Aims and Scope

The Calabar Historical Journal (CHJ) is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, biannual international journal of the Department of History and International Studies, University of Calabar, Nigeria. It aims to promote rigorous scholarship on historical and contemporary issues and provide a platform for researchers to share original, well-researched work with an international readership. The journal covers the Arts and Humanities, Education, and the Social Sciences. It welcomes papers that examine the past, address current developments, or draw on more than one discipline, provided they are original, properly researched and suited to peer review.

The Calabar Historical Journal is committed to the following core aims:

• To advance scholarly understanding of historical processes, events, and their contemporary relevance, with particular attention to African history and its global connections.
• To foster interdisciplinary dialogue among historians, social scientists, humanists, and educators, encouraging research that crosses conventional disciplinary boundaries.
• To provide a credible, internationally visible publishing venue that supports researchers from Africa and the diaspora, while remaining open to contributions from scholars worldwide.
• To disseminate original, high-quality research freely and accessibly under an open-access model, in support of the global knowledge commons.
• To uphold the highest standards of academic integrity, transparent peer review, and ethical publishing in conformity with internationally recognised guidelines.
• To contribute to the development of historical and social-science scholarship in Nigeria and across the African continent.

The CHJ publishes original research across a broad but coherent range of subject areas. Thematic coverage includes, but is not limited to:

• African History — Pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial histories of Africa; political, social, economic, and cultural histories of African peoples and states.
• International History and Relations — Global and transnational history; Nigeria and Africa in international affairs; diplomacy, migration, and cross-cultural exchange.
• Humanities — Philosophy of history; historiography and historical methodology; memory, identity, and heritage studies; oral traditions and archival research.
• Education — History of education; educational policy and reform; curriculum studies; comparative and international education with historical perspectives.
• Social Sciences — Sociology, political science, geography, and economics in historical and contemporary perspective; development studies; gender and women's studies; ethnicity and conflict resolution.
• Arts and Culture — Cultural history; archaeology and material culture; performing and visual arts in historical context; literary and media studies.
• Interdisciplinary Studies — Research that substantively integrates two or more of the above disciplines and demonstrates clear added value from that integration.

The journal gives special encouragement to research drawing on primary sources, archival materials, oral data, and field-based evidence. Purely theoretical or review-only submissions are considered where they make a substantial original contribution to scholarly debate.

The CHJ accepts the following categories of scholarly work:

• Original Research Articles — Full-length empirical or analytical papers presenting new findings or interpretations (6,000–9,000 words, including references).
• Review Articles — Critical, comprehensive surveys of the existing literature on a well-defined topic that identify research gaps and future directions (up to 10,000 words).
• Research Notes and Short Communications — Concise reports of significant preliminary findings, methodological innovations, or newly uncovered archival evidence (2,500–4,000 words).
• Book Reviews — Critical evaluations of recently published scholarly works relevant to the journal's scope (800–1,500 words).
• Special Issue Articles — Themed collections on emerging or underexplored topics, guest-edited with the approval of the editorial board.

All research manuscripts submitted to the CHJ undergo a rigorous double-blind peer review process, in which neither authors nor reviewers are disclosed to each other. Manuscripts are first evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief for scope and minimum quality criteria before being assigned to a minimum of two independent reviewers with demonstrable expertise in the relevant area. The editorial board makes final acceptance decisions based on reviewer recommendations. The review process adheres to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and is designed to be fair, constructive, and timely. Authors can typically expect an initial decision within eight to ten weeks of submission.

The Calabar Historical Journal operates as a fully open-access journal. All published articles are freely available online immediately upon publication, without subscription or pay-per-view barriers. Content is published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The journal does not charge article processing fees (APCs) to authors from Nigerian or other low-income-country institutions. Authors retain copyright to their work.

While the CHJ has a natural affinity for research on Africa and the African diaspora, it is international in scope and actively encourages submissions from scholars in all regions of the world. Comparative, cross-regional, and global studies are equally welcome. The language of publication is English. Submissions written in English as a second language are welcome; the editorial office provides guidance on language revision where required prior to final acceptance.

The CHJ is published biannually (two issues per year: June and December). Each regular issue contains peer-reviewed articles, research notes, and book reviews. Occasional special thematic issues may be published in addition to the regular schedule. All issues are published in electronic (online) format with full-text PDF availability. Print editions may be produced on request for institutional subscribers. Each article is assigned a unique digital object identifier (DOI) upon publication to ensure persistent, citable access.

The CHJ is committed to the highest standards of research and publication ethics. Authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to comply with the COPE Core Practices and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (a joint statement of COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, and WAME). In particular:

• All submissions are screened for plagiarism using industry-standard detection software; manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding acceptable thresholds will be rejected outright.
• Research involving human participants must confirm compliance with relevant ethical approval requirements.
• Data fabrication, falsification, duplicate submission, and undisclosed conflicts of interest are grounds for immediate rejection or retraction.
• Corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions are published promptly in accordance with COPE guidelines when errors or misconduct are identified post-publication.

The Calabar Historical Journal is committed to maximising the discoverability and impact of published research. The journal is actively pursuing listing and indexing in leading international databases and directories, including:

• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
• African Journals OnLine (AJOL)
• Google Scholar
• Crossref (for DOI registration)
• EBSCO Academic Search
• ProQuest
• Scopus and Web of Science (pending evaluation)

Authors are encouraged to deposit their accepted manuscripts in institutional or subject repositories (e.g., Zenodo, Academia.edu, SSRN) in accordance with the journal's open-access policy.

The CHJ is directed at an international readership of academic scholars, graduate researchers, policy analysts, archivists, and practitioners whose work touches on history, the humanities, education, and the social sciences. It is of particular relevance to those engaged with African, Nigerian, and diaspora-related scholarship, as well as to educators, curriculum developers, and professionals in the heritage and cultural sectors.

For further information about the aims and scope of the journal, or to discuss the suitability of a proposed submission, please contact the editorial office. Authors ready to submit a manuscript may proceed directly to our online submission portal.