Ericson fluctuations in the differential cross sections were investigated for the compound reactions 27 Al͑p , n 0 ͒ 27 Si, 45 Sc͑p , n 4 ͒ 45 Ti, 45 Sc͑p , n 5 ͒ 45 Ti, 51 V͑p , n 0 ͒ 51 Cr, and 59 Co͑p , n 0 ͒ 59 Ni. Level widths in the compound nuclei 28 Si, 46 Ti, 52 Cr, and 60 Ni were extracted from the analysis of the differential cross sections by the Fourier method and a nonlinear fit to the ln͗A k 2 + B k 2 ͘ distribution. The neutron spectra for each reaction were measured at least at three backward angles but the coherence width ͗⌫͘ did not show a strong angular dependence. Nuclear level densities for the above nuclei were extracted by relating the average level spacing D J to the average level width ⌫ J using the fluctuation theory. Reasonable agreements were found with other level densities and level density compilations based in the Fermi gas formalism of Al-Quraishi and Huang for 28 Si, 46 Ti, and 52 Cr but the comparison diverges for 60 Ni for which additional measurements are required in order to clarify the observed discrepancies. The level density parameters that best describe the data are a = 3.5 and ␦ = 4.0, U Ͻ 25 MeV, for 28 Si, a = 4.8 and ␦ = −0.3, U Ͻ 20 MeV, for 46 Ti, and a = 4.8 and ␦ = 0.3, U Ͻ 20 MeV, for 52 Cr.