Africa’s contribution to academic research in cybersecurity: Review of scientific publication contributions and trends from 1998 to 2018

Cybersecurity and its variants are key fields of the modern economy and global trade due to the rapid advancement and utilisation of technology. Across Africa, countries are faced with unique challenges, including the rapid growth rate of internet penetration and a lack of corresponding cybersecurity expertise, therefore becoming an increased target for cybercriminals. Contributions of scientific knowledge in the field of cybersecurity are made by researchers from across the globe, where the research focus and scope differ based on the development and challenges in cybersecurity faced by each country. This study examines the publication contributions and trends of African researchers in the field of cybersecurity for a period of 20 years, ranging from 1998 to 2018. Drawing data from various leading scientific journals and databases, this paper specifically looks at the publication patterns and contributions of cybersecurity research from Africa. This study shows that South Africa has been and still is at the forefront of cybersecurity research on the African continent, but that many African countries are starting to make research contributions in this field. The study shows that, although the number of research publications in cybersecurity from Africa is approximately 10% of the global total in the last few years, the average citation rate of the top African papers is higher than the global average showing global impact of the research done on the African continent. Finally, this paper shows in increase in the number of countries from Africa conducting cybersecurity research as well as an increase in the number of academic publications per year.