摘要：This paper is based on a study that examined authorship and collaborative research among
scholars in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions with a focus on prospects for Africa. The
study involved intensive documentary desk review of conference book of abstracts and conference
proceedings to examine authorship and collaborative research. The study reviewed a total of 10
conference books of abstracts and proceedings organized or hosted by universities including ODL
institutions in Africa. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise some thematic areas of interest. It
is revealed in this paper that authorship in terms of co-authorship is high in some conferences but low
in others in relation to collaborative research. Furthermore, authorship between two scholars was
higher compared to three or more authors in collaborative research. This implies that co-authorship is
trending in relation to collaborative research thus raising collaboration prospects for Africa. It is
therefore recommended that ODL scholars should be encouraged to do more co-author publications
from collaborative research in order to promote teamwork and comparative studies in knowledge
production for socio-economic development relevant for Africa and beyond.
关键词：Authorship; Collaborative Research; ODL; Africa
