Disability research in African Network for Evidence-to-Action in Disability affiliated countries

The African Network for Evidence-to-Action in Disability (AfriNEAD) is a leading role player in Africa promoting evidence-informed policies and practices for disability inclusion on the continent. This article presents findings of a desktop review that explored trends of disability research in the AfriNEAD affiliated countries.

The review explored trends of research that has been published by members of the disability research community who are contributing to AfriNEAD Conferences.

A Google scholar search was conducted using names of researchers who presented articles at the first six AfriNEAD Conferences, recording peer-reviewed journal publications by each author according to the eight AfriNEAD research focus areas. This was followed by a hand search of all articles published in the African Journal of Disability from AfriNEAD affiliated countries.

There is an exponential increase in the number of peer reviewed journal publications from AfriNEAD affiliated countries over the last two decades. Collaborations are common among authors within the same African country. International collaborations are common among authors from Africa with authors from the Global North.

African researchers need to network and collaborate more across Africa, to promote disability research in countries where research is scarce and to focus more on research areas that are not receiving attention.

The desktop exploration is a first step for AfriNEAD to get a baseline understanding of published disability research in the countries affiliated to the network. Further research is required to understand these trends and to provide evidence necessary to address the identified gaps.