Dear Profs Emeagwali, Iheduru and all,
Thank you for your contributions to this discussion and for raising rather critical questions and suggestions towards resolving the dilemmas of scholarship in Nigeria, which I believe many academics here in Nigeria could benefit from. I would like to attempt, and this is only an attempt, to add my voice to the salient points already raised by posing a number of questions which could take the discussion forward.
1. On the question of indexing for local journals, is it possible to begin the process of getting as many journals (across disciplines) as possible online and into these indexes? A second point relates to 'accrediting' journals. Is it possible to make a list of ALL academic journals in Nigeria and possibly rank them? I am aware that in South Africa, and someone mentioned this earlier, there is a ranking system and a list of all 'accredited' journals, local and international which serve the basis for points, etc. Could the NUC or association of University teachers or VCs develop such a list with inputs from all stakeholders, disciplines and Universities? Can the National Library lead in this effort?
Perhaps, once submissions have been made, they could be vetted by assessing papers previously submitted to such journals? Are there examples of national systems for rating papers that can be learnt from? I know that in India, some Academics have disagreed with the notion of impact factor because it is likely to distort the actual rating of a paper if there are not many references to it for other factors (such as the area of research has a small following) rather than the quality of the journal itself.
2. Still on the question of journal accreditation, can there be some meaningful discussion on the dichotomies created by a system where in some Universities a paper is rated highly or scores more points when it is published in a journal of any rate outside of Nigeria as against publishing in a more highly rated journal locally? It appears to me that this system of encouraging 'off shore' publishing does not sufficiently encourage local scholarship, and tends to create the assumption that all journals outside Nigeria, no matter their rating are better than journals in Nigeria. Can we really state that this is in fact the case?
3. On the question of paying to publish, a number of factors have been identified. My questions are: 1. is it possible to encourage a system whereby: a. authors don't get to pay to have their papers reviewed; b. Reviewers don't have to be paid to review papers; c. that journals rely on the 'commercial value' (since they are likely to be sold) of the works published to cover associated costs? 2. Are there examples of this in Nigeria (which do not rely entirely on external funding) which could be shared as a good practice?
To me, the topic being discussed is not one that concerns just the UNILAG Political Science journal, but one which could benefit scholarship here in Nigeria.
My best regards, Dabesaki
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