Kiabara: Journal of Humanities
Published by the Faculty of Humanities, University of Port Harcourt. A peer-reviewed journal of record for the humanities in Africa since 1979.
Focus & Scope
Subject Areas
African Literature & Oral Traditions
Criticism, theory, and comparative study of African literatures in all languages.
Cultural & Media Studies
Culture, representation, postcolonial criticism, digital humanities.
Philosophy & Ethics
African philosophy, applied ethics, epistemology, and political thought.
History & Memory
African historiography, heritage studies, and public history.
Linguistics & Language Studies
Indigenous languages, sociolinguistics, and language policy.
Gender & Feminist Studies
Gender theory, feminist criticism, and sexuality studies in African contexts.
Religion & Society
African religious traditions, theology, and religion-state relations.
Theatre & Performance Studies
Drama, performance theory, and performing arts in Africa.
Journal History
Kiabara was founded in 1979 by the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Port Harcourt, making it one of the longest-running peer-reviewed humanities journals in sub-Saharan Africa. The journal emerged during a period of intense intellectual energy in Nigerian academic life, when scholars were working to establish indigenous frameworks for the study of African culture and thought.
Over the decades, Kiabara has published work by some of the most distinguished scholars of African humanities, while also serving as a launching ground for emerging voices. The journal's archives represent an irreplaceable record of humanistic inquiry in Nigeria and across the continent.
The journal moved to its current fully digital format in 2015, expanding its reach while maintaining the editorial standards that have defined it since its founding.
Peer Review Process
All submissions to Kiabara undergo double-blind peer review. Manuscripts are evaluated by at least two independent referees who are experts in the relevant field. The identities of authors and reviewers are withheld from each other throughout the review process.
The Editorial Board makes final decisions on all manuscripts, taking into account referees' reports. Reviewers are asked to evaluate manuscripts on structural originality, methodology, clarity of prose, and significance of contribution.
We aim to return initial decisions to authors within eight weeks of submission. Authors of manuscripts requiring revision are invited to resubmit with a detailed response to reviewers' comments.
Ethics Statement
Kiabara is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics. The journal subscribes to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and expects all authors, reviewers, and editors to adhere to these standards.
Submitted manuscripts must be original, unpublished work not under consideration elsewhere. Any allegation of misconduct, including plagiarism, data fabrication, or improper authorship, will be investigated promptly and thoroughly in accordance with COPE guidelines.
Abstracting & Indexing
Kiabara is indexed in the following databases and directories:
Open Access Policy
Kiabara operates under a full open access model. All articles are made freely available to readers immediately upon publication, with no subscription, registration, or payment required. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal a licence to publish under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY 4.0).
There are no article processing charges (APCs) for authors. The costs of publication are borne by the University of Port Harcourt and through the generosity of sponsors and donors.