It is at the core of proper scholarly publishing and takes place in all respected scientific journals; accordingly, our referees have an important role to play in keeping the Journal's high standards and every manuscript is subjected to peer review in accordance with the procedure set out below.
Initial manuscript evaluation
The Editor begins by looking at all the manuscripts; although this is rare, it is entirely possible for a really good manuscript to be accepted right then. Manuscripts that satisfy the basic requirements are sent on to at least two experts to review them, and the authors of those manuscripts which are rejected at this stage will be notified.
Type of Peer Review
Manuscripts proceeding to peer review are evaluated by members of an international panel of experts. Each paper is subject to double-blind peer review by two or more independent reviewers, under the supervision of the section editor and the Editor-in-Chief. While the journal makes every effort to ensure that authors’ identities remain anonymous during the review process, authors themselves bear responsibility for concealing identifying details (e.g., in references to prior publications). If a manuscript contains information that reveals author identity, the review will be conducted in a single-blind format, meaning that reviewers remain anonymous but authors do not.
The journal strives to complete the peer review process within four weeks of the decision to review, although occasional delays may occur. Authors are advised to allow up to 7 weeks from the date of submission before contacting the editorial office. The Editor-in-Chief retains full authority over the final decision on acceptance or rejection.
How the reviewer is selected
Reviewers are assigned to the papers on the basis of their expertise. Although the authors are welcome to suggest reviewers, the organisers may choose to accept or reject these suggestions.
Reviewer reports
Reviewers are asked to evaluate and select one option:
• Accept Submission.
• Revision Required.
• Resubmit for Review.
• Resubmit Elsewhere.
• Decline Submission.
• See Comments.
Reviewers are not required to carry out corrections or proofread the manuscripts. Editing the language is not included in the peer review process.
Final report
The author will receive from the editors a final decision regarding whether or not to accept the manuscript together with any suggestions made by the reviewers, and this may also include strict comments from the reviewers.
Editor’s Decision is final
The reviewers recommend that the editor, who is in charge of making the final decision on whether or not to accept the article, should take this advice.
Publication Process
The publication process involves the following steps, the aim of which is quality.
Upon receiving the manuscript we will send the author an email confirming the submission.
The manuscripts will be tested using plagiarism checker software.
The editor will check the primary quality.
The manuscript will be submitted for double-blind review.
The editor will make the decision following the double-blind review and will then communicate it to the author. The decision can be one of three types: accepted without revision, resubmitted with major/minor revisions, or rejected.
This research proposes a quantitative evaluation of residential design inequality and housing affordability within public sector employee housing schemes in Lagos State, Nigeria. Despite substantial government investment in staff housing programmes under the Lagos State Staff Housing Board, persistent affordability gaps and design disparities suggest that intended beneficiaries—particularly low- and middle-income civil servants—remain underserved. The study adopts a cross-sectional survey design grounded in the positivist paradigm, targeting residents across selected public sector housing estates in Lagos State. Using structured questionnaires, data will be collected from household heads in six local government areas with high concentrations of public sector employee housing. Stratified random sampling will yield approximately 500 valid responses, representing a population of 1,148 dwelling units across 48 estates. Quantitative data will be analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple regression, and the Price-to-Income Ratio to assess affordability thresholds and design satisfaction indices. The research contributes a novel Design-Affordability Equity Framework that integrates residential design evaluation with affordability metrics, offering an empirically grounded model for assessing whether public housing schemes achieve equitable outcomes. Findings will inform policy recommendations for the Lagos State Staff Housing Board, the Ministry of Housing, and federal housing agencies, promoting evidence-based interventions that align housing design and pricing with the actual income realities of public sector workers. The study addresses a critical gap in the literature on residential design inequality in Nigeria's public housing sector, where design quality and affordability are typically examined in isolation rather than as interconnected dimensions of housing equity (Akinola et al., 2024; Oyedele, 2026).
Diabetic foot ulcers
(DFUs) are among the most debilitating complications of diabetes mellitus and
are associated with recurrent infection, prolonged hospitalization, lower-limb
amputation, substantial healthcare expenditure, and increased mortality. Their
management is increasingly complicated by polymicrobial infection, microbial
biofilm formation, and the emergence of multidrug-resistant organisms,
including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing
Enterobacterales, carbapenem-resistant organisms, and multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Biofilm formation further promotes chronicity
by limiting antimicrobial penetration, facilitating bacterial persistence and
horizontal gene transfer, and protecting microorganisms from host immune
responses. These challenges underscore the importance of antimicrobial
stewardship, including appropriate wound sampling, culture-directed treatment,
de-escalation of broad-spectrum antibiotics, avoidance of antimicrobial therapy
in clinically uninfected ulcers, and optimization of treatment duration. This
review synthesizes current evidence on the pathogenesis and microbiology of
DFUs, mechanisms of biofilm-associated antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial
stewardship strategies, and the potential role of medicinal plants as
complementary wound-management agents. Particular attention is given to Azadirachta indica (neem) and Moringa oleifera, whose phytochemical constituents demonstrate antimicrobial,
antibiofilm, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and wound-healing activities. Neem
may inhibit bacterial adhesion, quorum sensing, efflux mechanisms, and biofilm
development, while moringa-derived compounds may disrupt microbial membranes,
inhibit bacterial enzymes and biofilm formation, and promote tissue
regeneration. Despite promising experimental evidence, clinical translation
remains constrained by limited standardization of plant extracts, insufficient
topical safety data, variability in extraction methods and concentrations, and
a paucity of rigorous clinical trials in patients with DFUs. Neem and moringa
therefore represent promising adjunctive candidates rather than established
replacements for conventional DFU management. Future research should prioritize
standardized formulations, toxicity assessment, mechanistic antibiofilm
studies, dose optimization, and well-designed clinical trials to establish
their efficacy and safety.
Tanzania’s improved primary curriculum for 2023 emphasizes learner participation, practical activities, continuous assessment, and contemporary skills, but schools vary in staffing, materials, and infrastructure. This study examines how teachers in Gairo District, Morogoro Region, experience and manage curriculum implementation, focusing on workload, professional learning, resource and curricular alignment, adaptation, morale, and perceived benefits. This qualitative secondary analysis covers 12 unique semi-structured teacher-interview records from six schools, five subjects, and Grades 3 and 4. Hybrid thematic analysis combined deductive coding of workload, alignment, learning, coping, morale, and fatigue with inductive coding of workload mechanisms and negative cases. Teachers described cumulative work: dense timetables, large or combined classes, assessment and examination duties, remedial teaching, substitute-material preparation, and learning during implementation. One teacher reported about 70 teaching periods weekly; this is an individual account, not a verified timetable or district estimate. Uneven formal preparation made peer exchange and school-based learning important. Improvisation, grouping, borrowing resources, using personal devices, and extra time helped sustain instruction, but could shift implementation costs onto teachers. Evidence of curricular layering was limited: one teacher described a competency in current planning documents but absent from new books and potentially examinable, prompting use of an older text; another described studying difficult Grade 7 content associated with the former curriculum. The records do not establish that two complete curricula were generally delivered. No participant directly linked exhaustion, cynicism, resistance, or disengagement to repeated reform. The corpus supports implementation strain and some morale vulnerability, but does not demonstrate reform fatigue. As a bounded secondary analysis without a pre-reform baseline, it cannot estimate prevalence or attribute longstanding capacity constraints to the reform. Findings point to alignment between documents and assessments, protected professional learning, workload-sensitive planning, and realistic provision of materials and infrastructure.
This study examined the relationship between End-of-Life Product Recovery Practices (EPRP) and Supply Chain Performance (SCP) among oil and gas firms in the South-South region of Nigeria, with particular emphasis on the moderating role of organizational policy. this study investigated how four dimensions of End-of-Life Product Recovery Practices remanufacturing design, product reconfiguration, product recycling, and product redesign influence key supply chain performance indicators, namely delivery lead time, delivery reliability, and customer satisfaction. The study adopted a quantitative research design using a survey method to collect primary data from oil and gas firms operating within the South-South region of Nigeria. The target population consisted of managers and officers involved in supply chain and operations management across selected oil and gas firms. A structured questionnaire was used as the primary data collection instrument, and a total of 276 valid responses were obtained for analysis. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine the relationships among the constructs, while descriptive statistics were conducted using SPSS software. The findings revealed that the influence of End-of-Life Product Recovery Practices on supply chain performance varies across operational dimensions. Product recycling and product reconfiguration showed significant relationships with delivery lead-time, while product redesign significantly influenced delivery reliability. In addition, product recycling and product reconfiguration demonstrated significant relationships with customer satisfaction, whereas remanufacturing design showed no significant relationship with delivery lead-time and customer satisfaction. The results also indicated that organizational policy plays a moderating role in strengthening the relationship between End-of-Life Product Recovery Practices and Supply Chain Performance, although the magnitude of the moderating effect was relatively weak. The study concludes that while End-of-Life Product Recovery Practices contribute to improving supply chain performance in the oil and gas sector, their effects are generally modest and depend largely on supportive organizational policies and effective supply chain management systems. The study recommends that oil and gas firms strengthen sustainability policies, invest in recycling and product flexibility systems, and integrate recovery practices into broader supply chain strategies in order to achieve improved operational efficiency and environmental sustainability.
The study examined the challenges facing external auditors in Nigeria, focusing on Big Four and indigenous audit firms. A quantitative study design was adopted using secondary data obtained from the annual reports and audited financial statements of 40 selected quoted companies from a population of 161 companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group. The study examined auditor independence, technological challenges, workload and time pressure, professional competence, regulatory compliance and audit firm type in relation to audit effectiveness. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multiple regression at a 5% significance level. The regression model produced an R of 0.742, R-square of 0.551 and adjusted R-square of 0.486, indicating that the explanatory variables accounted for 55.1% of the variation in audit effectiveness. The overall model was statistically significant (F = 10.664, p = 0.000). Auditor independence challenges significantly affected audit effectiveness (t = -2.917, p = 0.006), as did technological challenges (t = -2.635, p = 0.013), workload and time pressure (t = -2.459, p = 0.019), professional competence and regulatory compliance (t = -2.554, p = 0.015). Audit firm type also showed a significant difference between Big Four and indigenous firms (t = 2.540, p = 0.016). All five null hypotheses were rejected. The study recommended stronger independence safeguards, increased investment in audit technology, improved staff planning, continuous professional development and stronger regulatory monitoring.