The Potential of Open Science for Research Visibility in the Global South: Rwandan Librarians’ Perspectives

Abstract

The weak visibility of African research outputs and scholarship in established global publication outlets and research networks is often the subject of debate. Encouragingly, some discourses around open science appear to offer a solution for this issue. In this paper we explore whether and how open science can help in addressing the inequities that seem to hinder African scholarship, by taking a closer look at the research environment of one particular country, Rwanda. We drew upon the experiential knowledge of four senior librarians in Rwandan higher learning institutions through a week-long data gathering and engagement workshop. We then analysed this data and compared it to three literature-based perspectives on the issues underlying the perceived invisibility of African scholarship. From our findings, we conclude that research contexts may be systemically and structurally constituted and that open science initiatives may only offer partial solutions when considered within a broader appreciation of these constraints. We offer support to decolonial approaches in reframing these efforts.

Health sciences librarians’ engagement in open science: a scoping review

“…As Sarcina says, OS “may take different shades according to geographic perspectives across nations and regions [and] can differ according to the stakeholders and actors involved” [ 8 ]. One paper involving Rwandan librarians makes a plea to include African voices in OS and to guard against excessive input from countries where OS originates and is well resourced [ 9 ].…”