Pluto Journals and African Books Collective have launched the African Journals Initiative (AJI), a three-year pilot project designed to amplify the visibility and reach of diamond Open Access social science and humanities journals published by African universities.

Supported by ScienceOpen and JSTOR, the initiative addresses a longstanding challenge: ensuring that rigorous African scholarship produced on the continent reaches researchers, students, and institutions worldwide, as central contributors to global knowledge production. The African Journals Initiative will support a small but growing community of no-fee Open Access journals, providing services that include enhanced discoverability and indexing, user-friendly submission systems, annual impact reports, and strategic promotion.

The initiative’s first cohort includes six  journals spanning the continent: Dhaxalreeb from the Somaliland Centre for African Studies, focusing on the Horn of Africa; Zamani: A Journal of African Historical Studies from the University of Dar es Salaam; Ibadan Journal of Sociology from Nigeria; Legon Journal of the Humanities from the University of Ghana; Ethiopian Journal of Education; and the Journal of Humanities from the University of Malawi. Each journal represents decades of scholarly tradition, yet many have struggled with the visibility challenges that plague African academic publishing. AJI’s support promises to change that trajectory.

Guiding the initiative is an advisory board of distinguished scholars and publishing experts: Prof. Frederick Ato Armah, director of Research and Programmes at the Association of African Universities; Prof. Akosua K. Darkwah from the University of Ghana’s sociology department; Elizabeth Le Roux, who coordinates the Publishing Studies programme at the University of Pretoria; Prof. Abebe Zegeye, vice president of Wollo University in Ethiopia; and Mike Schramm, whose experience includes work with AJOL and NISC in South Africa. Their expertise ensures that the initiative understands the scholarly rigor and practical realities of African academic publishing.

The initiative is already expanding. Six additional journals will join in 2026, including Bakwethu: A Journal of Shakespeare Studies from South Africa and Ghana Journal of Sociology and Anthropology. Applications are now open for journals seeking to join in 2027.  Learn more at africanbookscollective.com/african-journals-initiative.