Aims & Scope

The Journal of Contemporary Research in the Built Environment (JOCREBE) is a biannual, peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by the Department of Building, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University of Uyo. It is interdisciplinary, and publishes original research and reviews advancing practical and theoretical knowledge of the sustainable built environment across the whole life cycle of buildings, civil engineering works and infrastructure — from briefing and design, through procurement, construction, operation and maintenance, to repair, adaptation and demolition.
SUBJECT AREAS
• Construction project management and delivery — planning and programming, time, cost and quality performance, delay, rework, change and variation, claims and dispute resolution, value and risk management, total quality management, contractor cash flow and cash-out forecasting, and inventory and resource management.
• Procurement and contract administration — traditional, public-private-partnership and alternative routes, tendering and e-procurement, procurement regulation and compliance, contract administration, and accountability and corrupt practice in public projects.
• Construction organisations and people — firm economics and performance across small, medium and large contractors, human resource management and development, organisational and national culture, professional practice and supervision, communication and collaboration among stakeholders, community engagement, health and safety, and construction education and graduate employability.
• Building technology, materials and structures — concrete, mortar and admixtures, local, recycled and waste-derived materials, stabilised earth masonry, strength and material characterisation, low-cost construction technology, structural integrity, defects and building collapse, and waste reduction at design stage.
• Building performance, energy and services — thermal performance and envelope design, energy efficiency in residential, institutional and commercial buildings, passive design and orientation, indoor environment, building services, water supply and sanitation, and renewable and waste-to-energy provision.
• Facilities and maintenance management — maintenance strategy, building condition and structural-integrity assessment, infrastructure asset maintenance, and post-occupancy performance.
• Architecture and architectural design — design theory, method and representation, sustainable and green design practice and its adoption, wayfinding and spatial cognition, design against crime and security, and architectural education.
• Digital construction and built-environment analytics — building information modelling in design, delivery, waste management and real estate, construction digitalisation and Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, GIS and remote sensing of land and settlement, and statistical or machine-learning prediction of construction and property outcomes.
• Quantity surveying and construction economics — cost planning, estimating and control, overheads and preliminaries, cost performance and finance allocation, and construction industry economics and its contribution to national development.
• Estate management, real estate and housing — property investment performance and valuation, inflation hedging, lease-versus-own and corporate real estate decisions, land titling, tenure, land value and property rights registration, housing affordability, delivery and quality, public, private and partnership housing development, and real estate professional practice.
• Urban and regional planning and environmental management — development control, town planning law and enforcement, urban expansion, land use change and city-centre redevelopment, road connectivity and urban infrastructure, solid waste management, environmental quality, and the social and economic impacts of development.
Interdisciplinary work is welcome where a built-environment subject — a building, a construction project, an infrastructure asset, a property, or the land and settlement it occupies — is central to the study.
METHODS: questionnaire surveys and structured interviews with a defined population and sampling frame, field measurement and building or site assessment, laboratory testing and materials characterisation, case studies of projects, firms or institutions, documentary contract and cost-record analysis, statistical modelling and prediction, simulation, GIS and remote sensing, action and design-led research with a documented method, and critical or systematic reviews. Nigerian and African evidence is especially encouraged.
MANUSCRIPT TYPES: original research articles, review papers and case studies of 4,000 to 8,000 words including references and appendices, with a further 280 words allowed for each figure or table. A structured abstract of not more than 250 words under four to seven headings, including Purpose, Design/methodology/approach, Findings and Originality/value, is mandatory, together with five keywords, APA referencing, and figures and tables supplied in editable native formats. Submissions must be original, not under consideration elsewhere, and written in English.
READERSHIP: builders, architects, quantity surveyors, estate surveyors and valuers, urban and regional planners, civil and services engineers and construction managers; built-environment researchers, educators and postgraduate students; contractors, consultants, developers and facilities managers; and housing agencies, planning authorities, procurement regulators and policymakers.
OUT OF SCOPE: management, finance, ICT or social-science studies that merely sample built-environment firms or professionals without reaching a conclusion about the design, delivery, performance, management or use of buildings, infrastructure or land; engineering or materials work with no construction or built-environment application; geography, remote-sensing or environmental studies with no built-environment, planning or development conclusion; questionnaire studies whose population, sampling frame, response rate and instrument are not reported, or that rank a list of factors and stop there without interpreting what the ranking means for practice; purely descriptive accounts of a single building, project or scheme with no analysis; property or market commentary without evidence; opinion pieces, product and vendor descriptions, consultancy reports, teaching notes and unrevised student projects.