Nigerian Academics Patronizing Predatory Journals

Abstract

This study examines why Nigerian academics are patronizing predatory publishers and the implications of this for scholarly communication in Nigeria. The study pursued a qualitative method of face-to-face interviews to collect data from twenty-five academics from five universities in South West Nigeria. Five research questions guided the collection and analysis of data. The results confirmed that Nigerian academics are patronizing predatory journals. These journals are characterized by rapid publication, article-processing fees, a lack of peer review, and aggressive advertisement that cajoles authors into publishing with them. The reasons why Nigerian academics patronize predatory journals include desperation at the thought of missing out on promotion, long waits for reviews from reputable journals, deficient information literacy, and inadequate knowledge of the journals in their specific subject area. The findings also confirmed that younger, newly recruited, and inexperienced Nigerian academics are those most likely to patronize predatory journals. The implications of this practice are that Nigerian academics will concentrate less on conducting quality research and that researchers elsewhere in the world will lose trust in the ability of Nigerian academics to conduct quality research. The study ends with recommendations for ameliorating the situation: measures such as putting a solid orientation and mentorship program in place for younger academics, formulating institutional policies for scholarly publication, and creating standard accredited lists of journals that restrict where Nigerian academics can publish.