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International Journal of African Studies
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International Journal of African Studies
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The International Journal of African Studies is an open access journal publishing peer-reviewed research and review papers. We are dedicated to maintaining the accuracy of the scientific record in this journal. The International Journal of African Studies is committed to adhering to best practices regarding ethical matters, errors, and retractions. One of the most significant responsibilities of the editorial board is to stop publication malpractice. Unethical activity of any type is unacceptable. The authors of manuscripts submitted to this journal attest to the originality of the content.
The International Journal of African Studies closely adheres to the guidelines set forth by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)1 and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)2 in their Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, that establish standards and offer guidelines for best practices in order to meet these requirements.The International Journal of African Studies closely follows the COPE general guidelines as well3.
Publication Ethics
In the field of research, publication ethics is of utmost importance since they provide a vital safeguard for the integrity and authority of scientific literature. Retractions of articles in recent times have highlighted the importance of upholding strict ethical guidelines. Retractions of this kind are required when researchers violate ethical standards in order to undo any potential harm that may have been caused by errors, misconduct, or ethical transgressions. By ensuring that study findings are accurate, dependable, and trustworthy, publication ethics help the scientific community to expand on its body of knowledge and lay a strong platform for future investigations. Researchers preserve the integrity of their work, safeguard the standing of their discipline, and increase public confidence in the scientific method by adhering to publishing ethics. Research can only continue to promote human knowledge, enhance society, and have a significant impact on the world if ethical norms are upheld.
Principles of Transparency
We have listed a few crucial rules that must be adhered to throughout the publication process below. We pledge to respect these principles throughout the entire publication process. You can email our in-house Publication Ethics Team at ethics@svedbergopen.com with any questions you may have about our policies.
Peer Review Process
Getting feedback on individual articles from reviewers who are experts in the subject and not on the journal's editorial staff is known as peer review. The journal's website provides a detailed description of the peer review procedure in addition to other journal policies. For Details Click here.
Contact Information of Editorial Office
The Editorial Board page of the journal contains the full names and affiliations of the editors, while the Contact Us page has the contact details of the editorial office.
Editorial Board
The editorial board of this publication is made up of recognized experts in the fields covered by the publication. The Editorial Board page prominently displays the complete names and affiliations of the editors of the journal.
Author Fees
The publication fee is a requirement for article processing and is clearly stated on the Article Processing Charges page, which our prospective authors can view prior to submitting their work.
Duplicate Publication/Submission
When the same study is submitted simultaneously to two journals or publishing it in two journals in essentially the same form, it is considered a duplicate publication or submission. Readers need to be able to believe that the content they are reading is original for the sake of ethical behaviour, international copyright rules, and economical resource usage (International Council of Medical Editors)4. These publications/submissions may occur years apart or almost simultaneously.
Manuscripts that were submitted shouldn't have been published, and they aren't being considered for publication anywhere else. The APA code of ethics (APA Publication Manual, 2010)5 states that duplicate publication is unethical, and it will result in the work being promptly rejected. A notification of duplicate submission and the ethical violation will be provided if the editor was unaware of the violation and the manuscript was published.
Redundant Publication
When a single paper is divided into multiple sections and submitted to two or more journals, it is referred to as redundant publication, sometimes known as "salami publishing." Alternatively, the results have already been published somewhere else without the required cross-referencing, authorization, or explanation. "Self-plagiarism" is regarded as an example of redundant publication. It has to do with repurposing or stealing ideas without giving credit where credit is due. This is a common and maybe inadvertent behaviour. When an author is open about using previously published work, it usually gives the information needed to evaluate.
Retraction Policy
Every journal published by SvedbergOpen adheres to COPE Retraction Guidelines6.
Ethical Standards of Authors
Maintaining the ethical standards of publication in International Journal of African Studies is largely the responsibility of the authors. It is their duty to guarantee the integrity, originality, and accuracy of their research. The following ethical guidelines should be followed by authors:
Reporting Standards
Report authors of original research should give an objective and truthful assessment of the work done, as well as an accurate analysis of its significance. The paper should accurately represent the underlying data and have enough information and references to allow other researchers to duplicate the research; false or intentionally inaccurate statements are unacceptable. Review articles and commentaries should also be truthful and objective, and "opinion pieces" should be clearly marked as such.
Data Access and Retention
For their work to be taken into consideration for an editorial review, authors are required to submit the raw data associated with it. If at all possible, they should also be prepared to allow the public to access this data in accordance with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases7, and to keep the data for a reasonable amount of time following publication.
Originality and Plagiarism
It is important for the authors to ascertain if their writings are original. Authors must make sure that the manuscript has never been published before. To maximize the number of submissions, a single study should not be divided into several sections and submit to multiple journals at different times, or to one journal continuously. If the authors have referenced or quoted any other authors' works or language they should be cited. References to other works must be properly acknowledged. According to COPE guidelines8, all allegations of plagiarism are looked into.
Acknowledgment of Sources
Reviewers are responsible to identify pertinent published work that the author (s) have not cited. Any assertion that an observation, deduction, or argument has been published before needs to be supported by the relevant citation. The editor should be informed of any notable resemblance or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published data that reviewers personally aware of.
Authorship of the Paper
The terms "author" and "authorship" can have several meanings. While some of them can give a detailed explanation, others can keep it simple enough for anyone to comprehend. International Journal of African Studies recognizes that an individual who validates full or partial accountability for their work and who has made sincere efforts to gather data for their publications is eligible to be named an author or co-author. A person cannot be given the title of author or co-author if they have not made any scholarly contributions to the collection of texts, manuscripts, papers, or research works.
The author may be the one who has significantly contributed to the design of the concept, gathered reliable data from a variety of sources, clearly analysed and interpreted it. The corresponding author is responsible for making sure that all co-authors are included in the work and that none of them are named inappropriately. They should also guarantee that all co-authors have seen the final version of the article, approved it, and agreed to its submission for publication. He has a right to make sure that every step of the procedure—from article submission to editor approval—is followed. His signed acknowledgement of the acceptance of all intellectual property must be included in the data that he has provided to the Editor-In-Chief.
If an authorship conflict arises in any of the research articles, it is also the author's duty to promptly notify the editor. Since International Journal of African Studies is not responsible for authorship nominations in cases where disputes are not resolved promptly and openly, they welcome the resolution of any disputes or conflicts by mutual understanding between authors and co-authors.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Another term for a conflict of interest is "competing interest." When author(s), department(s), or organization(s) have a professional, financial, or legal relationship with another organization or its employees that could affect your research, it can be considered a conflict of interest.
Full disclosure is necessary when submitting your paper to a journal. First, the information will be used by the journal editor to guide their editorial choices. Then, in order to help readers assess the article, they will publish such disclosures. Alternatively, if there is a declared conflict of interest, the editor may elect not to publish your work.
The conflict of interest can be disclosed in your cover letter or on the online peer-review paper submission form for the journal.
Copyright and Access
The author(s) of a submission understand that a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY) will be used to protect the published work9 if it is accepted for publishing in the International Journal of African Studies. This license permits people to freely copy, distribute, and display the copyrighted work and derivative works based on it, provided that the original authors are appropriately attributed. It also gives the author(s) the right to maintain the copyright.
When using any images or artwork in their articles that they do not hold the copyright, authors must obtain express permission to do so. The artwork or image(s) in question must be made explicitly aware to the copyright owners that they will be made publicly available online as part of the article under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY). All published articles, including PDFs and web URLs, also bear a copyright notice.
Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects
The National Research Council guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals10 are followed by the International Journal of African Studies. The authors of the research report must make it very evident whether any unique risks are involved in the use of any chemicals, methods, or equipment used in the study. That is something which should be stated in the manuscript. The authors are responsible for ensuring that all procedures, including those involving animals or human participants, were approved by the relevant institutional committee(s) and that they were carried out in accordance with applicable laws and institutional guidelines. The ethical standards and guidelines set forth in the Declaration of Helsinki's must be followed in any research study involving human participants11.
Fundamental Errors in Published Works
The author should notify the journal editor or publisher as soon as they become aware of a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work. Together, they should then take the necessary steps to either retract the manuscript or publish an appropriate correction statement or errata.
Responsibilities of Editors
Without regard to the authors' citizenship, race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, religious belief, political philosophy, or gender or sexual orientation, editors only consider a manuscript's scientific merit (novelty, technical merits, quality of the data, conclusions based on data, importance for the scientific community, presentation). Publication decisions are not influenced by government regulations or those of any other organizations other than the journal. The journal's Editor-in-Chiefs have complete control over all editorial information, including when it is published.
No information regarding a submitted paper will be shared by editors or editorial staff with anyone outside of the authors, prospective reviewers, and members of the Editorial Board, as applicable.
Unpublished information will not be used by editors for personal gain. We will maintain the privacy of this information. Editors will only review manuscripts for which they have no material conflicts of interest arising from joint, competing, or other relationships with any of the authors, organizations, businesses, or other entities associated with the articles.
The editors ensure that every accepted submission has been peer-reviewed by a minimum of two subject-matter experts. Manuscripts exposing plagiarism, defamation, copyright infringement, falsification, or fabrication will not be accepted; the Editor-in-Chief bases decisions on input from reviewers and editors.
Editors and publishers will follow the COPE guidelines and investigate any unethical publishing practices, even if they are discovered years after the original work was published. The journal will publish a correction, retraction, or other note if simple error or wrongdoing is confirmed.
Roles and Responsibilities of Reviewers
The International Journal of African Studies relies on volunteer reviewers. Most of these folks have full-time jobs, thus reviewing for our publication cannot take precedence over anything else. Reviewers reserve the right to refuse requests to read certain manuscripts at their discretion, such as when their current workload from work and/or other obligations prevent them from doing a review quickly and effectively enough to complete the assignment in the allotted time. Additionally, if they feel unqualified for a role, they should decline to examine manuscripts.
Reviewers are frequently requested to finish their reviews in three to four weeks after accepting manuscript assignments. Whenever it becomes apparent that they are not qualified to conduct the review or that they might have a conflict of interest in doing so (due to competitive, cooperative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, institutions, or companies associated with the manuscript), they should withdraw from the assignment.
Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of any privileged information or ideas they obtain through the peer review process and refrain from using them for their own benefit. Submissions of manuscripts for review should be considered confidential materials, and they cannot be shown or discussed with anybody else unless approved by the editor of the International Journal of African Studies.
Reviewers are requested to conduct their reviews with the utmost objectivity and to avoid criticizing the author(s) directly. They are encouraged to express themselves with clarity and offer any recommendations they make with evidence and justification. Even if they disagree that the work should be published, they should always make an effort to provide the author(s) with accurate and insightful criticism so they can improve their work.
Reviewers should include in their reviews any relevant published work that has not been cited by the author(s), as well as any instances where correct credit of sources has not been provided. They should bring to the responsible editor's attention any significant similarities between a manuscript under consideration and other published articles or papers of which they are aware, as well as any concerns they may have about the ethical acceptability of the research reported in the manuscript.
Responsibilities of Publisher
When unethical publishing practices arise, the publisher becomes involved in finding solutions. The publisher and the editors will explain the situation and take appropriate action, such as publishing an erratum, correction, or retraction, in cases of scientific misconduct, plagiarism, or fraudulent publication. The publisher and editors will not put up with any wrongdoing and will cooperate to stop fraudulent papers from being published.
Archiving
This journal builds a distributed archiving system among cooperating libraries using the Sherpa Romeo and Internet Archive repository systems, enabling them to generate permanent archives of the journal for preservation and restoration.
Additionally, by keeping up the journal's own digital archive, the publisher is committed to making publications available and guaranteeing content preservation/accessibility.
It is necessary for journals to clearly declare their plans regarding electronic backup and access to their material in the event that they are no longer published.
References
4. ICJME Recommendations for duplicate and overlapping publications
5. APA Publication Manual, 2010 for duplication of publication
7. ALPSP-STM Statement on data and databases
8. COPE guidelines for plagiarism
9. SvedbergOpen policy for copyright access
10. National Research Council guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals
11. World Medical Association (WMA) Helsinki Declaration for Medical Research involving in Human subject
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