Open Education
PHA delivers high-quality, open-access training through online courses, designed for African researchers and facilitated by experienced public health professionals. These courses are hosted on the Peoples-Praxis learning platform and delivered under the COPPHA initiative.
COPPHA Peer Review Course (2024)
A five-week MOOC held from October 7 to November 10, 2024, this course offered self-paced learning supported by weekly facilitation.
Course Structure
Fundamentals and Challenges of Peer Review
AI and the Review Process
How to Review a Journal Article
Performing a Peer Review Assignment
Participation and Reach
1,086
Enrolled
651
Actively
Participated
203
Certificates
Earned
Participants from 40 countries, highest numbers from:
🇳🇬
240
Nigeria
🇬🇭
112
Ghana
🇰🇪
79
Kenya
🇪🇹
44
Ethiopia
🇺🇬
32
Uganda
🇨🇲
26
Cameroon
Feedback from Course Participants
"Just to say a big thank you to Peoples-Praxis and COPPHA for an excellent course! The blended, self-paced delivery enabled me to pace my learning without the urgent need for deadlines. The reflection fora helped to internalize the concepts and to learn from others, and the resources were focused and supplemented the notes well. Without a doubt, following the structured, 6-steps format is going to make my peer review experience a better one. This is a course I highly recommend."— JN, Lecturer and Dean, Uganda
"I joined this programme, knowing completely nothing about Peer Reviewing and am coming out with clear information about it. Thank you for making it happen. To the lecturers and hosts, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I can clearly say that I am capable of performing a peer review because of you. To fellow learners, I learned a lot from you as well, especially from those who've been exposed to peer reviewing before. Your questions and messages during live sessions greatly exposed me to a deeper understanding of this course, so with this, I'm grateful to you all!"— JO, Public Health Practitioner, Kenya
"This course has significantly enhanced my skills and understanding of the peer review process, providing me with invaluable insights that I will carry forward in my academic career. I am deeply grateful to the organizers for their dedication to empowering researchers through this training. The engaging content and practical assignments made the learning experience both enriching and applicable. I look forward to participating in similar training opportunities from the organizers in the future, as I believe they play a crucial role in advancing scholarly communication in our field."— PM, Senior Lecturer, Kenya
"I am happy to have been part of this course, especially the rich comments and contributions from participants that have added to another experience. The model review assignment and the answer has been something to keep learning from. I commend the organizers and all participants equally for their valuable inputs and making it possible for diverse researchers and scholars to be in this space. More success in future endeavors."— WV, Lecturer, Nigeria
COPPHA Open Publishing Course (2025)
A six-week MOOC held from January 13 to February 23, 2025. This course introduced researchers to open access publishing and peer review practices through structured weekly facilitation.
Course Structure
Open Access Publishing
Open Reviewing and a Case Study
Publish–Review–Curate (PRC) Model
Posting a Preprint, Performing Open Reviews, Course Reflection
Participation and Reach
181
Enrolled
99
Actively
Participated
Participated
41
Certificates
Earned
Earned
Participants from 24 countries, highest numbers from:
🇳🇬
71
Nigeria
🇬🇭
25
Ghana
🇰🇪
19
Kenya
Feedback
"This course is one of the best I have attended. I have gained a lot from it, and the knowledge will help me in my clinical research journey."
OT – Student, Nigeria
"I love this training as it's an eye-opener for me. We need many more open peer review platforms in Africa. I believe COPPHA is ready to help millions of researchers in Africa who are making innovative research enjoy the fruits of their labour. A BIG thank you to all the supporters and organizers of this course for the immense impact and valuable insights added to my research journey."
OA, Lecturer, Nigeria
"Being my first time writing and presenting a paper for review, I would say this has been a great learning opportunity. The open review platform provides a chance to engage, learn, and gain insights from peers in the field, which I believe is the best way to improve one's research skills. Throughout this course, I have learned a lot from both fellow learners and tutors. Hearing about people's personal experiences has boosted my confidence in further exploring this area. This was my first experience with open peer review, and I truly appreciate everyone who made it worthwhile."
JO – Public Health Practitioner, Kenya
"Before this course, I was not fully aware of the value of an open peer review system. The case study provided valuable clarification on this tool. I especially appreciated the opportunity for authors to respond to reviewers and amend their submissions."
PF – Public Health Professional, United States