About the Journal

The West African Journal of Open and Flexible Learning (WAJOFEL) is a practitioner's journal of the Regional Training and Research Institute for Distance and Open Learning (RETRIDOL) published twice a year.

Focus and Scope

WAJOFEL accepts manuscripts in English from all disciplines which emphasize open and distance learning, e-learning, distributed learning, and asynchronous learning. It also accepts those whose research results have significance for open and flexible learning in the aspects of policy development, best practices and administration.

Manuscripts should meet the general criteria of academic excellence and should not have been previously published nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Manuscripts may be submitted at any time for publication consideration. All submissions are subject to the peer-review policy provided herein.

Article Types

The following types of manuscripts may be submitted for consideration:

  • Research articles: In-depth explorations of original studies, presenting new findings and analysis, with experimental procedures given in sufficient detail for others to verify the work.
  • Review articles: Comprehensive evaluations of existing literature, summarizing and synthesizing multiple studies to provide an overview of the state of knowledge in the journal’s area of focus.
  • Technical Reports, Case Studies, and Invited Commentaries: Concise reports detailing technical information, detailed case examinations, or expert insights to address specific subjects within the journal's scope.
  • Book Reviews: Short critiques assessing the content, relevance, and significance of recently published books within the context of the journal's focus.

Submission Guidelines

Submission of manuscripts is via this website. For further details, see the information for authors.

Peer-Review Process

All manuscripts received undergo a double-blind review process. Manuscripts are passed through a desk review process for clearance in house before forwarding to two subject specialist reviewers. Final decisions for publication will be made by the Journal Editors based on the reviewers' assessment and comments. Generally, articles with qualitative and/or quantitative data are preferred. Decisions will be made as efficiently as possible and the journal strives to return reviewers’ comments to authors within the shortest possible time.

Open Access Policy

WAJOFEL is committed to the principles of open access publishing provides immediate open access to all its content freely without charge to the user or his/her institution. All articles published in the journal are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA) License. This license permits anyone, at no cost, to use, share, and adapt the content for any purpose, provided proper attribution is given to the original authors and WAJOFEL, and any derivative works are shared under the same license. By adopting the CC BY-SA license, the journal encourages the free dissemination of knowledge, collaboration, and the growth of open scholarship, thereby contributing to the advancement of research and learning.

Authors are permitted to deposit any version (submitted version, accepted version, and/or published version) of their manuscripts with any repository of their choice.

Publication Fees

A total article processing charge (APC) of ₦20,000.00 ($60.00) is charged for all manuscripts submitted for publication. This fee is payable in two instalments:

  1. ₦10,000.00 ($30.00) due upon submission for review.
  2. ₦10,000.00 ($30.00) due upon acceptance for publication.

Payment modalities will be supplied to authors whose manuscripts have been given broad clearance for review.

Waiver: Currently, publication fees are waived for authors submitting manuscripts from outside Nigeria.

The journal is available in both print and online formats. It can be accessed online free of charge. However, there is a fee for print copies of the journal.

Copyright

Submission of a manuscript implies:

  • That the work has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or thesis);
  • That it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere;
  • That if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication, the author(s) agree to the automatic transfer of the copyright to WAJOFEL.

Publication Ethics

WAJOFEL expects authors to adhere to the highest ethical standards in research and the communication of research results and findings. This responsibility includes, but is not limited to:

  • Ensuring that original data upon which the submission is based is preserved and retrievable for reanalysis;
  • Approving data presentation as representative of the original data.
  • Ensure that their work is original to them and citations and references are duly acknowledged.

All manuscripts accepted for publication will be screened for plagiarism using Turnitin. Manuscripts whose similarity index exceeds 30% will be returned to the author(s) for revision.

Preservation and Archiving Policy

WAJOFEL is dedicated to upholding the long-term accessibility and preservation of the journal. The journal content is deposited with the PKP Preservation Network and the National Library of Nigeria.