Bibliometric Coloniality in Africa Bibliometric Coloniality in Africa: Challenges, Drivers, and Strategies for Resistance

This conceptual paper critically engages with bibliometric coloniality, a concept that refers to the systems and structures of domination of global academic publishing by scholarly indexes and academic bodies based in Europe and North America. These indexes serve as gatekeepers of academic credibility, relevance and visibility. Due to the domination of journals from the Global North and the absence of African journals in major scholarly indexes, most academic journals from Africa are marginalised and remain largely invisible on the global stage. The article offers a decolonial critique of the challenges linked to bibliometric coloniality and Euro-American hegemony in knowledge production and dissemination. It highlights and synthesises key directions and options for addressing, resisting and/or dismantling global bibliometric coloniality. The article also explores how to begin tackling the challenges and hegemonies linked to bibliometric coloniality on the African continent, whether inclusion in dominant indexes or the development of an African scholarly index should be prioritised, and where to find resources and funding for the development of comprehensive scholarly infrastructure and platforms in Africa.