Addis Ababa University, in collaboration with the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), organized a half-day training workshop on March 26, 2024, which aimed to maximize the global visibility of Addis Ababa University journals.

Professor Worash Getaneh, Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer, and Professor Tadesse Fetahi, Director of the Research and Technology Transfer Office, underscored the immense importance of indexing the university journals as a means to enhance the institution’s academic competitiveness on a global scale. Professor Worash emphasized that collaborating with international institutions would showcase the university’s efforts on a global platform. He gave directions to journal editors to exert maximum effort to ensure all university journals are indexed in internationally recognized indexers, such as DOAJ.

The attendees of the workshop comprised AAU journal editors and college librarians. They expressed the desire to see AAU journals indexed on internationally accepted platforms like DOAJ. The workshop primarily aimed to raise awareness among AAU Journal Editorial Boards regarding the benefits of being indexed in globally recognized databases. This timely workshop would not only foster awareness but also equip participants with the practical skills needed to navigate the application process while applying in DOAJ.

The training workshop was led by Prof. Kamel, Managing Editor at DOAJ and Northern Africa DOAJ Ambassador, along with Dr. Melkamu Beyene, Chief Librarian at AAU and East African DOAJ Ambassador. These trainers showed the open access landscape in Ethiopia, the criteria required for journals to be indexed in DOAJ. They also provided a live demonstration of the application process. In addition, they highlighted how AAU library’s online journal management platform (ejol.aau.edu.et) would facilitate and support journal editors in their journey towards successful indexing, as online presence is a key criterion to be indexed in DOAJ. They showed that indexing AAU journals would undoubtedly boost visibility in the age of the internet, where predatory journals pop up overnight.

DOAJ, with its extensive and unique index of diverse open-access journals from over 136 countries and in more than 80 languages, hosts over 20,000 journals so far. Driven by a growing community, DOAJ remains committed to ensuring quality content that is freely available online to all. DOAJ provides its services free of charge, including indexing and ensures that its data is accessible to all. With a periodic quality control system in place, DOAJ maintains stringent standards to ensure only reputable journals are indexed. It is to be noted that out of the 12 journals currently indexed from Ethiopia, only two represent AAU.

Following the training, discussions took place to address any lingering questions or concerns. After the discussion, consensus was reached among the editorial teams to start pre-requisite activities for indexation in DOAJ. The participants, along with the AAU library management, agreed to diligently complete the necessary follow-up tasks in the EJOL (ejol.aau.edu.et) platform to finalize the remaining data and apply for indexing.