In line with its tradition of releasing a global report that details the most cited academic journals in the world, Google, the owner of Google Scholar released this year report in June, 2020. The report, which has maintained the name “Google Scholar Metrics” in the last few years provides “an easy way for authors to quickly gauge the visibility and influence of recent articles in scholarly publications.”
Examining the report, our analyst discovered that Nigerian journals did not make it to the top 100 in the world. Finding also reveals that Nigerian medical and science-oriented journals dominated the top 10, when the ranking is considered within the Nigerian context. The report indicates that the Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice, a quarterly peer-reviewed international journal published by the Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria, is the most cited Nigerian Journal between 2015 and 2020.
Our check reveals that “the journal is registered with the following abstracting partners: Baidu Scholar, CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), EBSCO Publishing’s Electronic Databases, Ex Libris – Primo Central, Google Scholar, Hinari, Infotrieve, National Science Library, ProQuest, TdNet, African Index Medicus and Wanfang DataThe journal is indexed with, or included in EMBASE/ Excerpta Medica, MEDLINE/Index Medicus, SCOPUS, Science Citation Index Expanded, Web of Science.”
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
Check further shows that the first publication of the Journal was in 2005. As of August, 2020, a total of 2,320 articles have been published by the Journal. An article written by BM Musa, S Bussell, MM Borodo, AA Samaila and OL Femi, and titled “Prevalence of hepatitis B virus infection in Nigeria, 2000-2013: A systematic review and meta-analysis” has been cited 165 times. This citation made the article the most cited since 2015, according to the report.
The only non-science and medicine journal is Nigerian Journal of Business Education (NIGJBED), the official Publication of the Association of Business Education of Nigeria.
Optimizing Business Education for National Development written by Oladunjoye TG, a lecturer at the Department of Business and Entrepreneurship Education College of Education, Kwara State University Malete, Ilorin, Kwara State, is the publication’s most cited article since 2018. It has been cited 15 times.
Looking at the metrics used by the Google, we found h5-index and h5 median. Our check indicates that “H5-median is based on H5-index, but instead measures the median (or middle) value of citations for the h number of citations. A journal with an H5-index of 60 and H5-median of 75 means that, of the 60 articles with 60 or more citations, the median of those citation values is 75.”
From the emerging insights, our analyst asked that where are Nigerian non-science and medical journals in the global space? Our analyst observes that the inability of the journals to appear within the Nigerian context could be linked with the fact that a number of the journals do not have an online presence. And, without an online presence, it would be difficult for academic and non-academic researchers to cite their articles.
Exhibit 1: Top Nigerian Journals by Discipline
Exhibit 2: Top 20 Nigerian Journals (Most Cited between 2015 and 2020)
