The inaugural photography competition for AAS Open Research is now open for entries

AAS Open Research, an open access and open peer review publishing platform for the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), has launched its first photography competition.

Photography is a great way to capture and share a different side of your research with the world in an engaging and accessible way. That’s why we’re inviting members of the African research community to bring your research to life via a single visual image. From life sciences and medicine to physical and social sciences; the competition aims to showcase and celebrate the breadth and depth of research taking place across Africa, as well as the people who make it happen.

We are looking for photographs that are visually appealing and original, as well as inspiring and relevant to the research being carried out. Photographs can be taken on either a digital camera or smartphone and should be accompanied by a caption (brief description) that explains what is happening in the picture.

To enter, researchers can either post their pictures on social media and tag @AASOpenRes, making sure to use the hashtag #AASphoto. Alternatively, you can email your photos to info@aasopenresearch.org.

The winner will receive a KSh10,000 eGiftAfrica voucher (Approx. 91.89 USD), a £250 Routledge Books voucher and their photo will take pride of place on our AAS Open Research Twitter and Blog headers, and featured in a special blog post which will be showcased on the AAS Open Research blog. Two runners up will also be awarded a £100 Routledge Books voucher.

The submission will be judged on three criteria: Connection between image, text, and research; originality and visual impact.

AAS Open Research is a fully open access publishing platform, offering rapid publication of articles and other research outputs without editorial bias. All articles benefit from transparent post-publication peer review, and editorial guidance on making source data openly available.

It advocates for transparency and reproducibility in research, and our unique publishing model supports this at every stage. Articles can be published in as few as 14 days, with post-publication peer review creating an open dialogue between authors and their research community. This generates feedback which can be used to improve the article and develop the author's skills.

The platform currently publishes research representing 19 countries across the African continent, from climate change to cancer, and hackathons to hearing loss. Method articles, study protocols, negative results: all valid and important research, all openly available for everyone to access, scrutinize, and replicate.

Contact

Alanna Orpen

Senior Communications Officer

F1000Research

E: Alanna.orpen@f1000.com

Charles M. Njagi

c.njagi@aasciences.africa