Spotlight On: Dr. Femi J. Olorunniji

Dr. Femi J. Olorunniji is the Editor-in-Chief of Biokemistri, published by the Nigerian Society of Experimental Biology. The journal publishes articles on topics of all fields about modern biochemistry.

Bioline recently had the pleasure of interview Dr. Olorunniji on the history of Biokemistri and his experiences working with Bioline:

Bioline: What is the history of Biokemistri?
Femi J. Olorunniji: Biokemistri was started in 1991(?) by a group of scientists led by Professor Clement Bewaji at the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. The common interest among these academics was promoting the development of the Biomolecular Sciences in Nigeria and in other developing countries around the world. The first Editor of Biokemistri was Professor Clement Bewaji who served from the beginning till 2002. Dr Justine Ekanem served as the Editor from 2002 till 2010, and he made a significant contribution to the development of the journal. Dr Ekanem took Biokemistri to Bioline, a significant step on the path toward achieving global visibility and accessibility of the journal. I am the current editor, and I am based at the University of Glasgow, United Kingdom. The purpose of Biokemistri was to provide an avenue to encourage the dissemination of research findings in the biochemical sciences and related fields. At its early stage, Biokemistri was closely linked with the Bioscience Study Group based at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. The Bioscience Study Group metamorphosed into the Nigerian Society for Experimental Biology (NISEB) in 2002. The publishing and distribution of Biokemistri was under the management of Klobex Publishers from the initial launching of the journal up till 2011. In 2002, publishing and distribution rights of Biokemistri along with two other journals published by Klobex Academic Publishers were transferred to the Nigerian Society for Experimental Biology (NISEB).

Bioline: How Bioline has contributed to Biokemistri's visibility?
Femi J. Olorunniji: Bioline has been very instrumental to the visibility of Biokemistri. Authors are particularly pleased that their contributions are accessible and free for anyone interested in reading them. The online platform provided by Bioline also means that the current Editorial Board has largely moved away from the production of hard copies of the journal since all recent contents are available for anyone to download. This has simplified the workload of the Editorial Board (who all serve voluntarily), and has significantly reduced the cost of running the journal. The citation of articles published in Biokemistri has certainly increased significantly since the journal joined Bioline.

Bioline: What has your experience been like working with Bioline?
Femi J. Olorunniji: Bioline has been quite good and supportive really. The recent provision for the publisher to upload the files of individual articles or issues on the Bioline server has obviously simplified the work for the Bioline team, with immediate benefit to the Editors as well. Of course, Bioline still needs to review the files submitted before publishing them, and this takes some time. However, considering that Bioline is a non-profit organization, they are rendering a valuable service. On the rare occasion when the Editorial Board has requested that certain issues be revised, the Bioline staff have been very supportive and understanding.

Bioline: Why is open access important for journals like Biokemistri?
Femi J. Olorunniji: Globally, the momentum is in the direction of open access. There is no reason why Biokemistri should not move with this positive trend. There are some good work been done in some developing countries and open access is the way to get these noticed by interested parties in other parts of the world. Open access encourages scientists with limited funding to publish their work in Biokemistri since we do not require the payment of open access charges.

Bioline: Has the open access environment changed for Biokemistri? If so, how?
Femi J. Olorunniji: There have not been any real changes in this regard. Some larger databases have indicated interest in covering Biokemistri, and while the Editorial Board have agreed to most of these, we have always insisted that the articles will remain freely accessible to everyone on the Bioline website, and any future site that hosts the journal’s contents.

Bioline: What kinds of open access developments do you see in the future for Biokemistri?
Femi J. Olorunniji: We want to continue to make the articles freely available and to encourage as much coverage from different databases as possible. Currently, volumes 1 to 12 of Biokemistri are not available online. We are in negotiation with Klobex Academic Publishers acquire and digitize these past issues to make them available free on Bioline in addition to volumes 13 to 25 which we have now.