Journal impact factors and the crisis of scholarly communication in Africa: The dilemma of Nigerian academics

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to suggest ways of improving the quality of Nigerian journals so that they would have global visibility and impact.

Design/methodology/approach

This is a literature‐based opinion paper which examines the implication of evaluating Nigerian academics using journal impact factors, despite its limitations, particularly to African scholars.

Findings

Revelations from available literature point to the fact that the use of journal impact factors is not an objective method of research evaluation, particularly in developing country like Nigeria. However, evaluation of research outputs remains critical in the overall socio‐economic, scientific and technological growth of any society. The creation of institutional repositories that are compliant with open archives initiatives by the relevant institutions in Nigeria would to a very large extent address the problem of visibility of research outputs coming from the country.

Practical implications

African scholars are disadvantaged by their work environment in the present global scholarly productivity. This paper proposes a number approaches to improve the quality and global visibility of Nigerian scholarly productivity so that journal impact factors should no longer be a parameter for research evaluation in the country.

Originality/value

The originality of the paper lies in the strategies proposed for improving the quality of journals in Nigeria.

Citation

Ezema, I.J. (2010), "Journal impact factors and the crisis of scholarly communication in Africa: The dilemma of Nigerian academics", Library Review, Vol. 59 No. 5, pp. 350-359. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242531011047046