Dr Juliet Nabyonga-Orem speaks to ecancer about the challenges faced by African researchers in terms of article processing charges and publication fees.

In this interview, she highlights the key financial problems researchers from low and middle-income countries face and how that impedes the scientific growth of a country and its researchers. She then explains why such disparity in funding opportunities exists and how these limitations have affected the public health of African countries. Dr Nabyonga-Orem further remarks that open access journals can be a solution and a problem and explains why it is so. Furthermore, she speaks about how the low salaries of African researchers adversely affect their potential for research.

She concludes by speaking of what national and international reforms can be initiated to restore balance in the world of scientific research.