INASP (International Network for Advancing Science and Policy) is an

international development International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic or human development on an international scale. It is the basis for international classifications ...

charity working with a global network of partners to improve access, production and use of research information and knowledge, so that countries are equipped to solve their development challenges. Based in Oxford and governed by an international Board of Trustees, INASP is run with a small number of full-time staff working with, and through, partners and networks in over one hundred countries. INASP's work is funded by its partner countries, governmental and non-governmental development agencies, and

philanthropic foundations A foundation (also a charitable foundation) is a category of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that typically provides funding and support for other charitable organizations through grants, but may also engage directly in charitable act ...

History

INASP original name, now superseded, was "International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications". It was established by the

International Council for Science The International Council for Science (ICSU, after its former name, International Council of Scientific Unions) was an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the advancement of science. Its members ...

(ICSU) in 1992 to "improve access to information and knowledge through a commitment to capacity building in emerging and developing countries." It was registered as a charity in 2004.

Work

All the work of INASP aims to improve access to, and production and use of, research information and knowledge for

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

. The charity focuses on the following key aspects of the research communication cycle: * Availability and access to research publications * Improving quality of research publications and communication * Building demand for research information * Supporting evidence informed policy making * Strengthening research and knowledge networks * Sharing learning and best practice INASP partners with the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, the

HINARI Hinari Access to Research for Health Programme was set up by the World Health Organization and major publishers to enable developing countries to access collections of biomedical and health literature. There are up to 15,000 e-journals and up to ...

project of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

and the eIFL Foundation in order to provide a free or low-cost online access to his academic journals for the developing countries. According to the UP's numbers, the above project has involved more than 2.000 institutions (as of 24 August 2020).

Projects

AuthorAID

The ''AuthorAID'' project has two key goals: to increase the success rate of

developing country A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

researchers in achieving

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Conve ...

; and to increase the visibility and influence of research in the developing world. AuthorAID achieves these objectives through networking, resources, training and mentoring.

Journals Online

INASP's Journals Online project aims to improve the accessibility and visibility of developing country research. By providing a cost-effective and secure platform for online journals, along with advice, resource guides and links to suitable technologies and hosting organisations, the Journals Online enable easy

discoverability Discoverability is the degree to which something, especially a piece of content or information, can be found in a search of a file, database, or other information system. Discoverability is a concern in library and information science, many aspects ...

of the wide range of journals and research being produced. In addition to the platform, through the Journals Online, those wishing to publish their journals online have access to advice, resource guides and links to suitable technologies and hosting organisations.

Public Knowledge Project The Public Knowledge Project (PKP) is a non-profit research initiative that is focused on the importance of making the results of publicly funded research freely available through open access policies, and on developing strategies for making th ...

(PKP) based in Canada was used to develop these platforms or websites for online journal hosting and originally began with '' African Journals Online'' (AJOL). At present, it also includes '' Bangladesh Journals OnLine'' (BanglaJOL), ''Central America Journals Online'' (CAMJOL), ''Nepal Journals Online'' (NepJOL), ''Sri Lanka Journals Online'' (SLJOL), ''Philippines Journals Online'' (PhilJOL), and ''Vietnam Journals Online'' (VJOL). Although the JOLs are initially hosted by PKP in Canada, it is planned that they will be hosted in their country of origin. PhilJOL and VJOL are now being managed in-country and BanglaJOL began the transition to country-ownership in 2012.

Publishers for Development

Publishers for Development is a forum for information and discussion around the importance of access to information for development. Through a range of activities, it explores some of the unique challenges developing country libraries, researchers and publishers experience. It also provides an opportunity for publishers to keep up-to-date and feed their input into the work all parties are undertaking to lessen the

digital divide The digital divide is the unequal access to digital technology, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and the internet. The digital divide creates a division and inequality around access to information and resources. In the Information Age in ...

VakaYiko Consortium

The VakaYiko Consortium is a three-year project involving five organisations working primarily in three countries. Vaka is Shona (Southern Africa) for ‘build’ and Yiko is Dagbani (Ghana) for capacity which illustrates the main African regions where the consortium works.

References

External links

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Publishers for Development
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VakaYiko
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Journals Online project
{{Authority control Organizations established in 1992 Academic publishing Academic journal online publishing platforms International development charities