Nigerian research platform celebrates first Google Scholar indexing

Research Africa, a Nigerian books publishing initiative, has announced that its first digitised academic journal has been indexed on Google Scholar.

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The development was made known in a press statement signed by Olasunkanmi Arowolo, the founder of the hub, on Monday, 9 June.

According to the statement, the content that was featured in the index was produced by authors from the Lagos State University (LASU).

Entitled Media and Communication Review, the indexed book was originally published by LASU in 2021 and digitised by Research Africa in 2023.

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The authors of the journal include Rotimi Olatunji, an erudite professor of public relations; Tunde Akanni, a professor of development communications; Thanny Nooem, a senior lecturer of advertising; Ganiu Okunnu, a Ph.D holder in communications studies, among others.

“This marks a major milestone in our mission to digitise and globally amplify academic journals from the Global South,” parts of the statement stated.

The statement added that Research Africa’s pilot project, which seeks to digitally archive high-quality academic content that had limited or no digital footprint in Nigeria, has started working with Lagos, the country’s commercial epicenter.

Mr Arowolo said he considers the feat as both a product of academic dexterity and the strategic potential of the edu-tech initiative.

The UK-based publisher noted that the development is a vital step in addressing the imbalance in global academic visibility, adding that: “we are proud to have begun this journey with Lagos State University; an institution known for excellence and look forward to expanding this impact across the continent.”

He added that getting on Google Scholar index will also make the work globally searchable, giving it enhanced credibility while contributing to research equity and inclusion.

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About Research Africa

Based in Lagos and established in January 2023, Research Africa is a publishing company that focuses on academic publishing, specifically journals of African research origin.

It was born out of deep concern for the age-long inaccessibility of scholarly and peer-reviewed academic journals of African origin.

The initiative aims to host, publish and digitally distribute peer-reviewed journals of African origin to the global online community, thus addressing the problem of international visibility for journals of African extraction.