Authorship and Collaborative Research among Scholars in Open and Distance Learning Institutions in Africa

Oct 15, 2026

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Authorship and collaborative research among scholars in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions in Africa are examined with a focus on prospects for Africa. The study applies intensive documentary desk review of conference books of abstracts and conference proceedings, totaling 10 volumes hosted or organized by ODL-related universities. Descriptive statistics summarize key thematic areas. Findings show high co-authorship in some conferences but low in others, and higher two-author authorship than three-or-more authors in collaborative research.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Literature

Authorship

Collaborative Research

Theoretical framework

Authorship and Collaborative Research among scholars in Open and Distance Learning Institutions in Africa Kezia H. Mkwizu1 , Deus D.P. Ngaruko 2 Abstract: This paper is based on a study that examined authorship and collaborative research among scholars in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions with a focus on prospects for Africa. The study involved intensive documentary desk review of conference book of abstracts and conference proceedings to examine authorship and collaborative research. The study reviewed a total of 10 conference books of abstracts and proceedings organized or hosted by universities including ODL institutions in Africa. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise some thematic areas of interest. It is revealed in this paper that authorship in terms of co-authorship is high in some conferences but low in others in relation to collaborative research. Furthermore, authorship between two scholars was higher compared to three or more authors in collaborative research. This implies that co-authorship is trending in relation to collaborative research thus raising collaboration prospects for Africa. It is therefore recommended that ODL scholars should be encouraged to do more co-author publications from collaborative research in order to promote teamwork and comparative studies in knowledge production for socio-economic development relevant for Africa and beyond. Keywords: Authorship, Collaborative Research, ODL, Africa Introduction Collaboration is crucial in the development of higher education including Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions. Collaboration research is growing due to the shift from industrial to a knowledge society characterized by increased triadic cooperative relationships involving academia, industry and government (Etzkowitz & Leydesorff, 1995, 2000) . Iglic et al. (2017) noted that knowledge production in the twentieth century is based on a steady rise in the scale and importance of scientific collaboration. Bozeman and Boardman (2014) pointed out that the rise in collaboration is also in various social, economic, technological, and cognitive changes. Knowledge production via research is still a challenge in Africa. There are a number of ODL institutions in Africa namely The Open University of Tanzania and Zimbabwe Open University (SADC, 2009; African Council for Distance Education, 2019) . Past scholars state that knowledge production is low in African Universities and that one of the ways to solve this problem is to ensure that there are sufficient numbers of PhD graduates to conduct research (Cloete & Bunting, 2013) . In terms of research, Tarkang, Kweku and Zotor (2017) mentioned that a research publication is the highest level of dissemination of research findings and this carries with it social and ethical responsibilities on the 47 [1](1 kmkwizu@hotmail.com)[ kmkwizu@hotmail.com](1 kmkwizu@hotmail.com); The Open University of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; ORCID: 0000-0003-4436-9603 [2](2 ngarukoddp@gmail.com)[ ngarukoddp@gmail.com](2 ngarukoddp@gmail.com); The Open University of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; ORCID: 0000-0001-7009-1081 part of the author(s) . On the other hand, authorship of a scholarly journal article claims recognition for contribution to an original piece of research (Taylor and Francis Group, 2017) . Furthermore, authorship credits are considered important currency of academic, vital for career progression, funding and success in research assessment (Taylor and Francis Group, 2017) . Uijtdehaage, Mavis and Durning (2018) added that authorship is the finest vehicle by which original work is disseminated, scholarly credit is established, scientific reputation is recognized, and academic promotion is paved. However, there are limited studies on authorship and collaborative research in ODL institutions. In contributing to literature, this study is motivated to analyze authorship and collaborative among scholars in ODL in

FAQs

How was authorship and collaborative research assessed in the study?

The study used intensive documentary desk review of conference books of abstracts and conference proceedings, analyzing a total of 10 such volumes.

What does the paper report about co-authorship across conferences?

Authorship as co-authorship is high in some conferences but low in others, indicating variation in collaborative research patterns.

How does the study relate authorship structure to collaborative research?

The paper reports that authorship between two scholars is higher than authorship involving three or more authors in collaborative research.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Marglet