REVIEW
Public Health Rev.
Examining challenges and facilitators to the Scientific impact of health science research from Africa: a scoping review
- AS
Apatsa Selemani 1,2
- KW
Kondwani Wella 3
- YC
Yen-Fu Chen 4
- OU
Olalekan Uthman 4
- JI
Jude Igumbor 2
1. Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi
2. School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2193
3. Malawi University of Science and Technology, Limbe, Malawi
4. Medical school, Warwick University, Coventry, United Kingdom
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Abstract
Understanding the available research evidence on scientific impact of health research from Africa provides insight into research gaps and priorities thereby supporting evidence based decision making in public health research, policy and practice. This study sought to determine evidence available on barriers and facilitators of African health science research's scientific impact. The studies were identified through structured searches in different data sources. Scientometric and bibliometric studies of health research from Africa and focused on African countries only were included. Data were analysed using descriptive content analysis, and results are presented using a narrative description. The study found 78 studies focused on African countries only. PubMed was the most utilized primary data source. Despite a gradual increase in research productivity and impact, due to developments in Information Communication Technologies, funding, and collaboration, there still exist fundamental barriers emanating from unequal partnerships, poor funding and lack of research capacity and resources. There is a need for more studies that profile African health research to assess the productivity, visibility, and scientific impact to inform health policies, interventions and future research agenda.
Summary
Keywords
Africa, bibliometrics, citation impact, research evaluation, scientometrics
Received
09 December 2024
Accepted
12 March 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Selemani, Wella, Chen, Uthman and Igumbor. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Apatsa Selemani
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.