Have you heard of Université Quisqueya? Through HAL, let’s travel to Haiti and discover the research produced at this university, which is rooted in the country’s challenges yet of global significance. The CCSD supported the creation of a HAL collection to showcase the work of its researchers. For this project, we sought to gather testimony from Professor Evens Emmanuel, who initiated the process. These discussions ultimately took the form of an article in which Mr Emmanuel outlines Université Quisqueya’s (UniQ) commitment to open science through the strategic adoption of HAL. The article outlines the evolution of Haitian research since 2000, which has been marked by the development of doctoral programmes, the consequences of the 2010 earthquake and the establishment of Haiti’s Collège Doctoral. It also presents the Vice-Rectorate for Research and Innovation (VIRRI) as a driver of structured scientific policy centred on priority themes: the environment, health, one health, and food security.
Research fields rooted in Haitian realities
A look at the Université Quisqueya’s HAL collection faithfully reflects the institution’s scientific priorities, with a strong focus on environmental and life sciences. This is no coincidence: these themes lie at the heart of VIRRI’s strategy, which has identified the environment—water, sanitation, waste valorization, zoonoses, infectious and tropical diseases, One Health, and urban spaces—as one of UniQ’s distinctive areas of excellence.
Beyond simply juxtaposing disciplines, Université Quisqueya has made the ambitious decision to bring together its health research structures around the “One Health” concept (see Approche intégrée One Health et initiative PREZODE en Haïti). Recognized internationally by the WHO, FAO, WHOA, and UNEP, this framework is based on the fundamental conviction that human health, animal health, and ecosystem preservation are closely interdependent. The One Health approach is not an abstract concept—it addresses concrete health and environmental emergencies.
Why choose HAL?
The decision to use HAL was not a coincidence. It forms part of a deliberate, progressive institutional strategy led by UniQ’s Vice-Rectorate for Research and Innovation (VIRRI), one of whose central goals is to enhance the international visibility of the university’s scientific output. One of the most tangible results of this choice is the creation of the UniQ’s HAL collection.
A step-by-step visibility strategy
As early as the 2018–19 academic year, VIRRI began a structured reflection on UniQ’s digital presence within the global academic ecosystem. This led to a strategy that was formally adopted by the university’s Board of Directors in March 2020: ‘Strengthening the International Scientific Visibility of Université Quisqueya’. Under this framework, UniQ gradually invested in several platforms: ResearchGate (January 2020), then Publons (Web of Science) for peer-review training, followed by partnerships with CrossRef and Research4Life in 2021, and affiliation with altmetric.com. The creation of a HAL profile was planned from January 2021, alongside registration on Scopus, demonstrating a clear vision of the digital footprint of a university committed to open science.
HAL: A platform aligned with UniQ’s values
Of all the platforms considered, HAL is particularly well-suited to Université Quisqueya’s situation and ambitions. HAL is an open archive: documents deposited are freely accessible to all, with no subscription barriers, from anywhere in the world.
For a Haitian university whose researchers produce work on globally relevant issues such as zoonoses, climate change, water quality, food security, but who may lack the resources to publish in paywalled or APC journals, HAL provides an equitable and independent route to disseminating their work globally. This is precisely what UniQ seeks: not just to be read, but to be read on equal terms with any university in the Global North.
HAL is also a robust, long-term infrastructure supported by the CNRS and CCSD, which guarantees the stability of deposits, the assignment of persistent identifiers and interoperability with major international referencing systems. For a university that has made scientific rigour and peer review pillars of its development, as evidenced by laboratory accreditation procedures within the CDH or registration on Publons, this institutional reliability is crucial.
A choice consistent with open science as a common good
Lastly and perhaps most importantly, the choice of HAL reflects the deep-seated belief that science produced in Haiti, on Haitian issues and for Haitian development must circulate freely. In a country where resources are limited and researchers must develop their expertise in challenging conditions, access to international journals remains a daily challenge. In such circumstances, open science is not an ideological luxury, but a practical necessity and an act of intellectual sovereignty. Notably, Université Quisqueya is a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). HAL embodies this philosophy, which is why UniQ has made it a structural pillar of its international visibility strategy, even embedding it in the rules governing the training and evaluation of its researchers.
What researchers expect from HAL: Founded hypotheses
By cross-referencing our knowledge of UniQ’s strategy, its researchers’ practices and the Haitian context, we can develop several credible expectations.
UniQ researchers operate in an environment where access to major indexed journals is costly and difficult. HAL enables them to disseminate their work without facing financial barriers, and they are aware of this: the EREGeC (Research Team on Economics and Knowledge Management) is specifically tasked with documenting the limitations of Northern bibliometric tools when applied to the Global South. HAL is seen as a rebalancing tool, not just a dissemination tool.
Furthermore, researchers collaborating with the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) or French universities have inevitably encountered HAL through their partners. For these researchers, joining HAL also means operating in the same digital spaces as their Northern colleagues and the institutions with which they co-publish, making them visible in the places where they are expected to be.
Finally, for young researchers and doctoral students trained through the ‘Society and Environment’ Doctoral School (affiliated with the Collège Doctoral d’Haïti), HAL provides a practical introduction to open science practices. The expected outcome is a new generation that will have learned to view disseminating their work as an integral part of the research process — not an additional step reserved for well-funded institutions.
Read the article: La science оuverte en Haïti : HAL au cœur de la stratégie de visibilité internatiоnale de l’Université Quisqueya
DINDA AULIA AZZAHRA PUTRI PURWANTO
Great insight. As an Electrical Engineering student at Telkom University Surabaya, I was especially interested in how HAL supports wider access to research on sustainability, health, and environmental issues.https://bee-sby.telkomuniversity.ac.id/