Scientists in Tanzania have called upon the government to inject more funds into research for production of reputable journals. The call was made by the Tanzania Academy of Sciences (TAAS) Chairman, Prof Esther Mwaikambo in Dar es Salaam when opening a one day workshop at the Commission for Science and Technology (Costech).
Themed: Policy Support for Financing, Quality and Comprehensive Analysis of Journals and Strategies to increase Quality and Use of Online Publishing Technology, the workshop involved policy makers, academics, private sector operators, research organisations and key implementers.
According to Prof Esther, 1 percent from the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is too small and likely to hinder the performance of local researchers. She further said once the government has released enough funds it would enable researchers to conduct studies and publish journals that are reputable.
She however admitted that most of the research conducted by local researchers in the country are more competitive compared to those done by foreigners.
For her part, Prof Agnes Mwakaje, the Director of Post Graduate Studies at the University of Dar es salaam said policy makers should come up with mechanisms on how to strengthen locally published journals. She detailed that most of Tanzanian published journals are localised, hence cannot be accessed online for review compared to what happens in other African countries.
According to Paul Muneja from the University of Dar es salaam, local researchers face a lot of challenges including lack of motivation in their studies. He listed other challenges as technology related issues, paper writing knowledge, high articles processing charges, high rejection rate and delays in getting feedback from the publishers.
On April 15, this year, the government urged researchers, innovators, scientists and other key stakeholders in agriculture to work together beyond their specialisations and institutional mandates to address the expected and unexpected concerns.
The call was made in Dar es Salaam by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives Raphael Daluti when officiating at a round table meeting on policies and regulatory incentive for promoting innovations in the use of biopesticides and management of industrial effluents.
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