Unearthing the constraints in media and communication research in Africa: a path to building resilience towards the decolonization agenda

Calls to decolonize media and communication scholarship have grown louder in recent years, yet little empirical work has examined the barriers African researchers face in contributing meaningfully to this agenda. This study explores the lived experiences of 32 African media and communication scholars across the continent, using semi-structured interviews. Our thematic analysis revealed systemic constraints, including epistemic discrimination in publishing, institutional neglect, digital exclusion, and skewed global collaborations that position African scholars as peripheral contributors. The findings expose how publishing is often driven more by promotion requirements than scholarly curiosity and how visa regimes and internal gatekeeping further limit global academic engagements. The study calls for strategic shifts in institutional policies and global publishing norms to support the resilience and visibility of African scholarship. It offers both scholarly insight and practical recommendations for fostering more inclusive and equitable knowledge production in media and communication research.