AfricArxiv

🌐 Website: https://info.africarxiv.org/
📍 Country: Brazil
📂 Affiliation: Community-led initiative supported by Access 2 Perspectives and hosted on multiple platforms including OSF, Zenodo, ScienceOpen, and PubPub
📚 Area(s) of Study (AOS): Multidisciplinary – Health Sciences, Biological Sciences, Humanities, Social Sciences, Engineering, and more

🧠 Introduction

AfricArXiv is a free, open-source, community-led digital archive for African research. Established in 2018, it aims to increase the visibility of African research outputs and foster collaboration among African scientists. The platform accepts a wide range of scholarly works, including preprints, postprints, datasets, and more, and encourages submissions in African languages to promote linguistic diversity in scholarly communication.

🛠️ Key Features & Functions

• Multidisciplinary Coverage: Accepts submissions across all research domains.
• Multiple Hosting Platforms: Partners with OSF, Zenodo, ScienceOpen, and PubPub to host submissions.
• DOI Assignment: Each submission receives a DOI, enhancing discoverability and citation.
• Open Licensing: Submissions are typically licensed under CC BY 4.0, promoting reuse and sharing.
• Language Diversity: Encourages submissions in African languages, as well as English, French, and Portuguese.
• Supplementary Materials: Allows authors to upload datasets, code, and other supplementary files alongside their manuscripts.
• Versioning: Authors can upload revised versions of their work, with each version being citable.

⚖️ Editorial & Ethical Standards

Moderation Process: Submissions undergo a moderation process to check for quality and compliance with submission guidelines. This is not a peer-review process but ensures that the content is appropriate and meets basic standards .

Peer Review Options: While AfricArXiv does not conduct peer reviews, it collaborates with platforms like Peer Community In (PCI) to facilitate community-driven peer review processes .

Ethical Compliance: Adheres to COPE guidelines and maintains policies for handling ethical concerns and retractions.

💬 User Experience & Community Feedback

Strengths:

• Accessibility: Free to submit and access, promoting equitable dissemination of research.
• Multilingual Support: Accommodates submissions in multiple languages, broadening its reach.
• Community Engagement: Encourages feedback and collaboration among researchers.

Criticisms:

• Limited Global Recognition: Primarily known within African academic circles, potentially limiting international exposure.
• Platform Fragmentation: Hosting across multiple platforms may lead to inconsistencies in user experience.

🗣️ Have experience with this platform? Help others decide.

Share your insights in the comments below. Tell us:

• 💲 Cost – Was it truly free? Any hidden charges or integration fees?
• ⏱️ Posting Speed – Was your preprint published quickly after submission
• 🌍 Visibility – Did your preprint gain views, downloads, or media attention
• 🤝 Community Interaction – Did you receive feedback, comments, or engagement
• ⚠️ Concerns – Anything unexpected or frustrating during submission or post-publication?
• ⭐ Your overall rating – Click here to submit

Your feedback helps other researchers make smarter, more confident decisions. Thank you for contributing to a more transparent publishing community!

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The information presented in this review is compiled from publicly available third-party sources, including the platform’s official website, publisher documentation, and independent directories (e.g., COPE, Crossref, ASAPbio). This review is intended for informational purposes only and does not represent the views or official statements of the platform or its affiliates.

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