Afropus: What Has Been Achieved So Far

What Has Been Achieved So Far by Afropus? Explore its growing catalogue of African journals, research, institutions, and indexing standards.

TL;DR

• Afropus has built a public catalogue listing 1,015 journals, 1,816 institutions, and nearly 195,000 scholarly work URLs at the time of review.
• Its platform connects journals, institutions, researchers, and scholarly publications to make research easier to discover.
• Afropus has published proposed standards covering journal selection, research integrity, and metadata.
• The platform aims to improve the visibility of African scholarship, including multilingual and underrepresented research.
• Its pilot framework sets out how journal evaluation and indexing processes should be tested before wider operations.

Finding African research should not require searching through dozens of separate websites, journal directories, and university repositories. 

Yet much of the continent’s scholarly work is spread across different publishing platforms, making it harder for researchers to discover relevant studies and connect with the people behind them.

Afropus was created to help address this challenge. It is an Africa-focused scholarly discovery and indexing platform designed to bring journals, research papers, institutions, and researchers into one searchable environment. Its mission responds to a wider issue of why Africa has remained underrepresented in research works.

So, how far has Afropus come? The platform now has a sizeable public catalogue, published standards for its proposed indexing process, and a defined plan for testing its approach. There is still work to do, but these developments offer a clearer picture of what Afropus has achieved so far.

Building a Searchable Catalogue of African Scholarship

One of Afropus’s clearest achievements is that researchers can already explore a public catalogue of journals, institutions, and scholarly works on the platform.

Like other academic databases and search engines, Afropus aims to help users find scholarly material, with a particular focus on research connected to Africa.

Rather than remaining a project concept, Afropus has built a searchable foundation that brings different parts of the research ecosystem together. Its directories give users a starting point for finding journals, exploring institutional research, and accessing individual publication records.

The Numbers Behind Afropus So Far

At the time of review, Afropus’s public website and sitemaps showed:

• 1,015 journals listed in the journal directory.
• 1,816 institutions listed in the institution directory.
• At least 194,989 scholarly work URLs across four public sitemap files.
• At least 350,000 author URLs across the first seven author sitemap files reviewed.
• 55 countries or jurisdictions listed in the sitemap.

These figures show the scale of the catalogue Afropus has assembled. They are live website counts, however, rather than independently audited measures of research impact. Counts may also differ across pages because the website can be updated and different sections may use different snapshots or definitions.

Connecting Journals, Institutions, Researchers, and Publications

The value of the catalogue goes beyond the number of records it contains. Afropus organises information in ways that can help users move between related parts of the research ecosystem.

Journal records can show titles, publishers, ISSNs, countries, subject areas, and associated works. Institution records connect universities and research centres with journals and publications, while individual work pages provide another way to find scholarly material.

This creates a foundation for discovering research through different routes, whether someone starts with a journal, an institution, an author, or a particular work.

Explore the Afropus journal directory, institution directory, and sitemap to see how this catalogue is organised.

Creating a Research Platform with a Continental Focus

Afropus is not trying to be just another general research directory. Its focus is on making scholarship from across Africa easier to find and explore.

Its stated coverage spans North, West, Central, East, and Southern Africa, with the ambition of representing all 55 African jurisdictions. 

The platform also recognises that African scholarship is produced in many languages and forms, not only in widely used academic languages. 

This includes research work in indigenous languages, which deserves greater visibility within the scholarly community.

This includes a stated interest in:

• Research published in African, indigenous, local, endangered, and mother-tongue languages.
• Scholarship from underrepresented regions and institutions.
• Multilingual research and oral knowledge that may be difficult to discover through conventional academic databases.

This focus matters because relevant research can be scattered across university repositories, national journals, scholarly societies, and regional publishing platforms. Afropus aims to make that work easier to discover through a dedicated research platform.

Its continental focus is therefore an important part of its mission. The longer-term challenge is to ensure that this ambition translates into consistent and meaningful coverage across the regions and research communities it intends to serve.

Establishing Public Standards for Research Discovery

Building a research catalogue is one thing. 

Explaining how journals are assessed and how research records should be managed is another.

Afropus has published a collection of proposed governance documents covering journal selection, research integrity, metadata, appeals, metrics, funding, and the role of its proposed Afropus Content Evaluation Council (ACEC).

Making these documents public gives researchers, publishers, and institutions a clearer view of how the platform intends to operate.

Defining Journal Selection and Research Integrity

Afropus’s proposed journal criteria cover several important areas, including:

• A valid ISSN and a clear peer-review policy.
• A named editorial board and a regular publication schedule.
• Research-integrity policies and transparent publication fees.
• Preservation arrangements and compatible metadata.

The framework also states that journals should not be able to buy inclusion through sponsorship or partnership.

These are useful foundations for a research index that wants to be transparent about the journals it includes. However, publishing evaluation criteria is not the same as demonstrating that they are consistently applied. That will need to be established through implementation and evidence over time.

Connecting Afropus to the Wider Scholarly Ecosystem

Afropus also plans to use established scholarly identifiers to connect its records with the wider research ecosystem.

• ORCID helps identify researchers.
• DOI and Crossref records help identify and connect scholarly works.
• ROR provides identifiers for research organisations and institutions.

Using these identifiers can make research records easier to connect, verify, and navigate across platforms. It also supports Afropus’s goal of building an interconnected discovery system rather than keeping information isolated within its own catalogue.

You can review the Afropus standards framework and its content-selection policy for more detail.

Defining a Structured Pilot for Journal Evaluation

Afropus has also outlined how it intends to test its journal evaluation and indexing processes before accepting unrestricted journal applications.

Its published pilot criteria set a target of 25 to 50 journals, covering at least five African countries and three broad disciplines. The idea is to test the process on a curated collection before expanding access.

What the Pilot Is Designed to Test

The pilot is intended to help Afropus assess whether its processes work as planned. This includes testing:

• Journal evaluation and selection.
• The collection and processing of journal metadata.
• Geographic and disciplinary representation.
• The quality and credibility of the initial indexed collection.

These tests are important because a large catalogue is only useful if its records are organised properly and its inclusion process is credible.

The Milestones for Moving Beyond the Pilot

Afropus’s published criteria state that the pilot should be considered complete when several conditions are met, including:

• At least 25 journals have been indexed.
• Geographic and disciplinary representation objectives have been met or publicly explained.
• Governance documents have been adopted.
• A working metadata-ingestion process is in place.
• A public appeals process is available.

These are the platform’s stated completion requirements, not confirmation that every milestone has already been achieved. The documents describe an evolving system with a defined route towards wider operations.

Read the Afropus pilot journal criteria for the full framework.

Gaining Early Visibility Beyond the Afropus Website

Afropus’s progress is also reflected in links and mentions on external research and publishing websites. 

These references show that the platform is beginning to appear beyond its own digital environment, although they do not yet establish widespread recognition.

Three examples stand out.

• World Research Map: Describes Afropus as its Africa-focused sister catalogue and links to its search and indexing pages. This shows a connection between the two research-discovery platforms.
• Physics Access: Lists Afropus among its abstracting, indexing, and scholarly-discovery services. This is a useful journal-level reference, although it does not independently confirm how many of the journal’s records Afropus indexes.
• Scientia: A journal article hosted on the platform links directly to an Afropus journal record, connecting an external publishing platform with a specific catalogue entry.

These references provide early evidence of Afropus’s visibility within the research ecosystem. 

They should not, however, be treated as proof of independent endorsement, comprehensive indexing coverage, or widespread institutional acceptance.

Developing Research Support for African Scholars and Institutions

Afropus’s ambitions extend beyond helping people find research. 

The platform also aims to help researchers and institutions improve their visibility and prepare for open scholarly standards.

Its Research Support programme outlines resources and activities intended to make scholarly publishing practices easier to understand and adopt, particularly for under-resourced institutions.

Tools and Resources for Researchers

The programme includes several forms of support:

• Claimable author profiles and ORCID linking.
• Metadata checklists and guidance on open identifiers.
• Resources on research integrity and scholarly publishing.
• Multilingual materials and low-bandwidth resources.

These tools are intended to help researchers manage their scholarly presence and make their work easier to identify and discover. The programme’s published description indicates that its current focus includes guides and profile claims, while some broader services remain planned for later stages.

Building Capacity Through Outreach and Collaboration

Afropus also highlights outreach to remote and underrepresented institutions, alongside volunteer opportunities in metadata, translation, documentation, engineering, outreach, and partnerships.

These activities could help the platform connect with research communities that are often overlooked by larger discovery systems. However, the programme’s long-term reach and measurable outcomes have yet to be established.

An important principle in Afropus’s approach is that receiving research support should not guarantee inclusion in its index. Support and journal evaluation are intended to remain separate.

Learn more about the programme on the Afropus Research Support page.

What the Future Holds for Afropus

Afropus has made meaningful progress towards its vision of making African research more visible and accessible.

With a growing catalogue, a clear continental focus, and a developing framework for scholarly discovery, the platform is building a foundation for even greater impact across Africa’s research community.

Looking ahead, Afropus aims to build on this progress in several ways:

• Expanding its research catalogue: Bringing more African journals, scholarly works, researchers, and institutions into one accessible discovery platform.
• Connecting African scholarship to the world: Making research from across the continent easier for scholars, universities, publishers, and global research communities to discover.
• Strengthening research standards: Advancing transparent journal evaluation and reliable metadata practices that support confidence in scholarly records.
• Supporting more researchers: Growing resources, multilingual guidance, and collaborative opportunities that help researchers and institutions improve their visibility.
• Building a connected research community: Encouraging collaboration among journals, universities, publishers, and researchers who share a commitment to advancing African scholarship.

Afropus continues to build on its achievements, expanding its reach and creating more opportunities for African scholarship to be discovered and valued.

Every new journal, connected research record, and institutional partnership strengthens this growing research ecosystem.

Through its work, Afropus remains committed to making African research easier to find, increasing its visibility, and connecting the continent’s scholarly contributions with a wider global audience.

Final Thoughts

Afropus has moved beyond the concept stage. 

It has built a sizeable public catalogue, created connections between journals and other research records, published a proposed governance framework, and established a defined approach to pilot testing. Early external references also show that the platform is beginning to appear beyond its own website.

The next stage is about turning this foundation into a consistently implemented and trusted research-discovery service. Demonstrating transparent journal evaluation, effective research support, and measurable benefits for African researchers and institutions will be important to that progress.

Ready to discover African scholarship? 

Explore Afropus to find journals, institutions, and scholarly works, and follow the platform as its research-discovery infrastructure develops.