The COECSA Research Repository

Abstract

We would like to introduce to you the proposed College of Ophthalmology of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (COECSA) Research Repository, a digital archive that will contain various research papers done in the Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA) region, with a particular focus on Masters’ theses. There are several medical training institutions in the ECSA region that train a good number of ophthalmologists; it can be estimated that an average of 20-30 individuals graduate each year. These fresh ophthalmologists carry out various research projects as a requirement for graduation. Even though most of their thesis work is brilliant, very little of this work gets a peer reviewed publication. A brief visit to any of these universities will quickly confirm that most of the dissertations end up on university library shelves collecting dust and are therefore not readily accessible for use within and without the region. Often times, young researchers simply mention “no literature available” when asked to look up local literature on a particular subject. This is rather unfortunate as the information in these research papers is vital to residents who are still in training and those in practice.