'Predatory' Publishing Up; Nigeria Has the Highest Ratio -- 1,580 Percent!!!
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Okey Iheduru
Oct 1, 2015, 7:39:12 PM10/1/15
to USAAfrica Dialogue
Study suggests open-access journals with questionable peer-review and marketing processes now publish hundreds of thousands of articles a year, a huge jump in only a few years.
October 1, 2015
"The rise of open-access publishing, combined with pressure on academics to get published, has caused a spectacular increase in the number of articles spewed out by “predatory” journals, according to researchers at Finland’s Hanken School of Economics. Such journals, of which there are thousands, charge authors hundreds of dollars in return for lackluster or nonexistent peer review and rapid publication...the journals dumped more than 420,000 articles into the market in 2014, up from 53,000 in 2010...Predatory publishers and journals are a byproduct of the open-access movement. In order to provide free access to readers, many journals have passed costs on to authors themselves, charging them an article-processing fee that can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars...Authors from Africa and Asia appear most willing to take the risk. They make up 76.7 percent of the authors of the articles captured in the study. Authors from India alone make up more than one-third, or 34.7 percent...India’s and China’s populations obviously skew the geographic breakdown. When it comes to the number of articles per capita, another country comes out on top: Nigeria. The researchers calculated each country’s ratio of articles published in predatory journals to those indexed in Thomson Reuters’s Web of Science. Nigeria had the highest ratio -- 1,580 percent -- followed by India (277 percent), Iran (70 percent) and the U.S. (7 percent)...Research published in predatory journals is polluting the entire scholarly publishing ecosystem.”
Note: The National Universities Commission (NUC) of Nigeria and other such higher ed administration and quality control agencies in Africa ought to take note and evaluate their options.
Now, read the entire article and comments here:
Okey Iheduru, PhD
You can access some of my papers on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at: http://ssrn.com/author=2131462.
Iruka Okeke
Oct 2, 2015, 10:31:06 AM10/2/15
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
I blogged about this a couple of years ago. Things have worsened considerably (and presumably extended from the biomedical sciences) since then.
Nigeria: A hub for substandard publishing in biomedical science?
By Iruka Okeke
Academic publishing is the major mode of communication within specialist fields. New biomedical findings almost always debut in the peer-reviewed literature. Participants in a scholarly discussion publish their ideas, experiments and findings, and field leaders publish more, or better. The most 
In the last two decades, scientific publishing has come under considerable scrutiny as peer-review, its gate-keeping mechanism, is now understood not to be infallible and the cost of periodicals to libraries and readers has skyrocketed. Efforts to make scientific publications more accessible have led to the evolution of the Open Access publishing model in which, after peer review and acceptance, authors pay page charges to (largely online) journals and then their articles are available to readers for free. Open Access appears to be working because the major funding agencies have agreed to pick up the charges and some mandate their grant awardees to publish Open Access. Also, scientists like their work to be accessible and Open Access is the best way to ensure accessibility. Regarding journal quality, the impact factors of major open access journals are now as high as, or higher than, comparable subscription only publications. The Open Access model has been honed to ensure that unfunded scientists, particularly those in developing countries, can have page charges waived. However, Open Access is still an experiment, and not one without flaws.
Jeffrey Beall, who recently authored a piece on predatory publishing in Nature, is perhaps best known for curating a database of spurious journals that demand large publishing fees but have no real interest or desire to promote authentic scientific communication. The predatory journals on Beall’s list, in the curator’s opinion, practice a corruption of the open access model, having authors pay publication costs so that readers can access the work free. However, unlike authentic open-access publications, predatory journals have questionable, if any peer review and editorial processes and therefore they draw low quality work that should not be acceptable to a scholarly journal. The money-making opportunity here is obvious. Normally, these shady journals would burn out but predatory publications are sustained by authors who are willing to pay high fees to publish lower quality work and circumvent authentic peer review. These authors can then list their substandard publications on their vitae to advance their careers. Academic promotion reviews that focus on the quantity, rather than quality of published work fuel this behavior. Sadly, hardworking authors commonly fall prey to predatory journals at least once by mistaking them for real ones.
The current rave in discussions about Open Access and rogue publishing is the ‘sting’ experiment performed by John Bohannon and published in Science. (Science is not an Open Access Journal but there are ways authors to make their Science publication Open). Bohannon’s experiment involved him submitting fake and flawed papers to journals published by 304 open access publishers and then identifying publishers that accepted them. The list of targeted publishers includes well known and highly reputed publishers such as PLoS and Frontiers, a number of local journals from a variety of countries as well as 121 publishers off of “academic crime-fight[er]” Beall’s list of potential predatory publishers. In the end, 157 journals accepted the flawed papers and 98 (including PLoS and Frontiers journals) rejected it. Bohannon’s objectives and methods have been widely criticized but I’ll leave the details of those criticisms (a handful of which I agree with) to other blogs. As is appropriate for this blog, let’s focus on Nigeria.
Accompanying the Bohannon’s article in Science is an interactive network figure showing the location of the publishers, their editors, and their financial offices and the links between them. Like all network figures, this one makes it possible to identify hubs. (Most people have seen network figures of air travel routes. The hubs in those figures are your airline hubs e.g. London Heathrow for British Airways, Lagos for Arik, or Philadelphia for US Airways). The Open Access publishing hubs are easily identifiable in the figure accompanying Bohannon’s article. They include the USA, a number of Western European countries and India for example. Nigeria is the only country in Africa with more than three Open Access publication offices. It is a small hub, compared to India or the USA (and so did not merit discussion in Bohannon’s Science paper), but it is significant that every one of the publications connected to Nigeria accepted Bohannon’s flawed papers. This makes Nigeria the largest hub of publication offices that unanimously accepted the spoof papers in the world. South Africa had only two data points, both editor locations and would not qualify to be a hub. Only one of these accepted the article and that publisher banked in Nigeria.
While it is true that numerically more journals based in India and the USA accepted the flawed articles than those based in Nigeria, Nigeria is a standout on the figure because once again, it features as a ‘giant of Africa’, sadly this time not in a good way. And it must be acknowledged that most journals receive and publish more manuscripts from their own countries than any other. Sociologist Ebenezer Obadare and I have written (sorry not Open Access) about how apparent peer review – even in authentic journals – can damage medical research and misinform professional and public circles about the value of experimental therapies. Predatory journals and those that publish substandard science in them can do real harm. Nigerian institutional review committees need to scrutinize the credentials of academics to ensure that they are not building careers based on publications in predatory journals and well meaning academics need to take steps to avoid, and crush these ‘journals’ so that our international scholarly reputation is not damaged by them. Perhaps we need to ensure that only papers that have been cited (and not self cited) can be included in a resume for review. This would remove many (not all) publications in spurious journals from candidate’s CVs.
Timing is all important in science communication with Beall and Bohannon’s articles pubished respectively just before and after Open Access week. By sheer coincidence, the Bohannon and Beall publications overlap with another Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike in Nigeria. Once we have dealt with that current wildfire, we’ll need to ask ourselves how best to maintain the quality of the institutions that determine and reflect the quality of our academy.
Iruka N Okeke
Haverford, Oct 2013
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Iruka N. Okeke
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Moses Ebe Ochonu
Oct 2, 2015, 11:55:21 AM10/2/15
to USAAfricaDialogue
Nigerian institutional review committees need to scrutinize the credentials of academics to ensure that they are not building careers based on publications in predatory journals and well meaning academics need to take steps to avoid, and crush these ‘journals’ so that our international scholarly reputation is not damaged by them. Perhaps we need to ensure that only papers that have been cited (and not self cited) can be included in a resume for review. This would remove many (not all) publications in spurious journals from candidate’s CVs.
---Professor Okeke
Too late. Medicine after death. Many careers have already been built through predatory publishing, self-publishing, incestuous departmental journal publishing, and the bean-counting of meaningless newsletter, magazine, and newspaper articles.
We always seem to launch our critique a step too late. When my friend Farooq Kperogi began warning that publication fraud would destroy the Nigerian academy if not checked, he was regarded with disdain, called arrogant, and told that he was an "enemy of progress." Someone even said he was jealous that others were publishing just like him! Nigeria-based academics simply wanted to get ahead, and the NUC made it easier for them to engage in publication fraud by instituting bean counting metrics. I kid you not, I once saw the CV of a person on the rank of Lecturer II who had about 100 publications!!!! Every freaking article listed on that CV was published in predatory, non-indexed, and outright fraudulent publications. Go figure.
Oluwatoyin Adepoju
Oct 2, 2015, 1:58:39 PM10/2/15
to USAAfricaDialogue
i'ncestuous departmental journal publishing'
na wa
Okey Iheduru
Oct 2, 2015, 4:10:15 PM10/2/15
to USAAfrica Dialogue, Prof Azubuike Sonny Nwankwo
I just received this from an academic administrator in one of Nigeria's "elite" tertiary institutions:
"Okey
I really need this
[the IHE's piece about 'Predatory' Publishing]
..snugly fits with the crusade I have started here (where "academics" patronise these fly-by-night Indian merchants parading as publishers. .At the moment, we are going through the motion of assessments for promotion to Assoc/Profs and I am horrified by the quality of submissions coming forward. Speak soon.
"
So, it's not difficult for me to agree with Moses about this debate coming too late. The home-based predecessor of the administrator who sent me this e-mail had about 30 papers in all, half of which appeared in departmental "journals" and the others in vanity outlets all with "International" in their titles. I can't wait to hear that my "crusader" pal has been hounded out of this institution where most faculty members are described simply as "traders."
I can name several serving Vice Chancellors of Nigerian universities many of whose "foreign" publications appeared in these fraudulent outlets. Many serious scholars neither seek, nor stand a chance of ever being elected Deans of Faculties (Yes, Deans are "popularly" elected in most public universities in Nigeria). Many of the "professors" sent by the NUC to conduct "resource verification" (before new programs are approved) and accreditation exercises are among the worst culprits of this academic fraud. There's hardly any ASUU official that is not guilty of this racket, either. As I have noted in earlier postings in this Forum, TET Fund (the Nigerian Tertiary Education Trust Fund) actually finances this racket by doling out funds to pay for "departmental journals", article publication fees, and myriad spurious publications initiated by thieving cliques and gangs that make the NURTW (National Union of Road Transport Workers, or "agbero" in my dictionary) in Oyo State look like saints. As this 419 industry migrated overseas and online (often aided and abetted by some Diaspora collaborators, sometimes inadvertently), we've seen a dramatic decline in the erstwhile "Volume 1, Number 1" syndrome of the 1990s. Of course, a number of our colleagues in this Forum are also perpetrators of this fraud. It's a case of the dog that ate the meaty bone hung on her neck, as my people would say.
At the same time, we must acknowledge the valiant efforts of many Nigeria-based scholars who are getting published in world-class journals, in some cases, more than many of us in well-resourced overseas universities. I invite readers to visit Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, for instance, where a core group of un-celebrated scholars are doing the country proud. Not sure why VC Aluko hasn't noticed them in his usual postings about "highest ranked" this and that...
Peace as Always!
Okey
--
Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
Oct 2, 2015, 5:18:58 PM10/2/15
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Predatory publishing was pioneered by the established institutions in the UK and elsewhere
who started to charge money for publishing about a decade ago, I believe.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Okey Iheduru [okeyi...@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2015 4:00 PM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 'Predatory' Publishing Up; Nigeria Has the Highest Ratio -- 1,580 Percent!!!
'Predatory' Publishing Up<http://insidehighered.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ed1d2ff123b6b83dd97022f88&id=b2cc9e3503&e=fd344a6e78>
"The rise of open-access publishing, combined with pressure on academics to get published, has caused a spectacular increase in the number of articles spewed out by “predatory” journals, according to researchers at Finland’s Hanken School of Economics. Such journals, of which there are thousands, charge authors hundreds of dollars in return for lackluster or nonexistent peer review and rapid publication...the journals dumped more than 420,000 articles into the market in 2014, up from 53,000 in 2010...Predatory publishers and journals are a byproduct of the open-access movement. In order to provide free access to readers, many journals have passed costs on to authors themselves, charging them an article-processing fee that can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars...Authors from Africa and Asia appear most willing to take the risk. They make up 76.7 percent of the authors of the articles captured in the study. Authors from India alone make up more than one-third, or 34.7 percent...India’s and China’s populations obviously skew the geographic breakdown. When it comes to the number of articles per capita, another country comes out on top: Nigeria. The researchers calculated each country’s ratio of articles published in predatory journals to those indexed in Thomson Reuters’s Web of Science. Nigeria had the highest ratio -- 1,580 percent -- followed by India (277 percent), Iran (70 percent) and the U.S. (7 percent)...Research published in predatory journals is polluting the entire scholarly publishing ecosystem.”
Note: The National Universities Commission (NUC) of Nigeria and other such higher ed administration and quality control agencies in Africa ought to take note and evaluate their options.
Now, read the entire article and comments here:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/10/01/study-finds-huge-increase-articles-published-predatory-journals?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=6ee00e91a1-DNU20151001&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-6ee00e91a1-197542281
'Predatory' Publishing Up
October 1, 2015
By
Carl Straumsheim<https://www.insidehighered.com/users/carl-straumsheim>
--
Okey Iheduru, PhD
[http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/banners/readmyarticle/rrip.gif]
who started to charge money for publishing about a decade ago, I believe.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Okey Iheduru [okeyi...@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2015 4:00 PM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 'Predatory' Publishing Up; Nigeria Has the Highest Ratio -- 1,580 Percent!!!
'Predatory' Publishing Up<http://insidehighered.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ed1d2ff123b6b83dd97022f88&id=b2cc9e3503&e=fd344a6e78>
Study suggests open-access journals with questionable peer-review and marketing processes now publish hundreds of thousands of articles a year, a huge jump in only a few years.
October 1, 2015
By
Carl Straumsheim<https://www.insidehighered.com/users/carl-straumsheim>
October 1, 2015
By
"The rise of open-access publishing, combined with pressure on academics to get published, has caused a spectacular increase in the number of articles spewed out by “predatory” journals, according to researchers at Finland’s Hanken School of Economics. Such journals, of which there are thousands, charge authors hundreds of dollars in return for lackluster or nonexistent peer review and rapid publication...the journals dumped more than 420,000 articles into the market in 2014, up from 53,000 in 2010...Predatory publishers and journals are a byproduct of the open-access movement. In order to provide free access to readers, many journals have passed costs on to authors themselves, charging them an article-processing fee that can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars...Authors from Africa and Asia appear most willing to take the risk. They make up 76.7 percent of the authors of the articles captured in the study. Authors from India alone make up more than one-third, or 34.7 percent...India’s and China’s populations obviously skew the geographic breakdown. When it comes to the number of articles per capita, another country comes out on top: Nigeria. The researchers calculated each country’s ratio of articles published in predatory journals to those indexed in Thomson Reuters’s Web of Science. Nigeria had the highest ratio -- 1,580 percent -- followed by India (277 percent), Iran (70 percent) and the U.S. (7 percent)...Research published in predatory journals is polluting the entire scholarly publishing ecosystem.”
Note: The National Universities Commission (NUC) of Nigeria and other such higher ed administration and quality control agencies in Africa ought to take note and evaluate their options.
Now, read the entire article and comments here:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/10/01/study-finds-huge-increase-articles-published-predatory-journals?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=6ee00e91a1-DNU20151001&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-6ee00e91a1-197542281
'Predatory' Publishing Up
October 1, 2015
By
--
Okey Iheduru, PhD
[http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/banners/readmyarticle/rrip.gif]
You can access some of my papers on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at: http://ssrn.com/author=2131462.
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
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Oluwatoyin Adepoju
Oct 3, 2015, 7:13:23 AM10/3/15
to USAAfricaDialogue
My people,
As much as we must cry out about these issues, the subject needs to be placed in perspective so we may more readily maximise its significance.
I am worried about such sweeping critiques-
'There's hardly any ASUU official that is not guilty of this racket, either.'
Okey Iheduru
The qs is- how do you know?
How factual is this-
'Many of the "professors" sent by the NUC to conduct "resource verification" (before new programs are approved) and accreditation exercises are among the worst culprits of this academic fraud. There's hardly any ASUU official that is not guilty of this racket, either
Okey Iheduru
I wonder how such sweeping knowledge was reached.
I am struck by this-
'As I have noted in earlier postings in this Forum, TET Fund (the Nigerian Tertiary Education Trust Fund) actually finances this racket by doling out funds to pay for "departmental journals", article publication fees, and myriad spurious publications initiated by thieving cliques and gangs that make the NURTW (National Union of Road Transport Workers, or "agbero" in my dictionary) in Oyo State look like saints.'
Okey Iheduru
I find it gratifying that Nigeria has an education fund that actively funds academic publications.
The qs is- how may these funds be best used in this regard?
How may the indigenous publications supported by this fund be developed to the highest international standards?
What is perhaps the leading journal in the study of African literature, Research in African Literatures, is described as started by Richard Bjornson with funding from the University of Texas.
Sylvester Okwunedo Ogbechie, created and ran Critical Interventions journal of Art History at his AACHRON online platform journal for years before it was taken over by Taylor and Francis.
Okwui Enwezor, with Chika Okeke Agulu and Olu Oguibe, created and ran Nka : Journal of Contemporary Art as a private initiative before it began to be published by Duke University.
Rajat Neogy created and ran the now legendary Transition journal for years on a shoestring budget before it passed to Soyinka's editorship after which it folded up for lack of funds, to be revived decades later by Skip Gates and published by Indiana University Press.
A
current drive in the West is towards academics'
control of journals, away from control by the big publishers, as demonstrated by the Wikipedia essay on "Academic Journal Publishing Reform", a move
highlighted by the Elsevier boycott "The Cost of Knowledge" in which Timothy Gowers, Fields Medal winner [ Nobel Prize of mathematics] and professor at Oxford played a central role, an initiative that continues to reverberate.
A group of University of Cambridge academics have come together to create Open Book Publishers a publishing house by academics for academics and the general public that bypasses the exploitative qualities of big publisher journal and book publication.
This drive towards academic autonomy in publishing hearkens to when Western academic publications were managed by academics, as with Edmund Halley, with the academic patronage of the Royal Society, publishing Isaac Newton's epochal Principia Mathematica, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.
In the light of these developments in decentralisation of academic publication away from a focus on high end brands controlled by publishing houses, how may scholars in Africa and other struggling continents adapt these initiatives?
Is the culture of 'do-it- yourself' academic publishing being decried in Nigeria something that should be done away with or refined?
Should these 'dept' journals not make themselves truly international by advertising globally and accepting submissions from the best globally?
I very much admire this-
'At the same time, we must acknowledge the valiant efforts of many Nigeria-based scholars who are getting published in world-class journals, in some cases, more than many of us in well-resourced overseas universities'
Okey Iheduru
but, where 'world class journals' invariably implies 'not in Africa' we need to ask qs about whose cognitive growth is being fed by the research being sent abroad, whose educational ecosystem is being fed by the sustenance of these journals, whose economy is being developed through these journals, whose students and staff are being trained and their prestige boosted through the cultivation of the skills required to manage these journals, whose ideational framing of discourse, whose theoretical structures are privileged through these journals, journals representing the same pool within which scholars in the countries where the journals are based are publishing, there being little or no need for scholars in the West to publish anywhere else, to the best of my knowledge
Are journals and academic publishers/publishing based in Africa not a desperate necessity if Africa is to achieve maturity in the world of organised knowledge?
The challenge is how to develop this to the highest standard.
thanks
toyin
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
Oct 4, 2015, 5:29:54 PM10/4/15
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
'As I have noted in earlier postings in this Forum, TET Fund (the Nigerian Tertiary Education Trust Fund) actually finances this racket by doling out funds to pay for "departmental journals", article publication fees, and myriad spurious publications initiated by thieving cliques and gangs that make the NURTW (National Union of Road Transport Workers, or "agbero" in my dictionary) in Oyo State look like saints.'
Okey Iheduru
Why are some folks hell bent on defamation of organized labor? Are they closet neocons
Okey Iheduru
paid by a bunch of employers - or what? The same people keep totally silent about the various atrocities on US
campuses and pretend that they are working in a crisis free campus environment in the US or the UK or wherever
they may be. Racial discrimination, campus shootings, sexual harassment, grade inflation, intimidation by students
and a host of issues that US administrators themselves admit to be rampant, are conveniently swept under the carpet.
I agree with Toyin that the TET Fund is a welcome program aimed at facilitating a renaissance in local
publishing. Is it preferable that a bunch of Eurocentric males ( or females) from Mars should dictate what should be published
and when?
Let us ask the right question. How can we assist in bringing about change so that the journals adhere to
a given standard.
I did not use the word 'international' deliberately. I recall an interesting perspective by Bala Usman
in one of our seminars at ABU, when he reminded us that this word "international" is often used to legitimize or
glorify two or three countries on the world map.
I have disagreed with Toyin Adepoju from time to time. I have also agreed with him on a few occasions. Here I agree with
him completely:
" but, where 'world class journals' invariably implies 'not in Africa' we need to ask qs about whose cognitive growth
is being fed by the research being sent abroad, whose educational ecosystem is being fed by the sustenance of these journals,
whose economy is being developed through these journals, whose students and staff are being trained and their prestige
boosted through the cultivation of the skills required to manage these journals, whose ideational framing of discourse,
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
Sent: Saturday, October 03, 2015 6:28 AM
To: USAAfricaDialogue
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 'Predatory' Publishing Up; Nigeria Has the Highest Ratio -- 1,580 Percent!!!
My people,
As much as we must cry out about these issues, the subject needs to be placed in perspective so we may more readily maximise its significance.
I am worried about such sweeping critiques-
'There's hardly any ASUU official that is not guilty of this racket, either.'
Okey Iheduru
The qs is- how do you know?
How factual is this-
'Many of the "professors" sent by the NUC to conduct "resource verification" (before new programs are approved) and accreditation exercises are among the worst culprits of this academic fraud. There's hardly any ASUU official that is not guilty of this racket, either
Okey Iheduru
I wonder how such sweeping knowledge was reached.
I am struck by this-
'As I have noted in earlier postings in this Forum, TET Fund (the Nigerian Tertiary Education Trust Fund) actually finances this racket by doling out funds to pay for "departmental journals", article publication fees, and myriad spurious publications initiated by thieving cliques and gangs that make the NURTW (National Union of Road Transport Workers, or "agbero" in my dictionary) in Oyo State look like saints.'
Okey Iheduru
I find it gratifying that Nigeria has an education fund that actively funds academic publications.
The qs is- how may these funds be best used in this regard?
How may the indigenous publications supported by this fund be developed to the highest international standards?
Sylvester Okwunedo Ogbechie<http://www.arthistory.ucsb.edu/faculty/ogbechie.html>, created and ran Critical Interventions<http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcin20/1/1> journal of Art History at his AACHRON<http://www.aachron.com/index.html> online platform journal for years before it was taken over by Taylor and Francis.
Okwui Enwezor, with Chika Okeke Agulu and Olu Oguibe, created and ran Nka : Journal of Contemporary Art<http://www.nkajournal.org/> as a private initiative before it began to be published by Duke University<https://www.dukeupress.edu/Nka/>.
Rajat Neogy <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajat_Neogy> created and ran the now legendary Transition<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transition_Magazine> journal for years on a shoestring budget before it passed to Soyinka's editorship after which it folded up for lack of funds, to be revived decades later by Skip Gates and published by Indiana University Press.<http://hutchinscenter.fas.harvard.edu/transition/transition-history>
A current drive in the West is towards academics' control of journals, away from control by the big publishers, as demonstrated by the Wikipedia essay on "Academic Journal Publishing Reform<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_journal_publishing_reform>", a move highlighted by the Elsevier boycott "The Cost of Knowledge<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cost_of_Knowledge>" in which Timothy Gowers, Fields Medal winner [ Nobel Prize of mathematics] and professor at Oxford played a central role<https://gowers.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/elsevier-my-part-in-its-downfall/>, an initiative that continues to reverberate<https://universonline.nl/2015/07/02/dutch-universities-start-their-elsevier-boycott-plan>.
A group of University of Cambridge academics have come together to create Open Book Publishers<http://www.openbookpublishers.com/section/14/1/about> a publishing house by academics for academics and the general public that bypasses the exploitative qualities of big publisher journal and book publication.
This drive towards academic autonomy in publishing hearkens to when Western academic publications were managed by academics, as with Edmund Halley, with the academic patronage of the Royal Society, publishing Isaac Newton's epochal Principia Mathematica, Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophi%C3%A6_Naturalis_Principia_Mathematica#Halley.27s_role_as_publisher>
In the light of these developments in decentralisation of academic publication away from a focus on high end brands controlled by publishing houses, how may scholars in Africa and other struggling continents adapt these initiatives?
Is the culture of 'do-it- yourself' academic publishing being decried in Nigeria something that should be done away with or refined?
Should these 'dept' journals not make themselves truly international by advertising globally and accepting submissions from the best globally?
I very much admire this-
'At the same time, we must acknowledge the valiant efforts of many Nigeria-based scholars who are getting published in world-class journals, in some cases, more than many of us in well-resourced overseas universities'
Okey Iheduru
but, where 'world class journals' invariably implies 'not in Africa' we need to ask qs about whose cognitive growth is being fed by the research being sent abroad, whose educational ecosystem is being fed by the sustenance of these journals, whose economy is being developed through these journals, whose students and staff are being trained and their prestige boosted through the cultivation of the skills required to manage these journals, whose ideational framing of discourse, whose theoretical structures are privileged through these journals, journals representing the same pool within which scholars in the countries where the journals are based are publishing, there being little or no need for scholars in the West to publish anywhere else, to the best of my knowledge
Are journals and academic publishers/publishing based in Africa not a desperate necessity if Africa is to achieve maturity in the world of organised knowledge?
The challenge is how to develop this to the highest standard.
thanks
toyin
On 2 October 2015 at 21:33, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emea...@mail.ccsu.edu<mailto:emea...@mail.ccsu.edu>> wrote:
Predatory publishing was pioneered by the established institutions in the UK and elsewhere
who started to charge money for publishing about a decade ago, I believe.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos>
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com> [usaafric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com>] On Behalf Of Okey Iheduru [okeyi...@gmail.com<mailto:okeyi...@gmail.com>]
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2015 4:00 PM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 'Predatory' Publishing Up; Nigeria Has the Highest Ratio -- 1,580 Percent!!!
'Predatory' Publishing Up<http://insidehighered.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ed1d2ff123b6b83dd97022f88&id=b2cc9e3503&e=fd344a6e78>
Study suggests open-access journals with questionable peer-review and marketing processes now publish hundreds of thousands of articles a year, a huge jump in only a few years.
October 1, 2015
By
Carl Straumsheim<https://www.insidehighered.com/users/carl-straumsheim>
"The rise of open-access publishing, combined with pressure on academics to get published, has caused a spectacular increase in the number of articles spewed out by “predatory” journals, according to researchers at Finland’s Hanken School of Economics. Such journals, of which there are thousands, charge authors hundreds of dollars in return for lackluster or nonexistent peer review and rapid publication...the journals dumped more than 420,000 articles into the market in 2014, up from 53,000 in 2010...Predatory publishers and journals are a byproduct of the open-access movement. In order to provide free access to readers, many journals have passed costs on to authors themselves, charging them an article-processing fee that can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars...Authors from Africa and Asia appear most willing to take the risk. They make up 76.7 percent of the authors of the articles captured in the study. Authors from India alone make up more than one-third, or 34.7 percent...India’s and China’s populations obviously skew the geographic breakdown. When it comes to the number of articles per capita, another country comes out on top: Nigeria. The researchers calculated each country’s ratio of articles published in predatory journals to those indexed in Thomson Reuters’s Web of Science. Nigeria had the highest ratio -- 1,580 percent -- followed by India (277 percent), Iran (70 percent) and the U.S. (7 percent)...Research published in predatory journals is polluting the entire scholarly publishing ecosystem.”
Note: The National Universities Commission (NUC) of Nigeria and other such higher ed administration and quality control agencies in Africa ought to take note and evaluate their options.
Now, read the entire article and comments here:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/10/01/study-finds-huge-increase-articles-published-predatory-journals?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=6ee00e91a1-DNU20151001&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-6ee00e91a1-197542281
'Predatory' Publishing Up
October 1, 2015
By
Carl Straumsheim<https://www.insidehighered.com/users/carl-straumsheim>
--
Okey Iheduru, PhD
[http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/banners/readmyarticle/rrip.gif]
You can access some of my papers on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at: http://ssrn.com/author=2131462.
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 'Predatory' Publishing Up; Nigeria Has the Highest Ratio -- 1,580 Percent!!!
'Predatory' Publishing Up<http://insidehighered.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ed1d2ff123b6b83dd97022f88&id=b2cc9e3503&e=fd344a6e78>
Study suggests open-access journals with questionable peer-review and marketing processes now publish hundreds of thousands of articles a year, a huge jump in only a few years.
October 1, 2015
By
Carl Straumsheim<https://www.insidehighered.com/users/carl-straumsheim>
"The rise of open-access publishing, combined with pressure on academics to get published, has caused a spectacular increase in the number of articles spewed out by “predatory” journals, according to researchers at Finland’s Hanken School of Economics. Such journals, of which there are thousands, charge authors hundreds of dollars in return for lackluster or nonexistent peer review and rapid publication...the journals dumped more than 420,000 articles into the market in 2014, up from 53,000 in 2010...Predatory publishers and journals are a byproduct of the open-access movement. In order to provide free access to readers, many journals have passed costs on to authors themselves, charging them an article-processing fee that can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars...Authors from Africa and Asia appear most willing to take the risk. They make up 76.7 percent of the authors of the articles captured in the study. Authors from India alone make up more than one-third, or 34.7 percent...India’s and China’s populations obviously skew the geographic breakdown. When it comes to the number of articles per capita, another country comes out on top: Nigeria. The researchers calculated each country’s ratio of articles published in predatory journals to those indexed in Thomson Reuters’s Web of Science. Nigeria had the highest ratio -- 1,580 percent -- followed by India (277 percent), Iran (70 percent) and the U.S. (7 percent)...Research published in predatory journals is polluting the entire scholarly publishing ecosystem.”
Note: The National Universities Commission (NUC) of Nigeria and other such higher ed administration and quality control agencies in Africa ought to take note and evaluate their options.
Now, read the entire article and comments here:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/10/01/study-finds-huge-increase-articles-published-predatory-journals?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=6ee00e91a1-DNU20151001&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-6ee00e91a1-197542281
'Predatory' Publishing Up
October 1, 2015
By
Carl Straumsheim<https://www.insidehighered.com/users/carl-straumsheim>
--
Okey Iheduru, PhD
[http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/banners/readmyarticle/rrip.gif]
You can access some of my papers on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at: http://ssrn.com/author=2131462.
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfricaDialogue%2Bsub...@googlegroups.com>
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Okey Iheduru
Oct 5, 2015, 7:01:48 AM10/5/15
to USAAfrica Dialogue
Gloria:
You're too respectable and too experienced in academia to descend to the level of innuendos and character-assassination. I'm sure you can do better than to suggest that your "neocons" nemesis have so run out of work that they must now earn their living worrying about the fraudulent academic culture in Nigeria. And, they value my opinion so much as to put me on their payroll? I'll drink to that!You know, I didn't realize how important you think I am!
Seriously, though, you know better than I do that this racket has gone on for over 25 years, and many in the generations of academics who have been socialized into it do not even realize how much of a problem it is. By bringing it up in this and other forums--along with so many voices out there who get clobbered like you tried to do to me--, I'm actually helping our colleagues back home-- sensitizing them to the challenges facing them if they truly want to be part of the 21st century university. We've proffered so many "ways forward" innumerable times. I spent my summer (June-July 2015) on the ground in Nigeria doing my small bit on the "practical" side of this problem, and I know how fun it was knocking on the brick wall most times.
No, the issue at stake has nothing to do with American neocons. No, it's NOT, "preferable that a bunch of Eurocentric males ( or females) from Mars should dictate what should be published and when." Serious scholarship published in Nigeria has always been respectable and have continued to garner enviable impact counts. A few contrasting examples here will suffice for now.
The total Google Scholar citation count for Unilag Journal of Politics is 54. This is a biannual (Rainy Season and Harmattan Season) publication, which calculates to about 22 issues averaging six articles per issue; or a total of about 132 articles, excluding book reviews, etc., since its debut (Volume 1, Number 1) in 2004. It's supposed to be among the "best" outlets for political science writing in Nigeria, mind you. Most of its peers range from 0 to 11 Google Scholar citation counts--and there are more than 50 such "journals" in Nigeria today!
On the other hand, the Google Scholar citation counts for these works published in Nigeria by Nigerian/West Africa academics (as of October 4th, 2015) should cheer you up a little:
(1) Okwudiba Nnoli, Ethnic Politics in Nigeria
(Enugu:
Fourth Dimension Publishers, 1978) -- a whopping 686!.
(NB: As you and I know, many full professors in social sciences and humanities in North American universities will never amass this number of citation counts [686] for ALL their scholarship until they retire👹👹👹).
(2) Eme O. Awa, Issues in Federalism (Benin City: Ethiope Publishing Corporation, 1976) = 69.
(3) Yusuf Bala Usman, Transformation of Katsine (1400-1883). (Zaria: Ahmadu Bello University Press, 1981) = 51.
(4) Gabriel O. Olusanya, The Second World War and Politics in Nigeria, 1939-1953 (Ibadan: Evans Brothers Publishers Ltd. [for University of Lagos], 1973) = 75.
(5) Ayodeji Olukoju, The Crisis of Research and Academic Publishing in Nigerian Universities: The Twentieth Century and Beyond (Darkar: Proceedings of the 28th Annual Spring Symposium, 2002 - codesria.org) = 32.
Below is my source for the Unilag Journal of Politics Google Scholar citation counts as of October 4th, 2015.
[CITATION] IS POPOOLA
RP Violence - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004 - … Political Science, University of Lagos
[CITATION] NDUBISI I. NWOKOMA
PP Power - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004 - … Political Science, University of Lagos
[CITATION] Patriarchy and constraints of democratic political space of women in Nigeria
FA Badru - Unilag Journal of Politics, 2005
[CITATION] The Role of the Mass Media in Reducing Political Violence: A Case Study of the 2003 General Elections
IS Popoola - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
[CITATION] The State, Politics and Economy under the Obasanjo Government, 1999-2003
R Anifowose, D Seteolu - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
[CITATION] The state, politics and economy under Obasanjo
R Anifowose, D Seteolu - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
[CITATION] The Changing Context of Ethno-Nationalism in Nigeria
M Duruji - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2008
[CITATION] Executive-legislative relations in Nigeria's emerging presidential democracy
ER Aiyede - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2005
[CITATION] Electoral Malpractice and Violence in the 2003 General Elections in Nigeria
SC Ugoh - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
[CITATION] Towards Explaining the Conyinuing Dominance of Patrimonial Exchanges in State-Society Relations in Nigeria: The Relevance of Ethno-Patrimonial …
UB Ikpe - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2005
[CITATION] Constitution-making and constitutionalism in Nigeria's fourth republic (1999–2004): Issues and trends
SC Ugoh - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2005
[CITATION] Electoral Malpractices and Violence in 2003 Elections in Nigeria
SC Ugoh - Unilag Journal of Politics, 2004
[CITATION] The Al-Qaeda Scare and Africa capacity for the Discharge of Its Anti-terrorism Obligations
FA Agwu - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
[CITATION] The Civil Limitations of Civil Society: Insights from Nigeria
SJ Omotola - Unilag Journal of Politics, 2005
Peace as always!
Okey
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
Oluwatoyin Adepoju
Oct 5, 2015, 7:59:52 AM10/5/15
to USAAfricaDialogue
Thanks for that effort at statistical analysis, Okey.
On a different note, I am reminded of a scholar who created a nexus of ideas that inspired a body of scholars at the then University of Ife, I think, and the West in terms of developing theoretical paradigms for sociology outside Western models is Akinsola Akiwowo, using a Yoruba/Ifa oral narrative as an interpretive matrix, although his work and that of those who responded to it seems to have been largely published in Western journals.
Thanks
toyin
Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
Oct 5, 2015, 5:08:22 PM10/5/15
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
......... And who cares about Google scholar? What about creating Abuja scholar?
I won't comment on the rest. Have the last word on this but I mean what I said.
No apologies.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Okey Iheduru [okeyi...@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2015 2:43 AM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Below is my source for the Unilag Journal of Politics Google Scholar citation counts as of October 4th, 2015.
[CITATION] IS POPOOLA
RP Violence - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004 - … Political Science, University of Lagos
Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:5JF_X-4LCHgJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
Cited by 8<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=12580083186645684624&as_sdt=805&sciodt=0,3&hl=en> Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:kFHhkAFvla4J:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
Cited by 8<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=16142878197028207598&as_sdt=805&sciodt=0,3&hl=en> Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:7rtDCjEGB-AJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
[CITATION] Constitution-making and constitutionalism in Nigeria's fourth republic (1999–2004): Issues and trends
SC Ugoh - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2005
Cited by 4<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=9678213341062734262&as_sdt=805&sciodt=0,3&hl=en> Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:tqF9nsHrT4YJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
Peace as always!
Okey
africahistory.net<http://africahistory.net><http://africahistory.net>
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos><http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos>
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfricaDialogue%2Bsub...@googlegroups.com><mailto:USAAfricaDialogue%2Bsub...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfricaDialogue%252Bsu...@googlegroups.com>>
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfricaDialogue%2Bsub...@googlegroups.com><mailto:USAAfricaDialogue%2Bsub...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfricaDialogue%252Bsu...@googlegroups.com>>
I won't comment on the rest. Have the last word on this but I mean what I said.
No apologies.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2015 2:43 AM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 'Predatory' Publishing Up; Nigeria Has the Highest Ratio -- 1,580 Percent!!!
Gloria:
You're too respectable and too experienced in academia to descend to the level of innuendos and character-assassination. I'm sure you can do better than to suggest that your "neocons" nemesis have so run out of work that they must now earn their living worrying about the fraudulent academic culture in Nigeria. And, they value my opinion so much as to put me on their payroll? I'll drink to that!You know, I didn't realize how important you think I am!
Seriously, though, you know better than I do that this racket has gone on for over 25 years, and many in the generations of academics who have been socialized into it do not even realize how much of a problem it is. By bringing it up in this and other forums--along with so many voices out there who get clobbered like you tried to do to me--, I'm actually helping our colleagues back home-- sensitizing them to the challenges facing them if they truly want to be part of the 21st century university. We've proffered so many "ways forward" innumerable times. I spent my summer (June-July 2015) on the ground in Nigeria doing my small bit on the "practical" side of this problem, and I know how fun it was knocking on the brick wall most times.
No, the issue at stake has nothing to do with American neocons. No, it's NOT, "preferable that a bunch of Eurocentric males ( or females) from Mars should dictate what should be published and when." Serious scholarship published in Nigeria has always been respectable and have continued to garner enviable impact counts. A few contrasting examples here will suffice for now.
The total Google Scholar citation count for Unilag Journal of Politics is 54. This is a biannual (Rainy Season and Harmattan Season) publication, which calculates to about 22 issues averaging six articles per issue; or a total of about 132 articles, excluding book reviews, etc., since its debut (Volume 1, Number 1) in 2004. It's supposed to be among the "best" outlets for political science writing in Nigeria, mind you. Most of its peers range from 0 to 11 Google Scholar citation counts--and there are more than 50 such "journals" in Nigeria today!
On the other hand, the Google Scholar citation counts for these works published in Nigeria by Nigerian/West Africa academics (as of October 4th, 2015) should cheer you up a little:
(1) Okwudiba Nnoli, Ethnic Politics in Nigeria
(Enugu:
Fourth Dimension Publishers
, 1978) -- a whopping 686!.
(NB: As you and I know, many full professors in social sciences and humanities in North American universities will never amass this number of citation counts [686] for ALL their scholarship until they retire👹👹👹).
(2) Eme O. Awa, Issues in Federalism (Benin City: Ethiope Publishing Corporation, 1976) = 69.
(3) Yusuf Bala Usman, Transformation of Katsine (1400-1883). (Zaria: Ahmadu Bello University Press, 1981) = 51.
(4) Gabriel O. Olusanya, The Second World War and Politics in Nigeria, 1939-1953 (Ibadan: Evans Brothers Publishers Ltd. [for University of Lagos], 1973) = 75.
(5) Ayodeji Olukoju, The Crisis of Research and Academic Publishing in Nigerian Universities: The Twentieth Century and Beyond<http://www.codesria.org/IMG/pdf/Ayodeji_Olukoju.pdf?811/5cf45cc16020224fb616cea4ca22759a3f743e48> (Darkar: Proceedings of the 28th Annual Spring Symposium, 2002 - codesria.org<http://codesria.org>) = 32.
You're too respectable and too experienced in academia to descend to the level of innuendos and character-assassination. I'm sure you can do better than to suggest that your "neocons" nemesis have so run out of work that they must now earn their living worrying about the fraudulent academic culture in Nigeria. And, they value my opinion so much as to put me on their payroll? I'll drink to that!You know, I didn't realize how important you think I am!
Seriously, though, you know better than I do that this racket has gone on for over 25 years, and many in the generations of academics who have been socialized into it do not even realize how much of a problem it is. By bringing it up in this and other forums--along with so many voices out there who get clobbered like you tried to do to me--, I'm actually helping our colleagues back home-- sensitizing them to the challenges facing them if they truly want to be part of the 21st century university. We've proffered so many "ways forward" innumerable times. I spent my summer (June-July 2015) on the ground in Nigeria doing my small bit on the "practical" side of this problem, and I know how fun it was knocking on the brick wall most times.
No, the issue at stake has nothing to do with American neocons. No, it's NOT, "preferable that a bunch of Eurocentric males ( or females) from Mars should dictate what should be published and when." Serious scholarship published in Nigeria has always been respectable and have continued to garner enviable impact counts. A few contrasting examples here will suffice for now.
The total Google Scholar citation count for Unilag Journal of Politics is 54. This is a biannual (Rainy Season and Harmattan Season) publication, which calculates to about 22 issues averaging six articles per issue; or a total of about 132 articles, excluding book reviews, etc., since its debut (Volume 1, Number 1) in 2004. It's supposed to be among the "best" outlets for political science writing in Nigeria, mind you. Most of its peers range from 0 to 11 Google Scholar citation counts--and there are more than 50 such "journals" in Nigeria today!
On the other hand, the Google Scholar citation counts for these works published in Nigeria by Nigerian/West Africa academics (as of October 4th, 2015) should cheer you up a little:
(1) Okwudiba Nnoli, Ethnic Politics in Nigeria
(Enugu:
Fourth Dimension Publishers
, 1978) -- a whopping 686!.
(NB: As you and I know, many full professors in social sciences and humanities in North American universities will never amass this number of citation counts [686] for ALL their scholarship until they retire👹👹👹).
(2) Eme O. Awa, Issues in Federalism (Benin City: Ethiope Publishing Corporation, 1976) = 69.
(3) Yusuf Bala Usman, Transformation of Katsine (1400-1883). (Zaria: Ahmadu Bello University Press, 1981) = 51.
(4) Gabriel O. Olusanya, The Second World War and Politics in Nigeria, 1939-1953 (Ibadan: Evans Brothers Publishers Ltd. [for University of Lagos], 1973) = 75.
Below is my source for the Unilag Journal of Politics Google Scholar citation counts as of October 4th, 2015.
[CITATION] IS POPOOLA
RP Violence - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004 - … Political Science, University of Lagos
[CITATION] NDUBISI I. NWOKOMA
PP Power - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004 - … Political Science, University of Lagos
Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:n4WTAnphNK4J:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
PP Power - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004 - … Political Science, University of Lagos
[CITATION] Patriarchy and constraints of democratic political space of women in Nigeria
FA Badru - Unilag Journal of Politics, 2005
Cited by 6<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=18284696274072787780&as_sdt=805&sciodt=0,3&hl=en> Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:RFsEgmJKwP0J:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
FA Badru - Unilag Journal of Politics, 2005
[CITATION] The Role of the Mass Media in Reducing Political Violence: A Case Study of the 2003 General Elections
IS Popoola - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
Cited by 4<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=2056963452487930416&as_sdt=805&sciodt=0,3&hl=en> Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:MBKBnVzNixwJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
IS Popoola - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
[CITATION] The State, Politics and Economy under the Obasanjo Government, 1999-2003
R Anifowose, D Seteolu - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
Cited by 3<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=17168364955747049802&as_sdt=805&sciodt=0,3&hl=en> Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:SmGRIfdIQu4J:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
R Anifowose, D Seteolu - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
[CITATION] The state, politics and economy under Obasanjo
R Anifowose, D Seteolu - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
Cited by 2<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=10233483846430208696&as_sdt=805&sciodt=0,3&hl=en> Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:uLIryVajBI4J:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
R Anifowose, D Seteolu - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
[CITATION] The Changing Context of Ethno-Nationalism in Nigeria
M Duruji<https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LUpls6sAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra> - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2008
Cited by 8<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=12580083186645684624&as_sdt=805&sciodt=0,3&hl=en> Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:kFHhkAFvla4J:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
[CITATION] Executive-legislative relations in Nigeria's emerging presidential democracy
ER Aiyede<https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=af3u7P8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra> - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2005
Cited by 8<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=16142878197028207598&as_sdt=805&sciodt=0,3&hl=en> Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:7rtDCjEGB-AJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
[CITATION] Electoral Malpractice and Violence in the 2003 General Elections in Nigeria
SC Ugoh - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
Cited by 6<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=3975872086690625311&as_sdt=805&sciodt=0,3&hl=en> Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:H_eVB5kiLTcJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
SC Ugoh - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
[CITATION] Towards Explaining the Conyinuing Dominance of Patrimonial Exchanges in State-Society Relations in Nigeria: The Relevance of Ethno-Patrimonial …
UB Ikpe - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2005
Cited by 5<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=3154100829645236585&as_sdt=805&sciodt=0,3&hl=en> Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:aenEUP6dxSsJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=0&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
UB Ikpe - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2005
[CITATION] Constitution-making and constitutionalism in Nigeria's fourth republic (1999–2004): Issues and trends
SC Ugoh - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2005
[CITATION] Electoral Malpractices and Violence in 2003 Elections in Nigeria
SC Ugoh - Unilag Journal of Politics, 2004
Cited by 2<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=7715858722600322723&as_sdt=805&sciodt=0,3&hl=en> Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:owaxuaA8FGsJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
SC Ugoh - Unilag Journal of Politics, 2004
[CITATION] The Al-Qaeda Scare and Africa capacity for the Discharge of Its Anti-terrorism Obligations
FA Agwu - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
Cited by 2<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=8301193461492097321&as_sdt=805&sciodt=0,3&hl=en> Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:KSEIvHjDM3MJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
FA Agwu - UNILAG Journal of Politics, 2004
[CITATION] The Civil Limitations of Civil Society: Insights from Nigeria
SJ Omotola - Unilag Journal of Politics, 2005
Cited by 4<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites=1505490627692800894&as_sdt=805&sciodt=0,3&hl=en> Related articles<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=related:fitP3L-T5BQJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3> Cite<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#> Save<https://scholar.google.com/scholar?start=10&q=unilag+journal+of+politics&hl=en&as_sdt=0,3#>
SJ Omotola - Unilag Journal of Politics, 2005
Peace as always!
Okey
africahistory.net<http://africahistory.net>
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos>
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com> [usaafric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com>] On Behalf Of Oluwatoyin Adepoju [toyink...@gmail.com<mailto:toyink...@gmail.com>]
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos>
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos><http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos>
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com><mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com>> [usaafric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com><mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:usaafric...@googlegroups.com>>] On Behalf Of Okey Iheduru [okeyi...@gmail.com<mailto:okeyi...@gmail.com><mailto:okeyi...@gmail.com<mailto:okeyi...@gmail.com>>]
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2015 4:00 PM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 'Predatory' Publishing Up; Nigeria Has the Highest Ratio -- 1,580 Percent!!!
'Predatory' Publishing Up<http://insidehighered.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ed1d2ff123b6b83dd97022f88&id=b2cc9e3503&e=fd344a6e78>
Study suggests open-access journals with questionable peer-review and marketing processes now publish hundreds of thousands of articles a year, a huge jump in only a few years.
October 1, 2015
By
Carl Straumsheim<https://www.insidehighered.com/users/carl-straumsheim>
"The rise of open-access publishing, combined with pressure on academics to get published, has caused a spectacular increase in the number of articles spewed out by “predatory” journals, according to researchers at Finland’s Hanken School of Economics. Such journals, of which there are thousands, charge authors hundreds of dollars in return for lackluster or nonexistent peer review and rapid publication...the journals dumped more than 420,000 articles into the market in 2014, up from 53,000 in 2010...Predatory publishers and journals are a byproduct of the open-access movement. In order to provide free access to readers, many journals have passed costs on to authors themselves, charging them an article-processing fee that can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars...Authors from Africa and Asia appear most willing to take the risk. They make up 76.7 percent of the authors of the articles captured in the study. Authors from India alone make up more than one-third, or 34.7 percent...India’s and China’s populations obviously skew the geographic breakdown. When it comes to the number of articles per capita, another country comes out on top: Nigeria. The researchers calculated each country’s ratio of articles published in predatory journals to those indexed in Thomson Reuters’s Web of Science. Nigeria had the highest ratio -- 1,580 percent -- followed by India (277 percent), Iran (70 percent) and the U.S. (7 percent)...Research published in predatory journals is polluting the entire scholarly publishing ecosystem.”
Note: The National Universities Commission (NUC) of Nigeria and other such higher ed administration and quality control agencies in Africa ought to take note and evaluate their options.
Now, read the entire article and comments here:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/10/01/study-finds-huge-increase-articles-published-predatory-journals?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=6ee00e91a1-DNU20151001&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-6ee00e91a1-197542281
'Predatory' Publishing Up
October 1, 2015
By
Carl Straumsheim<https://www.insidehighered.com/users/carl-straumsheim>
--
Okey Iheduru, PhD
[http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/banners/readmyarticle/rrip.gif]
You can access some of my papers on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at: http://ssrn.com/author=2131462.
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfric...@googlegroups.com><mailto:USAAfric...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>>
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 'Predatory' Publishing Up; Nigeria Has the Highest Ratio -- 1,580 Percent!!!
'Predatory' Publishing Up<http://insidehighered.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ed1d2ff123b6b83dd97022f88&id=b2cc9e3503&e=fd344a6e78>
Study suggests open-access journals with questionable peer-review and marketing processes now publish hundreds of thousands of articles a year, a huge jump in only a few years.
October 1, 2015
By
Carl Straumsheim<https://www.insidehighered.com/users/carl-straumsheim>
"The rise of open-access publishing, combined with pressure on academics to get published, has caused a spectacular increase in the number of articles spewed out by “predatory” journals, according to researchers at Finland’s Hanken School of Economics. Such journals, of which there are thousands, charge authors hundreds of dollars in return for lackluster or nonexistent peer review and rapid publication...the journals dumped more than 420,000 articles into the market in 2014, up from 53,000 in 2010...Predatory publishers and journals are a byproduct of the open-access movement. In order to provide free access to readers, many journals have passed costs on to authors themselves, charging them an article-processing fee that can range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars...Authors from Africa and Asia appear most willing to take the risk. They make up 76.7 percent of the authors of the articles captured in the study. Authors from India alone make up more than one-third, or 34.7 percent...India’s and China’s populations obviously skew the geographic breakdown. When it comes to the number of articles per capita, another country comes out on top: Nigeria. The researchers calculated each country’s ratio of articles published in predatory journals to those indexed in Thomson Reuters’s Web of Science. Nigeria had the highest ratio -- 1,580 percent -- followed by India (277 percent), Iran (70 percent) and the U.S. (7 percent)...Research published in predatory journals is polluting the entire scholarly publishing ecosystem.”
Note: The National Universities Commission (NUC) of Nigeria and other such higher ed administration and quality control agencies in Africa ought to take note and evaluate their options.
Now, read the entire article and comments here:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/10/01/study-finds-huge-increase-articles-published-predatory-journals?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=6ee00e91a1-DNU20151001&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-6ee00e91a1-197542281
'Predatory' Publishing Up
October 1, 2015
By
Carl Straumsheim<https://www.insidehighered.com/users/carl-straumsheim>
--
Okey Iheduru, PhD
[http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/banners/readmyarticle/rrip.gif]
You can access some of my papers on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) at: http://ssrn.com/author=2131462.
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfricaDialogue%2Bsub...@googlegroups.com><mailto:USAAfricaDialogue%2Bsub...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfricaDialogue%252Bsu...@googlegroups.com>>
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
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Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
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Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfricaDialogue%2Bsub...@googlegroups.com><mailto:USAAfricaDialogue%2Bsub...@googlegroups.com<mailto:USAAfricaDialogue%252Bsu...@googlegroups.com>>
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
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Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
Oct 5, 2015, 6:02:10 PM10/5/15
to usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Someone asked me offline what Abuja Scholar would look like.
A lot of publications emanating from the UK, US and China would not be cited. All of a sudden
the unthinkable would happen. John Bull the famous Martian scholar may get ten citations despite
1 million citations on Google Scholar, for several reasons:
1. His book was not accessible and too costly to obtain in Nigeria.
2. His subject matter was actually not quite relevant to the dominant research agenda.
3. Name recognition did not kick in, in some quarters, surprisingly enough.
4. His ideological orientation did not fit the preferred trends.
5. In Mars he was a member of the Old Boys Club and his work bandied around in the press
but in Abuja few knew him, unfortunately.
6. In any case, some colleagues in Abuja did not want to cite a Martian.
I am just joking.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________________
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Emeagwali, Gloria (History) [emea...@mail.ccsu.edu]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2015 4:43 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 'Predatory' Publishing Up; Nigeria Has the Highest Ratio -- 1,580 Percent!!!
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
A lot of publications emanating from the UK, US and China would not be cited. All of a sudden
the unthinkable would happen. John Bull the famous Martian scholar may get ten citations despite
1 million citations on Google Scholar, for several reasons:
1. His book was not accessible and too costly to obtain in Nigeria.
2. His subject matter was actually not quite relevant to the dominant research agenda.
3. Name recognition did not kick in, in some quarters, surprisingly enough.
4. His ideological orientation did not fit the preferred trends.
5. In Mars he was a member of the Old Boys Club and his work bandied around in the press
but in Abuja few knew him, unfortunately.
6. In any case, some colleagues in Abuja did not want to cite a Martian.
I am just joking.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Emeagwali, Gloria (History) [emea...@mail.ccsu.edu]
Sent: Monday, October 05, 2015 4:43 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 'Predatory' Publishing Up; Nigeria Has the Highest Ratio -- 1,580 Percent!!!
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