Description

Since the 1990s, global academic publishing has been transformed by digitisation, consolidation and the rise of the internet. The data produced by commercially-owned citation indexes increasingly defines legitimate academic knowledge. Publication in prestigious ëhigh impactí journals can be traded for academic promotion, tenure and job security. African researchers and publishers labour in the shadows of a global knowledge system dominated by ëNortherní journals and by global publishing conglomerates. This book goes beyond the numbers. It shows how the Ghanaian academy is being transformed by this bibliometric economy. It offers a rich account of the voices and perspectives of Ghanaian academics and African journal publishers. How, where and when are Ghanaís researchers disseminating their work, and what do these experiences reveal about an unequal global science system? Is there pressure to publish in ëreputableí. international journals? What role do supervisors, collaborators and mentors play? And how do academics manage in conditions of scarcity?