This study centers on scientific communication in African universities within the context of external assistance and national needs. It explores how scientists in African institutions communicate; examines and projects the major avenues of scientific communication; and discusses the challenges of each avenue of scientific communication and how scientists attempt to overcome them. It investigates the opportunities that have been made possible by information and communication technologies and the challenges they pose on scientific communication in Africa.
The study examines the magnitude of external assistance toward promoting scientific communication in Africa; discusses the major players in that sphere; and determines how reliant African scientists on such external resources have become. The views, attitudes, and recommendations of scientists on the direction and development of scientific communication and external support were also explored.
The major methodological instrument employed in this study is an extensive open-ended survey questionnaire collected from ninety-four African scientists. The questionnaires were administered by electronic mail (email) to African scientists who were identified having access to email. Other methods that were coupled with the survey include limited face-to-face formal and informal interviews, virtual resources, and archival materials.
