Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - UNILAG Journal of Politics: CALL FOR PAPERS

Dear Professor Okeke:

I have come across this problem before--that is, the problem of financing academic journals in Africa. While many, like yours, have opted to charge review and publication fees as a way to keep their journals in publication, you and the committee might consider the advise that I have given to the other university-based African journals that I have worked with. In the long term, you might want to try and raise funds, especially from colleagues in the Diaspora, so that you can set up an endowed fund within the university or the Department of Political Science to enhance sustainability of the journal and minimize the perception that people usually have of social science journals that charge publication fees. In the last several years, the phrase "predatory journals" has gained a lot of currency in the literature and has brought even legitimate efforts, such as yours, into question. Hence, seeking an alternative to charging fees for publication would actually help. 

I am sure there are many African scholars in the Diaspora (as well as friends of Africa and African studies), including many on this forum, who would be willing to support honest and genuine efforts to promote scholarship in and about the continent.

Please discuss this with your colleagues at UNILAG. They may be equally as enthusiastic about this approach as I am. 

Stay well and please, keep up the efforts to decolonize scholarship on and about Africa. 

On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 7:32 AM, Godwin Okeke <sol10ng@yahoo.com> wrote:

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From: Godwin Okeke <sol10ng@yahoo.com>
To:"usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 11:15 PM

Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - UNILAG Journal of Politics: CALL FOR PAPERS

Dear Farook,
Thanks for your concern about UniLag Journal of Politics. But I think that the proper thing you should have done is to seek clarification from the Journal Editors. For your information the N5,000.00 nonrefundable fee is the money paid to the reviewer as honorarium, and when the article is accepted for publication  the author will now pay the N10, 000.00 as publication fee. The Journal is self-sustaining and there is no other way we raise money to keep it running. These tokens are supplemented by the Department from its meager resources.
Therefore, to start painting the picture that the Journal is not blind-peer reviewed is not true. Even so, I don't know if you have read any of our past publications to be able to assess the quality and standard of our work. Do make an effort to access our past publications and verify things for yourself. I also do know that it is highly rated.
Thank you.
G.S.M. Okeke, PhD
(Member, Journal Committee)
Dept. of Political Science
University of Lagos
Akoka, Yaba, Lagos
Nigeria
Alternate email: gokeke@unilag.edu.ng
Cell:234-8037202657  

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From: Farooq A. Kperogi <farooqkperogi@gmail.com>
To:"usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2013 6:38 AM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - UNILAG Journal of Politics: CALL FOR PAPERS

"Contributors are to accompany each manuscript with a non-refundable assessment fee of N5,000.00 (N2,000.00 for book reviews). If the paper is finally accepted for publication, the contributor(s) will be required to submit one corrected hard copy, another copy in compact disk, and yet another by e-mail attachment, as well as a publication fee of N10,000.00 (N5,000.00 for book reviews)."

This strikes me as predatory publishing at its worst. What's the point in asking contributors to pay N5,000 as a precondition for submission? Arguments have been made here for why the pay-to-publish model of journal publishing that is prevalent in Nigeria and other parts of the developing world (even in humanities and social science scholarship) is inevitable. I concede that, in the absence of private publishing entrepreneurs in much of the developing world, it is defensible for journals to charge authors a production fee. But what can possibly justify charging authors for merely submitting articles AND charging then again after their submissions have been accepted? I don't get it. Interestingly, there is no mention of blind peer review in the call. It is entirely reasonable to assume that the fees authors pay guarantee acceptance of their papers irrespective of the quality of such papers. Apparently, knowledge production and circulation aren't the raison d'être this journal. It seems more like a nakedly mercenary enterprise in academic guise. Or am I missing something?

Farooq

Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/farooqkperogi

Twitter: @farooqkperogi

"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. Will

On Tue, Aug 27, 2013 at 1:34 PM, Dele Ashiru <ashirudele@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

Dear All,

Please respond appropriately.

Best wishes

 

'Dele Ashiru.
Department of Political Science,
University of Lagos,
Lagos,Nigeria.
+234-8026274712, +234-8019119573.
http//:www.politicalscienceunilag.org
http//:www.unilag.edu.ng

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