Ethiopia’s research community engages with Open Access through a national policy and an evolving ecosystem of infrastructure.

In this article, we outline Ethiopia’s Open Access requirements and supporting infrastructure for those looking to submit or read research.

Why Open Access?

Open Access refers to a publishing model for scholarly research that makes information immediately available to readers at no cost. This research is also free to reuse for scholarly purposes.

Many researchers are choosing to publish their work in an Open Access format. Governments, funding agencies, and higher education institutions are also mandating Open Access to varying degrees.

In our article 6 Benefits of Open Access, we outline the following:

1. Clarity around copyright and licensing ensure that readers know what they can do with work and that they are protected when reusing it.
2. Open Access research receives more citations and from more diverse disciplines, institutions, and locations.
3. Given that 85% of the world’s population live in low- and middle-income countries, Open Access ensures that vital information and cutting-edge insights are not limited to countries who can pay to access them.
4. Open Access allows people from outside of academia to engage with research without spending large amounts of resources to access it.
5. Open Access enables interdisciplinary research by allowing researchers to focus on common aims rather than be restricted to what’s in their fields.
6. Many governments, funders, and higher education institutions are requiring Open Access publication. Satisfying their requirements for publication means your research can receive the backing it needs.

History of Open Access in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has an evolving open science ecosystem centred around a national mandate. Here is a brief history of Open Access in Ethiopia:

• 2001: The Ethiopian Education and Research Network (EthERNet) is launched, aiming at transforming connectivity and collaboration across Ethiopian research institutions.
• 2007: Addis Ababa University Libraries (AAUL) launch an institutional repository for theses and dissertations.
• 2008: Electronic Information for Libraries (EIFL) organise national workshops to raise awareness about Open Access.
• 2019: Ethiopia becomes the first African country to introduce a national, ministerial Open Access policy. All publish articles, theses, dissertations, and data resulting from publicly funded research at universities run by the ministry must be made openly available.
• 2020: The national ICT Policy for Higher Education and Technical and Vocational Education and Training Institutions identifies open educational resources (OER) as 1 of 13 policy focus areas.
• 2023: The Diamond Open Access Publishing in Africa Community of Practice, established by EIFL, supported by the Wellcome Trust, begin the “Collaboration for Sustainable Open Access Publishing in Africa” project. This involves landscape studies, open calls for proposals to African journals and platforms, and community building.

The Ethiopian research community faces various challenges when accessing, conducting, and disseminating research results. These stem from environmental challenges, such as droughts, infrastructure, including inconsistent power supply and connectivity, and financial constraints.

However, there has been a steady rise in initiatives focused on introducing infrastructure which are boosting the capabilities of local researchers and institutions to increase access and visibility.

Current Open Access laws in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MOSHE) leads the development of science, higher education, and the technical and vocational education and training in the country. MOSHE supports the increased openness of research processes and outputs, recognising it as integral to the production and dissemination of knowledge.

Accordingly, in 2019, MOSHE adopted a national Open Access policy for higher education institutions.

The policy mandates Open Access to all published articles, theses, dissertations, and data resulting from publicly funded research conducted by staff and researchers across Ethiopian universities.

Publications must be deposited in the National Academic Digital Repository of Ethiopia (NADRE) as well as in an institutional repository, if the university has one.

To receive funding, data management plans must be submitted to research offices and university libraries for approval, ensuring alignment with FAIR principles.

Each university must develop an Open Access policy which aligns with the national mandate and applies to their individual context. As of 2023, 4 out of 47 universities have adopted policies, including Addis Ababa University, Jimma University, Arba Minch University, and Hawassa University.

The policy also encourages open science practices by including ‘openness’ as one of the criteria for assessing and evaluating research proposals.

Discussing the policy, Dr Solomon Mekonnen Tekle, librarian at Addis Ababa University Library, and EIFL Open Access Coordinator in Ethiopia, explains:

The main impact of the new policy will be to increase the visibility of Ethiopian research, within the national and international research communities. The quality of our research will improve, because researchers will be able to see and verify each other’s work, and to comment on the integrity of the methodology and results.

Overview of open science infrastructure

Ethiopia has a growing ecosystem of infrastructure that enable researchers to access research and disseminate their work.

NADRE

To adhere with the 2019 policy, researchers at higher education institutions must deposit their work in the National Academic Digital Repository of Ethiopia (NADRE).

One of the first FAIR-compliant digital repositories in Africa, NADRE is a fully Open Access multidisciplinary repository that aims to bridge the gap between research from Ethiopia and the rest of the world.

All documents receive a digital object identifier, can be linked to information about their respective funders, and can receive different licensing options.

NADRE also host a ‘Communities’ section, which includes workshops and projects.

NADLE

The National Academic Open Educational Resources and Digital Library of Ethiopia (NADLE) is an Open Access repository for hosting academic and research materials from Ethiopian higher education institutions. It features more than 80,000 resources.

The platform collects, organises, and provides access to full-text resources and metadata from a wide range of national and international digital libraries.

Diverse educational materials in various languages are featured, including textbooks, scholarly articles, audiobooks, and lectures, as well as national guidelines such as for medicines and treatment.

NADLE was created by the Ethiopian Education and Research Network (EthERNet), which is a national research and education network that connects more than 50 institutions and provides services that enable connectivity and collaboration.

EJOL

Ethiopian Journals Online (EJOL) provides a platform for publishing local journals online in an Open Access format, using their Open Journals System (OJS).

The platform features more than 100 journals with 1100 articles from across 38 institutions.

International initiatives

Scholars across Africa face unique challenges in accessing and disseminating research, and these challenges vary across the continent’s different regions. These stem from various factors, including rising subscription fees and a lack of access to scientific equipment.

There are various continental open science initiatives designed to address these challenges, including:

• AfricArXiv
• African Journals Online
• African Open Science Platform
• African Open Science Hardware
• African Digital Research Repositories

These initiatives are focused not only on increasing access to research for researchers based in African countries but also increasing the visibility of their outputs. This is especially true for societally engaged research that focuses on addressing the specific challenges that different areas face.

Essentially, open science has emerged across Africa not as a solution but as a framework that a uniquely African approach is being applied to.

Click here to learn more about Open Science in Africa, including outlines of the initiatives listed above.

Ethiopia’s Open Access statistics

Ethiopia’s share of Open Access publications has rapidly increased since 2010 (Figure 1):

Figure 1: Percentage share of Open Access documents vs non-Open Access documents in Ethiopia from 2010 to 2025; data extracted from InCites in November 2026.

In 2025, 84% of publications in Ethiopia were published in an Open Access format. This is greater than the global average for 2025, which stood at 58%. Such a high share of openly available research demonstrates not only the success of the policy introduced by MOSHE but also the support for Open Access in the local research community, as evident by the growth from 2010 to 2015.

Future trends

The Ethiopian research community navigates various challenges, including inadequate infrastructure and a lack of financial resources.

This means that the 2019 policy’s requirement that universities develop their own policies and institutional repositories has not been widely adopted. From an overview conducted in 2021, it was determined that only 13 out of 47 universities had institutional repositories, and only 4 were operational due to policy or technical issues.

Despite inconsistent uptake across institutions, the research community has persisted in pursuing Open Access. Funded research can be adhered to by depositing research in NADRE, ensuring it is openly available regardless of the researchers’ affiliations.

Given that 84% of publications in Ethiopia were published in an Open Access format in 2025, these challenges have not prevented researchers from ensuring their outputs are openly available. This is likely due to the community’s support of Open Access practices as well as national and international infrastructure.

Despite the challenges, continued success will involve further development of infrastructure at a national level and embracing continental initiatives. Ethiopia has embraced Open Access, and it is likely that its research community will continue to.

A global leader in Open Access publishing

For more than 30 years, MDPI has been built on the conviction that scientific knowledge should be shared immediately and freely with everyone.

Read what authors from Ethiopian institutions who have published in MDPI journals have to say about Open Access:

“My publishing experience with MDPI has been highly professional and efficient. The peer review process was rigorous yet constructive, ensuring both the quality and relevance of the manuscript. Communication with the editorial team was prompt and courteous throughout, and the submission platform was user-friendly and transparent. I greatly appreciate MDPI’s commitment to academic integrity and timely publication.” – Dr. Yibrah Hagos Gebresilassie, Aksum University, Author published in Economies.

“The support and efficiency provided by the team led me to publish a high-quality article in Viruses. I am grateful for their assistance throughout the process.” – Dr. Tesfaye Gelanew, Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Author published in Viruses.

“Publishing with MDPI is an exceptional experience. The rapid reviewer feedback, efficient editorial process, timely and high-quality editing, clear instructions, and seamless workflow are truly remarkable. I am grateful to the journal for its outstanding publication quality.” – Dr Girma Gilano, Arba Minch University, Author published in Nutrients.

MDPI gives readers free and unlimited access to the full text of all published articles. It has more than 500 journals dedicated to providing the latest findings, many of which publish interdisciplinary research. If you are interested in submitting your work, see the full list of journals here.

Alternatively, if you want to publish an early version of your article, try Preprints.org, MDPI’s service for publishing early versions of research that are not peer reviewed and report on either ongoing or complete research.

Understanding Open Access policies

Navigating policies can be time-consuming and detract from time spent researching. However, understanding them is important as there may be penalties for not complying with publication requirements.

To support researchers, the MDPI Blog publishes a series of articles outlining different countries’ relationships with Open Access, exploring their histories, current policies, opportunities, and statistics. All this information is centralised into an article which contains brief summaries of each country, with links to all the full articles, and is updated monthly.

Click here if you would also like to learn more about Open Access around the world.

This article was last updated in November 2026.