Open Access Policy

1. Commitment to Open Access

The Niger Delta Journal of Philosophy & African Values is committed to the principle of open access, ensuring that research outputs are freely available to readers worldwide without financial, legal, or technical barriers. We believe that knowledge should be accessible to all, fostering global collaboration and advancing scholarly discourse in philosophy and African values.

All articles published in NDJOP are freely available to read, download, and share immediately upon publication.

2. Open Access Model

NDJOP operates under a Gold Open Access model, which means:

Article Processing Charges (APCs)

Authors are required to pay Article Processing Charges (APCs) upon acceptance of their manuscript for publication. These charges support the costs of peer review, editorial services, production, and hosting to ensure high-quality, freely accessible research.

APC Fees:

Nigerian Authors: ₦30,000 (Thirty Thousand Naira)
Foreign Authors: $100 (One Hundred US Dollars)

Note: APCs are charged only after manuscript acceptance. Payment instructions will be provided upon acceptance.

For payment inquiries or assistance, please contact [email protected].

No Subscription Fees for Readers

Readers have free and unrestricted access to all published content. There are no paywalls, registration requirements, or subscription fees to access articles.

3. License and Reuse Rights

All articles are published under Creative Commons licenses, typically CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 unless otherwise specified by the author. This allows:

Free access to the published work
Unlimited sharing and distribution (for non-commercial purposes)
Proper attribution to the original authors

For detailed information about licensing terms, please see our License Terms page.

4. Copyright and Author Rights

Authors retain copyright of their work and grant NDJOP the right to first publication. Under our open access policy, authors maintain the right to:

Self-archive their work in institutional or disciplinary repositories
Post preprints or postprints on personal websites or preprint servers
Reuse their work in future compilations or books
Distribute copies for teaching or research purposes
Share their work on academic social networks (e.g., ResearchGate, Academia.edu)

5. Long-term Archiving and Preservation

NDJOP is committed to the long-term preservation and accessibility of all published research. We implement multiple strategies to ensure that scholarly content remains available in perpetuity:

Digital Preservation Strategy

Persistent Identifiers: All articles are assigned Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) through Crossref, ensuring permanent identification and discoverability
Multiple Backup Systems: Content is backed up daily to multiple geographic locations to protect against data loss
File Format Standards: Articles are preserved in PDF/A format (archival standard) and XML to ensure long-term readability
Metadata Preservation: Complete bibliographic and technical metadata is maintained for all published articles

Archival Partnerships

Institutional Repository: Content is deposited in Niger Delta University's institutional repository
National Archives: Cooperation with Nigerian national library and archives for permanent preservation

Continuity Guarantee

Perpetual Access: All published content remains freely accessible even if the journal ceases publication
Migration Plan: Regular migration of content to new file formats and platforms as technology evolves
Succession Planning: Formal agreements ensure content preservation and access rights in case of journal closure
Redundancy: Content hosted on multiple servers with automatic failover capabilities

Preservation Commitment: NDJOP follows the principles of the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model and adheres to best practices recommended by the International DOI Foundation and the Budapest Open Access Initiative for digital preservation.

6. Indexing and Discoverability

NDJOP is indexed in the following databases to enhance the visibility and accessibility of published research:

Crossref
Google Scholar
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) - application in progress

We continuously work to expand our indexing coverage in relevant academic databases.

7. OAI-PMH Compliance

NDJOP supports the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH), enabling academic repositories and search engines to harvest our metadata automatically. This ensures:

Better integration with library systems and institutional repositories
Enhanced discoverability across academic platforms
Compliance with international open access standards

Our OAI-PMH endpoint: https://www.ndjop.org/oai/

8. Ethical Publishing Practices

As an open access journal, NDJOP maintains high ethical standards:

Transparent peer review: All articles undergo rigorous double-blind peer review
No predatory practices: We never charge hidden fees or engage in deceptive marketing
Quality over profit: Our focus is on scholarly merit, not financial gain
Community support: Published by Niger Delta University, supported by the academic community

9. Benefits of Open Access

For Authors

Wider readership and greater impact
Increased citations
Transparent publication costs (APCs)
Retained copyright

For Readers

Free access to cutting-edge research
No registration barriers
Ability to share and distribute knowledge
Support for education and research

For the Academic Community

Accelerated knowledge dissemination
Global collaboration opportunities
Equity in access to research
Enhanced research impact

For Society

Public access to publicly funded research
Transparency in scholarly communication
Support for evidence-based policy
Democratization of knowledge

10. Contact Us

For questions about our open access policy, please contact us at [email protected]