A study by Edith Certain at the WHO in 2003 showed that only 10 out of 23 francophone African countries had a locally published medical journal (Médicine Tropicale, vol 63, p 627). These journals are locked in a vicious circle. Researchers think there is little value in publishing in them, preferring the cachet of globally recognised journals, meaning that they struggle to publish papers of the quality needed to attract future authors. This situation is not new, but it has been given a new urgency by the enormous efforts developing nations are making to increase their scientific output in general, and in particular to shore up health research. At present, policy-makers often turn to global research to inform their work, because the research from their own scientific community is so sparse. Committing to spending more on health research is admirable, but for this to reap any real reward it must be underpinned by a parallel increase in the quality and quantity of locally published journals. Why? For a start, research published in international journals might not be relevant to the needs of individual countries. For example, academics specialising in mental health, such as Vikram Patel at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, have argued that India’s cash-strapped mental health services should offer 20 | NewScientist | 12 July 2008
access to community health workers and not just specialised psychiatrists and psychologists, but such debates seldom make it into the pages of international journals. Furthermore, by developing the research culture, local health journals can empower societies to be more engaged in the way healthcare is administered. Such involvement might have avoided the appalling failure of the WHO’s polio vaccination campaign in northern Nigeria in 2003, which fell apart after widespread panic caused by fears that the vaccine was contaminated with HIV. And in non-anglophone countries, journals in the locally used language can provide a useful channel by which to publicise local research that has appeared in international journals – typically in English. The urge in developing countries to publish research findings in prestigious journals such as The Lancet, Nature or Science is understandable. The cachet these publications carry can make or break careers, and publishing in them can also make it easier to be
“Funding local journals must become part of the portfolio of development agencies”
part of global collaborations. But this preference will inevitably skew the direction of scientific inquiry. Locally relevant research – not only in healthcare but also in areas like agriculture and the environment – may not be easily publishable in international journals and so is less likely to be given priority. One way around this is for universities to give additional recognition to researchers who publish such research in local journals, says Certain, who now runs the WHO’s TropIKA.net website publicising tropical-disease research. Some good local journals do exist. Certain points out that The South African Medical Journal is one of the oldest journals in Africa, and well respected. Uganda’s much younger African Health Sciences journal is promising too. But many journals in developing countries are hampered by the traditional business model of trying to make a profit from print subscriptions – which is challenging, given the dearth of funds to cover subscription fees and the lack of decent postal and transport infrastructure. The revenues available to international medical journals from subscriptions and advertising (which is one reason many publishers are fiercely opposed to open access) simply don’t exist in developing countries. Publishing online is clearly the way forward, and the mushrooming of open-access journals in the west offers a model for how this can be done. Agencies such as the Wellcome Trust have thrown their weight behind openaccess initiatives, partly to ensure researchers in developing countries have access to international journals. If the Trust itself began to fund the publishing of open-access journals in developing countries, that would be an even bigger positive step. Development agencies are starting to bankroll longterm efforts to strengthen health systems, but investing in local journals must become part of their funding portfolio too. Developing countries are beginning to take ownership of the research they undertake. Now they must start to take control of where that research is published. ● Priya Shetty writes about the importance of science to developing countries www.newscientist.com
Whose science is it anyway? The prestige of international journals and a lack of thriving local alternatives is distorting research in the developing world, says Priya Shetty THE most vital debates at scientific conferences rarely take place during the formal sessions. At the World Health Organization (WHO) meeting of African health ministers in Algiers last month, the hot topic during the lunch breaks was the desperate need to improve the state of academic publishing in developing countries. This might seem a surprising choice, given the pressing challenges facing these nations. But the lack of local journals in which to publish scientific research, in particular in fields such as health, has serious consequences. Local journals exist in developing countries, but many are failing. A study by Edith Certain at the WHO in 2003 showed that only 10 out of 23 francophone African countries had a locally published medical journal (Médicine Tropicale, vol 63, p 627). These journals are locked in a vicious circle. Researchers think there is little value in publishing in them, preferring the cachet of globally recognised journals, meaning that they struggle to publish papers of the quality needed to attract future authors. This situation is not new, but it has been given a new urgency by the enormous efforts developing nations are making to increase their scientific output in general, and in particular to shore up health research. At present, policy-makers often turn to global research to inform their work, because the research from their own scientific community is so sparse. Committing to spending more on health research is admirable, but for this to reap any real reward it must be underpinned by a parallel increase in the quality and quantity of locally published journals. Why? For a start, research published in international journals might not be relevant to the needs of individual countries. For example, academics specialising in mental health, such as Vikram Patel at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, have argued that India’s cash-strapped mental health services should offer 20 | NewScientist | 12 July 2008
access to community health workers and not just specialised psychiatrists and psychologists, but such debates seldom make it into the pages of international journals. Furthermore, by developing the research culture, local health journals can empower societies to be more engaged in the way healthcare is administered. Such involvement might have avoided the appalling failure of the WHO’s polio vaccination campaign in northern Nigeria in 2003, which fell apart after widespread panic caused by fears that the vaccine was contaminated with HIV. And in non-anglophone countries, journals in the locally used language can provide a useful channel by which to publicise local research that has appeared in international journals – typically in English. The urge in developing countries to publish research findings in prestigious journals such as The Lancet, Nature or Science is understandable. The cachet these publications carry can make or break careers, and publishing in them can also make it easier to be
“Funding local journals must become part of the portfolio of development agencies”
part of global collaborations. But this preference will inevitably skew the direction of scientific inquiry. Locally relevant research – not only in healthcare but also in areas like agriculture and the environment – may not be easily publishable in international journals and so is less likely to be given priority. One way around this is for universities to give additional recognition to researchers who publish such research in local journals, says Certain, who now runs the WHO’s TropIKA.net website publicising tropical-disease research. Some good local journals do exist. Certain points out that The South African Medical Journal is one of the oldest journals in Africa, and well respected. Uganda’s much younger African Health Sciences journal is promising too. But many journals in developing countries are hampered by the traditional business model of trying to make a profit from print subscriptions – which is challenging, given the dearth of funds to cover subscription fees and the lack of decent postal and transport infrastructure. The revenues available to international medical journals from subscriptions and advertising (which is one reason many publishers are fiercely opposed to open access) simply don’t exist in developing countries. Publishing online is clearly the way forward, and the mushrooming of open-access journals in the west offers a model for how this can be done. Agencies such as the Wellcome Trust have thrown their weight behind openaccess initiatives, partly to ensure researchers in developing countries have access to international journals. If the Trust itself began to fund the publishing of open-access journals in developing countries, that would be an even bigger positive step. Development agencies are starting to bankroll longterm efforts to strengthen health systems, but investing in local journals must become part of their funding portfolio too. Developing countries are beginning to take ownership of the research they undertake. Now they must start to take control of where that research is published. ● Priya Shetty writes about the importance of science to developing countries www.newscientist.com