Posted by Bisi-Deji Folutile on
Only 2.8 per cent of Nigerian scholarly journals meet international standard, according to an assessment by the National Universities Commission.
Only 2.8 per cent of Nigerian scholarly journals meet international standard, according to an assessment by the National Universities Commission.
Out of the 138 journals submitted for assessment, only four, representing 2.8 per cent, qualified for inclusion in Group A (international standard); 10, representing 7.2 per cent, were rated in Group B (prospective international standard); 112, representing 18.2 per cent, were classified as Group C (local standard); and 11, representing 8 per cent, rated as Group D (super local standard).
The assessment was made available by the NUC in Abuja on Monday.
Only Medicine and Health Sciences produced Group A journals. Most of the super-local journals were published by departments having internal editorial teams.
The assessment panel said there was a tendency for professional fragmentation into narrow specializations, such that a university publishes up to five journals within a faculty, translating to about a journal per each constituent department.
To underscore the poor quality of the journals, only 14 of the 138 entries (representing 10 per cent) scored 50 per cent and over. Thirty-six others (representing 26 per cent) scored 40 per cent and over.
The best-ranked journal is African Journal of Reproductive Health published by a non-governmental organization, the Women's Health and Action Research Centre, Benin.
The Punch, Tuesday, June 14, 2005