EXPLORING FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE POOR RANKING OF SCHOLARS AND TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA

In contemporary times, it is evident in the literature that academic excellence is no longer determined by teaching and research; citations also play a significant role. Based on times higher education, (2018), citations to scholars’ published works carry the same percentage that teaching and research carry in the global ranking of academic excellence. Hence, the usefulness of citations to academic excellence has become a priority to the management of many higher educational systems in developed nations and some developing societies. However, it could be observed that citations to published papers are obtainable through the quality, the visibility and the accessibility of researcher outputs to their colleagues and students, irrespective of geographical location. More importantly, the role of any nation's leadership in ensuring and maintaining quality education could engender the quality and the visibility and the accessibility of other researchers in different parts of the world to her scholars publications for the possibility of citations. In the past and in recent times, scholars and tertiary institutions in developed nations have been constantly rated higher in citations while scholars and tertiary institutions in the least developed nations, most especially Nigeria, have been poorly rated. The position of Nigeria in the global ranking of scholars and tertiary institutions despite of her enormous human and natural resources to warrant her scholars and her tertiary institutions being rated among the topmost in the world, is disheartening. As illustrated in the body of this work, the extent of the backwardness of scholars and tertiary institutions in Nigeria in the global ranking is worrisome. Since tertiary institutions in south Africa and Egypt are better rated than institutions in Nigeria, we view it as a serious concern to sundry and all. The questions therefore arise: what are the citation criteria and its usefulness to academic excellence? What could be attributed to the poor ranking of scholars and tertiary institutions in Nigeria? In what ways can the articles of the Nigerian authors’ engender visibility and citations to warrant being rated among the topmost scholars and institutions globally? This paper examines these issues with the aim of offering solutions to improve on the current poor ranking of the Nigerian scholars and tertiary institutions. Data for this article, being a review paper, was collected primarily through secondary source.