Society of African Journal Editors
This week a paper I coauthored with authors based in Togo was published in the African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND) .
In the same issue, I found an announcement by Nyerhovwo Tonukari , titled: "The Revival of the Society of African Journal Editors (SAJE)"
The SAJE website can be seen here: http://africaneditors.org/
I am glad to see that this Society exists, as it may encourage authors based in Africa to publish in African journals, while helping to raise writing, editing and journal standards across the continent.
When we discussed possible journals for submission of our new paper, the lead author's first suggestion was an "international" journal based outside Africa (it shall remain nameless here). This was a journal with no subject focus and no relation to agriculture. All it could promise was fast and cheap publication, which is an almost certain route to oblivion.
The journal we eventually published with is international, has authors from all over Africa and beyond, and has a strong focus on agriculture. Our paper is now likely to reach readers who are interested in the content.
Among its various roles, Society of African Journal Editors also aims to "p romote maximum utilization of African journals in academia, the development community and among policy makers, (and to) enhance the global visibility of African journals."
I hope that our network can support SAJE in various ways in the coming years.
Please visit the SAJE website !
The efforts of SAJE will be of interest to Research Cooperative members based in Africa, and may be a good model for editors in other regions of the world.