EDITORIAL COMMENT

The Nigerian Mining Journal is an international journal for the publication of original studies and research works in the field of mining and related disciplines. To maintain a high technical and scientific level, all papers will be refereed by the Editorial Board. The journal reviewing system is a very important public good-instrumental in the advancement of scholarship and its impact, and important for the careers of academics as well as public and private organisations. It is predicated on the premise that scholars will volunteer to review and that authors will not free-ride. Some of the significant reputational, social, and intellectual benefits to reviewing include developing a professional reputation for diligence and quality of editorial work, and for citizenship behavior. It provides the opportunity for reviewers to develop professional relationships with editors who may serve as external reviewers for their promotion and tenure careers. Reviewing also provides reviewers opportunities to see the most recent developments in the literature as well as in methodologies and theories, innovative research designs, and how different scholars approach the framing and formulation of their research. All of these provide a fertile ground for intellectual growth in the reviewer’s own research and writing. Thus, reviewing provides an excellent basis of learning about the peer review process by getting to see up-close how others evaluate the same work and how authors, effectively or ineffectively, respond to issues raised and suggestions provided by reviewers and editors. In a nutshell, reviewing helps develop both one’s reviewing and editorial skills as well as one’s authorial and scholarship skills.

By
Engr. Aliyu D. Bida, Editor-in-chief Nigerian Mining Journal.