Publication
Research4Life: Landscape and Situation Analysis
This report summarises the findings of a landscape and situation analysis of trends in the research and scholarly communication landscape.
What is it about?
This page summarises the findings of a landscape and situation analysis of trends in the research and scholarly communication landscape in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs).
The landscape analysis considers three levels of analysis: • Firstly, it seeks to identify global megatrends relevant to research and international development. • Then, it narrows the focus to key trends in research in and for LMICs. • Finally it identifies the key trends in scholarly communication.
At each level of this analysis, the study identifies political, economic, social and technological trends using a simplified version of the PESTLE conceptual framework.
The report and other outputs were prepared by Research Consulting for Research4Life, a public-private partnership which provides low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) with access to academic literature, to inform the initiative’s strategic direction. More on Research4Life can be found here: https://www.research4life.org/
Why is it important?
Ensuring worldwide access to research and knowledge is fundamental to economic, social and political development. Indeed, access to knowledge can serve as the catalyst for tackling many of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and solving global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Better understanding trends and developments in the wider landscape will help the Research4Life partnership make informed decisions in support of its mission to provide low and middle-income countries with free or low-cost access to academic and professional peer-reviewed content online.
Perspectives
This Research4Life Landscape and Situation Analysis is intended to provide pertinent and valuable insights into the shifting dynamics and external influences at play, from Global Megatrends down to Trends in Scholarly Communication. I'm grateful to the Research4Life Executive Council for choosing to make it publicly available for the benefit of other stakeholders in the wider research communication ecosystem and indeed the broader world.
Rob
Johnson
Research Consulting Limited
