The University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (USTED) has taken a significant step towards strengthening research and knowledge production in Ghana with the launch of two peer-reviewed, open-access academic journals aimed at making African scholarship more accessible to the world.
The maiden editions of the Journal of Applied Social Sciences and Entrepreneurship Education (JASSEE) and the Journal of Technology Education and Applied Sciences (JTEAS) mark USTED’s formal entry into academic publishing, creating new platforms for researchers to share evidence-based studies that address local, national and global development challenges.
The two journals feature eleven research papers by scholars from USTED and partner institutions in Ghana, China, the United Kingdom and Finland. Every article has been assigned a Crossref Digital Object Identifier (DOI), ensuring the research can be permanently accessed, cited and discovered by readers worldwide.
The publications bring together research spanning education, entrepreneurship, technology, artificial intelligence, finance, renewable energy and environmental sustainability.
Topics explored include teacher professionalism in Ghana, access to primary education in the Bongo District, machine-learning models for credit-risk assessment, public perceptions of ChatGPT, renewable energy forecasting using artificial intelligence, industrial attachment in art and design education, and the reuse of gold mine waste as a partial replacement for sand in concrete production.
Speaking through an editorial published in JTEAS, Editor-in-Chief Professor Isaac Boateng said universities should be measured not only by the graduates they produce but also by the knowledge they generate and the impact that knowledge has on society. He said the journal seeks to promote rigorous, practical and socially responsive research while growing into one of Africa’s leading publications in technology education and applied sciences.
In a separate editorial, Professor Stephen Baffour Adjei, Editor-in-Chief of JASSEE, described the journal as a “knowledge for all” platform that removes publication fees and subscription barriers. He said the initiative seeks to provide African researchers with an accessible outlet for publishing contextually relevant scholarship capable of informing policy and development.
The launch comes at a time when African universities are increasingly being encouraged to produce locally relevant research capable of addressing challenges in education, climate change, health, technology, entrepreneurship and sustainable development.
By adopting an open-access publishing model, USTED’s journals provide opportunities for researchers, students, policymakers and development practitioners to access scientific knowledge without subscription costs, while increasing the international visibility of research produced in Ghana and across Africa.
For journalists covering science, education and development, the journals also represent an important source of evidence-based research that can enrich reporting and strengthen public understanding of issues affecting communities across the continent.
The launch has been welcomed within the university as a milestone in advancing USTED’s research agenda and expanding collaboration with scholars from around the world.
