About Unisphere — The Open Research Ecosystem

Our mission

Transforming the research landscape — where knowledge knows no boundaries.

We believe research should be open, fast, equitable, reproducible, and preserved. Unisphere exists to make every one of those principles a default — not a privilege.

Open

Accessible to anyone, anywhere — no paywalls, no barriers.

Fast

Rapid dissemination so discovery moves at the speed of science.

Equitable

Inclusive of researchers from every background and institution.

Reproducible

Transparent through shared data, code, and methods.

Preserved

Versioned records that are never overwritten once published.

The vision

The traditional model is slow, expensive, and exclusionary.

Peer review and publication can take months — or years — delaying critical findings. Researchers in low- and middle-income countries face the steepest costs and the highest barriers. Datasets, code, and supplementary materials are scattered across platforms that were never built to talk to each other.

Unisphere was created to solve these challenges. We combine the rigor of traditional journal publishing with the flexibility of a modern open research repository. Institutions host their own peer-reviewed journals with complete editorial control. Researchers instantly upload any research output and receive a citable accession number and a public record page.

The Unisphere ecosystem

More than a journal platform. More than a repository.

Unisphere Journals
Peer-reviewed journals published by partner institutions
Unisphere Repository
Open access repository for all research outputs
Editorial workflow
Submission, peer review, production and publication
APC payments
Card payments by Stripe, with Research4Life waivers
AI screening assistant
Opt-in, advisory checks on new submissions

Our origin story

Founded by a physician-researcher who lived the problem.

Dr. Aimé Lufulwabo

MD, MPH — Founder of Unisphere

YaleHarvardGlobal Health

Unisphere was developed by Dr. Aimé Lufulwabo, MD, MPH — a distinguished physician-researcher and graduate of Yale University and Harvard University. His vision emerged from firsthand experience with the frustrations of the traditional academic publishing system.

University of Lubumbashi

Medical school — Doctor of Medicine

Yale University

Advanced training in public health and health informatics

Harvard University

Post-graduate medical education

Clinical & research experience

Serving vulnerable communities and advancing medical knowledge across multiple continents

“How can we make research faster, more open, and more equitable for everyone?”
The question that became Unisphere — born from years watching slow publication timelines delay the translation of research into practice, especially in global health settings where timely evidence saves lives.

Strategic partnerships

Built with three leading organizations.

Unisphere was developed through strategic partnerships, each bringing distinct expertise — technology, digital medicine standards, and a global health equity lens.

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Technology innovation for research

EldoNova+ Technologies

A leading technology innovation firm specializing in digital health solutions, data platforms, and research infrastructure. EldoNova+ provided the engineering excellence behind Unisphere — from journal hosting to the research repository and the cloud infrastructure beneath them.

Contributions to Unisphere

Platform architecture & development
Scalable cloud infrastructure
Security & data protection
API development & integrations
User experience & interface design
Continuous platform improvement

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Advancing digital health

American College of Digital Medicine (ACDM)

A premier professional organization dedicated to advancing the field of digital medicine through education, research, and innovation. ACDM's expertise has shaped Unisphere's approach to digital research dissemination and open science.

Contributions to Unisphere

Digital medicine & informatics standards
Research data management best practices
Editorial & peer review standards
Connections to the digital medicine community
Content & publication strategies
Quality assurance & ethical guidelines

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Advancing global health equity

Global Health and Quality Alliance (GHQA)

A global organization dedicated to advancing equitable, high-quality healthcare through collaboration, education, and innovation. GHQA focuses on key global health issues — non-communicable diseases, maternal health, clean water access, antimicrobial resistance — and brings that equity lens to Unisphere.

Contributions to Unisphere

Guidance on global health research priorities
Connections to researchers worldwide
Equity-focused publishing policies
Community engagement & outreach
Capacity building in low-resource settings
Open access & knowledge translation strategy

What makes Unisphere unique

One platform for institutions and independent researchers.

For institutions — host your own journal

Universities, research institutes, professional societies, and other organizations can launch and manage peer-reviewed journals on Unisphere. You keep complete editorial control, brand identity, and ownership of your content.

Your own journal page
Editorial workflow management
Peer review integration
Open access or subscription
APC payments & waivers
Google Scholar citation tags
Global discoverability
Opt-in AI screening

For researchers — upload anything, get a citable record

Unisphere lets researchers upload any research output and receive a citable accession number — inside the same ecosystem as its peer-reviewed journals.

Papers & preprints

Datasets

Software & code

Posters & slides

Open science commitment

Built on the principles of open science.

Unisphere aligns with UNESCO's open science framework and the broader global research community. Open access journals, open data and open code — all in one place.

MultidisciplinaryGlobalInclusiveORCID iDs for authors

Built to be global

No paywall to read, and APC waivers for authors in Research4Life countries.

AI screening assistant

Opt-in, advisory checks that help editors triage new submissions.

Health priority

Built first to serve global health — extended to all fields.

Citable by design

Accession numbers for every deposit; Google Scholar tags on every article.