Trends and Challenges of Academic Publishing in Ethiopian Public Universities

Abstract

t: Though it is said that research and publication have been given
attention in Ethiopian academic institutions, disseminating research outputs
using scholarly publications has become challenging. From experience, by
virtue of the researcher’s position as an editor, he has heard challenges of
academic publishing from authors, reviewers and academics. This study
assessed the trends and challenges of academic publishing in Ethiopian
public universities. The study was delimited to five geographically scattered
public universities and to arrive at the intended purpose, questionnaire,
researcher’s diary (reflective journal), interview and documents (research
manuals, publication guidelines and publication offices action plans) were
employed. The study revealed that academic publishing has almost been
taken as subsidiary activity in the sample public universities. The universities
engaged their academics more in the teaching-learning than in research and
publication. Many of the academics involved in academic publishing did so to
get promoted. The editorial practices of the sampled universities were also
found to be too lengthy. Moreover, proper feedback communications were not
held among editors, authors and assessors. The study, further, identified that
the reputability of journals was determined by the universities where the
journals were housed; no external body accredited them. Finally, based on
the results, conclusions were drawn and recommendations were suggested.