Information Resources for Developing Countries
These websites focus specifically on providing access to current research information to researchers in the developing world. For details of each site, together with the terms of access, click on the links below.
African Journals OnLine (AJOL)
AJOL is a database of African-published journals, publishing in a range of academic disciplines.
All the material on AJOL is free to view, search and browse. Copyright of all content is retained by the journals or authors. Full text documents can be ordered in print or by email.
Agricultural Libraries Network (AGLINET)
AGLINET is a voluntary network of large international agricultural libraries in more than 50 countries, through which resources are shared among the member libraries. Member libraries share their country or regional literature or the specialized information that resides in each of their collections and can, in turn, request inter-library loans and photocopy services. The coverage of resources is very comprehensive and includes agriculture in general; fisheries; forestry; biological, environmental, animal and plant sciences; food science and technology; nutrition, and much more.
Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA)
The AGORA site provides free access to almost 1000 journals from major scientific publishers in the fields of food, agriculture, environmental science, and related social sciences. Agora makes available agricultural information from the best of the academic journals to not-for-profit national academic, research or government institutions in low-income countries. For registration, contact agora@fao.org.
Archivos Abiertos como el de E-LIS
E-LIS is an open access international archive of over 4000 technical and scientific documents related to the Librarianship, Information Science and Technology. It is maintained entirely by volunteers.
Bioline International
This publishing service provides access to high quality research journals which are published in developing countries. The research articles come from peer-reviewed journals published in Brazil, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe and other developing countries. Many of these journals are not well-known. Bioline International is a not-for-profit service offering bibliographical and full-text information to those working in the field of the biosciences and health improvement, including biotechnology, biodiversity, environmental and ecological sciences, food, agriculture, and veterinary science, medicine, microbiology, tropical medicine, and epidemiology.
Budapest Open Access Initiative - Grants for Open Access Journals
This initiative aims to make research articles in all academic fields available, at no cost, through the internet. It offers a grants program to support publication of research by authors from developing and transition countries. Researchers, universities, laboratories, libraries, foundations, journals, publishers, and learned societies are represented.
Users can learn about grants programs and apply for programs that encourage the publication of research by authors from developing and transition countries.
Information for Development Program (CABI-IFD)
CABI-IFD aids developing countries to acquire and manage scientific information Its goal is to support international development by providing subject content in International Health and Nutrition; Biotechnology and genetics; Crop Management and protection; Horticulture; Animal Production, Health and Nutrition; and other scientific areas. CABI-IFD has formed partnerships with, among others, the CGIAR, governments, development agencies and universities.
Under the Information for Development programme, CABI?s search services and document delivery service can be accessed through partners like CAAS - Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, AGORA, HINARI, Nestle Foundation, African Academy of Sciences (AAS). These and other such institutions and networks, allow users in poor countries to register for free or low-cost services and for document photocopies directly from CABI. For registration information please send an e-mail to: development@cabi.org
Digital Library of the Commons (DLC)
This gateway to the international literature on the commons is designed to aid those working on Research on the Commons, Common-Pool Resources, and Common Property. DLC?s Comprehensive Bibliography of the Commons is a free searchable database and much of the material is full-text. In addition, there are Commons-Related Full-text Articles and Books, organized by subject, that can be downloaded. A great number of free online journals and newsletters are also available at the site.
Electronic Information for Libraries (eIFL.net)
EIFL.net, an independent foundation, works to make electronic resources more easily available to libraries located in developing countries. By establishing and maintaining consortia in its member countries, eIFL assists in getting less expensive subscription rates for participating libraries. Helping to build consortia is the most important contribution of eIFL and provision of free journals and training activities is among its other services. Institutions in developing countries can become part of the eIFL network by contacting a country coordinator listed at http://www.eifl.net/countries/countries.html
eJournals Delivery Service (eJDS)
The electronic Journals Delivery Service (eJDS) distributes individual scientific articles, free of charge, via email to scientists in developing country institutions where low bandwidth or complete lack of internet connection makes access to current scientific literature difficult or impossible. The goal is to provide current literature to support the ongoing research of scientists. In order to be able to use the free eJournals Delivery Service, it is necessary to register by e-mail to: ejournals@ictp.trieste.it and writing in the mail body: http://www.ictp.trieste.it/ejournals/application.html. The eJDS system will reply with the requested Application Form as an e-mail attachment.
Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS)
The Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems, developed by UNESCO, is a virtual dynamic library with contributions from thousands of scholars and subject experts aimed at a wide audience: University and college students, educators, professional practitioners, informed specialists, researchers, policy analysts, managers, and decision makers. EOLSS contains an enormous amount of information related to the health and support of life on our planet, including the natural and social sciences, biological, agricultural, and environmental sciences, engineering and technology, development, sustainability, and more.
Institutions must register with the International Association of Universities (IAU) at UNESCO Headquarters. Fees are on a sliding scale. For more information and application forms: http://www.unesco.org/iau/membership/index.html
Food Security and Food Policy Information Portal for Africa
This directory seeks to help those conducting studies of country/region-specific African food security and food policy. It directs researchers to high quality internet sources, and users to important country level or topic level work related to Africa. Online tutorials and training materials to deepen skills and improve research quality are also offered at the site.
Global Development Network (GDN)
The Global Development Network (GDN) is network of research and policy institutes working on problems of national and regional development. Its support for multidisciplinary social science research is meant to increase local and policy-relevant knowledge and make it easier for researchers and policymakers to share knowledge, thereby advancing development. GDN links institutes in eight regions and more than a hundred countries
The electronic GDNet, in partnership with the Institute of Development Studies (UK), provides a free Knowledge Base containing social science information from research centers world-wide in one easily searchable database. In addition, the GDN collaborates with the British Library of Development Studies (BLDS) to offer Document Delivery service for research institutes in developing and transition countries which register as GDNet Organization Contacts. For more information, contact gdnetresource@ids.ac.uk.
Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI)
HINARI is an initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with many large academic publishers, eminent universities, and international organizations. HINARI provides online access to a wide range of key biomedical and social science journals. This service may be free or low-cost to institutions in those countries classified by the World Bank as low or lower-middle income according to GNP per capita. Although all users may browse journal abstracts and use a number of free, fulltext references, only those eligible and registered institutions, such as teaching hospitals, academic libraries, professional schools, government agencies, have access to the full text and free access to all Hinari?s services. Registration can be done through WHO country offices, listed at hinari@who.int
HighWire Press
Stanford University Libraries? HighWire Press is a repository of over 260 full-text, peer-reviewed online journals and their article content. Articles can be accessed, free. HighWire Press disseminates primary scientific information and also publishes about 70 journals.
International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications(INASP)/Programme for the Enhancement of Research Information (PERI)
This network was designed to support research in developing and transitional countries by providing access to scientific and scholarly information through electronic means. INASP/PERI gives access to hundreds of on-line Full Text Journals and Databases to not-for-profit institutes that meet its criteria. Countries eligible for inclusion are based on GDP and/or HDI ranking. Members can access more than 10,700 full-text online journals, current awareness databases, and document delivery services of major scientific, technical, medical, social science, and humanities materials from a wide range of sources. For more information contact inasp@inasp.info
JSTOR
JSTOR maintains an archive of scholarly journals in many disciplines and makes the full text of the articles widely available. Because JSTOR is an archive, current issues (usually the most recent 5 years) are not available, while its backfiles of journals may begin as early as the 1800s. Under the Open Africa initiative, JSTOR has waived all fees for higher education and not-for-profit research institutions in Africa .
Information on how to apply for the fee waiver.
Open J-Gate
Open J-Gate, an electronic gateway, gives open access to millions of online journal articles from more than 3000 full-text academic, research and industry journals of which more than 1500 are peer-reviewed scholarly journals; Updated daily, with new journals constantly added, Open J-Gate lets users browse the TOC of latest issues and back issues and to search by Title, Author, Abstract, Author's Address/Institution, and Keywords, with a high incidence of relevant search results.
Society for Conservation Biology (SCB)
The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB), an international organization, collaborating with Blackwell Publishing and Elsevier Publishing gives free online access to its developing country members to Conservation Biology, Conservation in Practice, Biological Conservation, Ecological Indicators, Ecological Complexity, and Ecological Informatics. It also can offer free memberships to a number of conservationists in developing countries, i.e., middle- or low-income economy countries according to the definitions of the World Bank.
TEEAL - The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library
TEEAL is a library of important scientific journals in the field of agriculture. It offers both a Local Area Network and a CD-ROM version of its full-text journal articles. Institutions in more than 50 low-income countries may access it at rates that are extremely low in comparison with rates. For information about eligibility, contact gracian@cyberplexafrica.com.
The Albert R. Mann Library at Cornell University maintains the database in cooperation with over 60 scientific publishers, societies and index providers with support from the Rockefeller Foundation.
Union catalog of serials in International Agricultural Research Centers (IARCs)
IFPRI has provided support to the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to upgrade and keep current the SRLS database, which is an Union Catalog of Serials containing holding information from 16 CGIAR Center Libraries. It contains holding details of 7802 serials in the libraries of 19 International Agricultural Research Centers (IARCs). This database provides invaluable support to developing countries researchers by providing document delivery of journals being hold by CGIAR centers and Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC) to the selected IARC Libraries. For more information, visit http://elibrary.icrisat.org/srls/srls.asp.