Call for Papers on Science Technology Innovation and Development in Africa in a special issue of JSCIRES

Call for Papers in a special issue of the Journal of Scientometric Research 

Special issue on: Science Technology Innovation and Development in Africa

Background

The African Union (AU previously OAU) has developed a science, technology and innovation strategy for African sustainable development. There are many strategies adopted from time to time. For example, in 1979 Africa adopted the Monrovia Strategy; in 1980 adopted the Lagos Plan of Action. In 2013, the AU has produced "Agenda 2063 to realize fully the African unity by integrating the economy with science, technology and innovation. The Africa Union has NEPAD, Peer Review Mechanism, Peace and Security, the African Parliament, STISA 2024 and Agenda 2063. The AU is good at producing protocols to generate the "Africa We Want" to transform Africa "into the global powerhouse of the future". This agenda 2063 has also included science, technology and innovation (STI) for Africa's overall integrated and sustainable development by aligning with the STISA 2024 that has been declared a year after agenda 2063. In 2014, the AU created a specific sectoral strategy on science, technology and innovation by adopting a 10-year Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024). The strategy aims to address the pressing challenges through skill development, capacity building, entrepreneurship development, intellectual property generation and protection.

The strategies are well articulated; but the implementation is challenging. There are a few countries like South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya and the Northern African countries which are quite well performing while some other countries are lagging behind. Some research output shows that there is a significant increase in the number of scientific publications and patents from Africa. However, the publications and patents from Africa are attributed to only a few countries for example South Africa from South and Egypt from the North. There is a need to cover as many parts of Africa as possible to discover the research publications and patents generated in all parts of Africa.

This special issue of Journal of Scientometric Research (JSCIRes) calls for papers on various Science and Technology issues of African Continent to comprehend the breadth and depth of the scientific publications and patents, innovation hubs and industrial parks from Africa. Papers for the special issue are called for in any of the following   Science, Technology and Innovation thematic areas:

1. ST&I indicators with special reference in the African context.
2. Country specific case study including the S, T & I policy perspectives.
3. Science and technology measurements from the regional perspective for example S&T development in Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), Southern African Development Community (SADAC), The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD),  Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and in specific manufacturing, agricultural and service sectors.
4. The digital and knowledge economy with Science, Technology and Innovation  for African Sustainable Development.
5. Intra and Inter African  Scientific collaborations.
6. Open science and its relevance in developing countries particularly in African context.

Submission Guidelines

To submit the full manuscript, authors should read carefully the journal instructions and requirements in terms of length, reference style. Submissions can be made using the following links: https://www.journalonweb.com/jscires/

Full manuscript to be considered for publication in the Special issue of "Science Technology Innovation and Development in Africa". Submission of a full manuscript does not indicate automatic acceptance for the present special issue.

All full manuscripts to be considered for the special issue must be submitted through the online submission system and subjected to double blind peer review and inclusion in the Special Issue will be determined on a final acceptance decision by the Editor-in-Chief the basis of peer reviews and recommendations made by the Guest Editors.

Important dates

• Abstract submission deadline: 31st March 2020  (to be sent to the Guest Editors  )
• Full paper submission deadline: 30th June 2020 (should be submitted to the online journal submission system)
• Publication of the issues: October/ November 2020

Guest Editors: 

• Swapan Kumar Patra  (skpatra[@]gmail.com, PatraSK[@]tut.ac.za) 
• Mammo Muchie (Mammo.muchie[@]gmail.com; muchiem[@]tut.ac.za)

Further Details