Paper short abstract:

African Studies Quarterly, founded in 1997, faced many challenges over the past quarter century. Some were common to nearly any journal , others were new. While early obstacles were overcome, other challenges emerged from changes in the academic publishing environment and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Paper long abstract:

African Studies Quarterly, founded in 1997, faced many challenges over the past quarter century. Some were common to nearly any journal startup, others were new: skepticism of an online-only format and complete lack of subscription fees; lack of connectivity (in the early years) and hence readability on the Continent itself; author uncertainty about impacts and recognition, etc. While these early obstacles were largely overcome - evidenced by more than 75% of ASQ submissions originating from Africa-based scholars over 2021/22 - other challenges emerged from broad changes in the academic publishing environment as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.