Supporting AfricArXiv and broadening our universities’ research audience

AfricArXiv is an award-winning, community-led digital archive for African research. In addition to African researchers, it is open to submissions from ‘scientists who report on research relevant to African affairs’. This presents an opportunity for many UK-based authors, who by depositing their eligible papers will make them more accessible to African research users and broaden their readership. Use of Creative Commons licences (whereby authors retain copyright) has made this possible, but some barriers remain. We submitted an initial batch of papers and assessed engagement by research users. We maintained regular dialogue with AfricArXiv to ensure the scholarship is relevant and beneficial, so its potential can be realised.