Publishing in Namibian, new or “niche” Journals

Journals that do not appear on the Cabell’s list, will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Integrity: Articles published in the journal must be sufficiently protected from unauthorized modifications or falsifications.  The journal name should be unique and not be one that is easily confused with another journal or that might mislead potential authors and readers about the journal's origin or association with other journals.  Information about the ownership and/or management of a journal should be clearly indicated on the journal's website. Any direct marketing activities used by the journal should be unobtrusive and appropriate.  The legal status of the publishing organisation should be disclosed, for example, whether it is a privately-owned or public company, a not-for-profit organisation or a charity.  No evidence of citation manipulation is present in the journal's metrics.

• Objectivity: Articles published in the journal must be verified by a review process.
• Utility/Importance: Articles published in the journal must be relevant to current priorities in its field and be of interest to the academic community.
• Peer review:  Articles published in the journal are subjected to rigorous peer review policies and processes.  “Peer review” is defined as a multi-step process of obtaining advice on individual manuscripts from experts in the field who are not part of the journal's editorial staff before being accepted for publication.
• Website: The full names and affiliations of the journal's editors must be provided on the journal's website as well as contact information for the editorial office.  Editorial boards or other governing bodies must be comprised of members who are recognized experts in the subject areas included within the journal's scope.  Comprehensive written editorial policies must be clearly stated on the journal's website.
• Fees: Any fees for reviewing and/or publishing in the journal must be clearly stated on the journal's website. If there are no charges to authors, this should also be clearly indicated. Methods of journal's finance and revenue sources should be clearly stated on the journal's website, for example, author fees, subscriptions, reprints, institutional/organisational support, government subsidy, membership dues, advertising charges, fee based, etc.  The way(s) in which the journal and individual articles are available to readers and whether there are associated subscription or pay per view fees must be stated.
• Policies:  The journal has comprehensive written policies on publication ethics, archiving, copyright and licensing, open access licensing, article retraction/correction and advertising.

For evaluation of Namibian, new or “niche” journals can be conducted by the Department of Library and Information Services on request.