OPEN ACCESS STATEMENT

Alkebulan: A Journal of West and East African Studies is a scholarly publication available in both print and electronic formats, accessible to all interested parties through open-access policies. This approach ensures that all papers published within the journal are freely accessible to the public, facilitating broad international dissemination of research findings. The journal embraces the principle of open access as a means to promote a more inclusive and expansive global exchange of information.

The fundamental tenets of open access that we uphold include:

1. Accessibility of peer-reviewed literature without subscription or financial barriers.
2. Immediate availability of published content in an open access format, without any embargo period.
3. Permission for the reuse of published material, provided that proper attribution to the original source is provided.

By adhering to these open access principles, Alkebulan aims to contribute to the advancement of knowledge by fostering widespread access to scholarly research and promoting the free flow of information within the academic community and beyond.

Alkebulan: A Journal of West and East African Studies adheres to the BOAI definition of open access:

"By open access to [peer-reviewed research literature], we mean its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited."

*Alkebulan: A Journal of West and East African Studies  has endorsed the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI), the BOAI Declaration and the Panton Principles for Open Data in Science.
 

Why Is Open Data Needed?
"Scientists produce a vast amount of data in the course of their research. In the Internet age, this data can and should be available to be used as an input into new research, but for this to happen the data needs to be explicitly labelled as open." (Is It Open Data?)

Please visit the following pages to learn more about the Free and Open Access initiative:

  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
  • The Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)
  • Open Access Overview (focusing on open access to peer-reviewed research articles)
  • The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)
  • A Registry of Open Access Repositories Mandatory Archiving Policies (ROARMAP)