5 Questions with Angel Ford: Advancing Equity in Scholarly Communication
By Mike Nolan
ALBANY, N.Y. (July 29, 2025) — Despite the global nature of research, most published studies originate from a small number of institutions and countries, largely due to external factors such as greater financial resources, robust research infrastructure and established scientific communities.
Angel Ford, assistant professor in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology at the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, is working to change that. Her research is closely tied to areas of equity, both within the United States and around the world.
In a recent study published by the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Ford and her co-author, Daniel Alemneh of the University of North Texas, dive into the topic of inclusive scholarly communication. Their paper examines the unique challenges faced by researchers from low- and middle-income countries and proposes innovative solutions for a more equitable and healthier scholarly communication system.
We caught up with her to learn about the study and importance of equitable knowledge sharing. You can also hear more about this research through a podcast shared by the Science Audiobook Club.
Much of your research is focused on equity in education and research. How did you get into this work?
As a first-generation high school graduate, I have long held the conviction that education possesses transformative potential, particularly when individuals are guided to pursue areas of personal interest that also meaningfully contribute to society. This belief has motivated my involvement in understanding and committing to equitable education.
My research agenda evolved significantly during my time as a Fulbright scholar in Ethiopia (2019–2020), where I deepened my engagement with scholarly inquiry. That experience, along with ongoing collaborations, has exposed me to the lived realities of scholars operating in geopolitical contexts outside the dominant centers of academic production. Researchers in low- and middle-income countries frequently encounter barriers that hinder their ability to access existing literature, conduct original research, and disseminate their findings within global academic networks.
While disparities in research production and access are well documented, I contend that a more nuanced understanding of these inequities requires centering the voices of scholars themselves. By investigating and highlighting their experiences, we can begin to reimagine the global information ecosystem in ways that promote greater equity, inclusivity and intellectual diversity.
Your new study examines equity in the global research community. Why do researchers from low- and middle-income countries struggle to engage in scholarly communication?
Even scholars based in high-income countries and affiliated with well-resourced institutions encounter challenges when attempting to participate in scholarly communication through presenting at international conferences and publishing in highly regarded peer-reviewed journals. These endeavors are not meant to be easy. They are challenging to encourage and maintain highly rigorous work. However, challenges are often magnified for scholars living and working in LMICs, whose experiences warrant focused attention to better understand and address the barriers and inequities they face.
Our study investigates three critical dimensions of scholarly communication: access to the current body of academic knowledge; the capacity to conduct rigorous and relevant research; and the ability to disseminate findings through academic conferences and peer-reviewed publications. Across each of these domains, scholars in LMICs face a long list of barriers, including but not limited to financial constraints, infrastructural limitations, and restricted access to digital resources. While some of these impediments are readily identifiable, others remain obscured and underexplored.
Capturing the lived experiences of LMIC scholars is essential to illuminating these lesser-known challenges and identifying strategies for fostering a more inclusive and equitable global research ecosystem. By centering the voices of those most affected, this work aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the factors that shape scholarly participation and to inform policy and practice across disciplines.
How can the global scholarly community better address imbalances that prevent researchers from achieving equality?
Through direct engagement with scholars from LMICs, we seek to understand their experiences. In addition to documenting barriers, we ask scholars to tell us what changes they believe would enhance their ability to participate in global academic discourse. Their insights reveal a range of potential interventions that can be undertaken by the global scholarly community, both individually and collectively. These include citing and referencing research produced by scholars outside core research countries; promoting open access publishing to eliminate financial barriers to knowledge consumption; fostering equitable research partnerships in which all scholars are recognized as equal contributors; and ensuring inclusive representation in academic conferences, planning committees, and editorial boards of international journals.
While this list is nowhere near exhaustive, each initiative represents a meaningful step toward cultivating a more equitable and inclusive global information ecosystem. By centering the perspectives of underrepresented scholars, we aim to contribute to a broader reimagining of scholarly communication that values diversity, equity, and mutual respect.
You spent last summer in Tanzania to improve teachers' learning environments. Can you share more about that experience and similar work you’ve done abroad?
In the summer of 2024, as a Fulbright specialist, I conducted teacher training in Pemba, Zanzibar (Tanzania), focusing on competency-based education and the development of inclusive classroom practices. This initiative was supported by the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam. The Embassy also facilitated academic collaboration with scholars at Mkwawa University College of Education and the Institute of Rural Development Planning. Together, we are currently engaged in data collection and analysis to examine the experiences of Tanzanian scholars within the broader context of global academic engagement.
At the same time, I began collaborating with faculty at Muteesa I Royal University in Uganda, where I visited and led a workshop on academic research and writing in October 2024. This partnership has since evolved into a broader research initiative, with colleagues collecting data on the experiences of scholars across Uganda. In addition to these efforts, I am actively working with academic partners in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, and Jamaica, with a goal to expand this research network to include additional countries in the coming months and years. These collaborations reflect a growing commitment to understanding and addressing the systemic barriers faced by scholars in diverse geopolitical contexts.
How does this study connect to your work as director of CEHC’s Global Epistemic Justice Lab?
This new study fits into the central focus of the Global Epistemic Justice Lab. It aims to highlight the structural and contextual factors shaping scholars’ experiences, as well as the personal and professional consequences of these factors. Much like critical race theory and feminist theory have provided foundational lenses for research across disciplines, this emerging critical perspective aspires to serve as a conceptual anchor for ongoing investigations into epistemic injustice and scholarly marginalization across diverse geopolitical contexts.
As director of the Global Epistemic Justice Lab, I actively engage undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students in this work. Their contributions have been instrumental in deepening our understanding of regional dynamics and the complexities of global knowledge production. I am particularly enthusiastic about the upcoming academic year, which will include the publication of findings from several country-specific studies currently underway.