On 28 August 2025, UbuntuNet Alliance together with Access2Perspectives, supported by the African Open Science Platform, hosted the latest session in the AfricArXiv Open Science Webinar Series. The webinar, titled “PKP: Optimizing OJS for Journal Publishing in Africa”, brought together journal editors, technical staff, open science advocates, and institutional stakeholders from across Africa to explore how the Open Journal Systems (OJS) can be leveraged more effectively in the African context. The presentation was made by Müge Bakioglu from the Public Knowledge Project (PKP)
The discussion delved into both technical and institutional challenges: from customizing OJS workflows, ensuring scalability and stability for growing user bases, to making sure that editorial processes and peer review mechanisms built into OJS support high-quality publishing. Müge shared real-world experiences from African journals, highlighting both successes and bottlenecks, such as issues around resource constraints, training of editorial teams, and integrating OJS with indexing and visibility platforms. The session concluded with a lively Q&A, where participants asked about sustainability, localization of tools, and strategies for increasing the reach and impact of regionally published work.
This webinar is part of the broader AfricArXiv Open Science Webinar Series (organized by UbuntuNet Alliance and Access2Perspectives with support from the African Open Science Platform). The series aims to amplify awareness and build capacity around open science tools, practices, and policies across Africa. Past sessions have covered topics such as open data management, peer review models, and inclusive infrastructural frameworks for research dissemination.
Looking ahead, UbuntuNet Alliance encourages all members, partners, and friends of open science to join upcoming webinars in the series. These sessions are free, virtual, and bring in a mix of expert presentations, case studies, and interactive discussion. Those interested can register and view the schedule of future webinars via the AfricArXiv Open Science Webinar Series page: info-africarxiv.ubuntunet.net/open-science-webinar-series.