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Instructions for Authors
African Journal of Political Science and International Relations (ISSN
1996-0832)
publishes
rigorous theoretical reasoning and advanced empirical research in all areas
of the subjects. We welcome articles or proposals from all perspectives and
on all subjects pertaining to Africa, Africa's relationship to the world,
public policy, international relations, comparative politics, political
methodology, political theory, political history and culture, global
political economy, strategy and environment. The journal will also address
developments within the discipline. Each issue will normally contain a
mixture of peer-reviewed research articles, reviews or essays using a
variety of methodologies and approaches..
Manuscripts must be sent as
e-mail attachment to
ajpsir@academicjournals.org or
ajpsir.acadjourn@gmail.com.
AJPSIR
editorial board makes an objective and quick decision on each manuscript. If
accepted, the article is published online in the next issue.
AJPSIR is an open access journal and all articles published are
available online without restriction to scientific researchers in the public and private sectors,
government agencies, educators and the general public. The journal also
provides a medium for documentation and archiving of scientific research.
AJPSIR papers are exposed to the widest possible readership.
Electronic
submission of
manuscripts is strongly encouraged, provided that the text, tables, and
figures are included in a single Microsoft Word file (preferably in Arial
font).
Submit manuscripts
as e-mail
attachment to the Editorial Office at:
ajpsir@academicjournals.org or
ajpsir.acadjourn@gmail.com. A manuscript number will be mailed to the
corresponding author same day or within 72 hours.
The cover letter
should include the corresponding author's full address and telephone/fax
numbers and should be in an e-mail message sent to the Editor, with the file,
whose name should begin with the first author's surname, as an attachment. The
authors may also suggest two to four reviewers for the manuscript (AJPSIR may
designate other reviewers).
The African Journal of Political Science and International Relations will only accept manuscripts submitted as e-mail
attachments.
Review Process
All manuscripts are reviewed by an editor and members
of the Editorial Board or qualified outside reviewers. Decisions will be
made as rapidly as possible, and the journal strives to return reviewers’
comments to authors within 4 weeks. The editorial board will re-review
manuscripts that are accepted pending revision. It is the goal of the AJPSIR
to publish manuscripts within 8 weeks after submission.
Original articles
All portions of the manuscript must be typed
double-spaced and all pages numbered starting from the title page.
The Title should be a brief phrase describing the contents of the
paper. The Title Page should include the authors' full names and
affiliations, the name of the corresponding author along with phone, fax and
E-mail information. Present addresses of authors should appear as a
footnote.
The Abstract should be informative and
completely self-explanatory, briefly present the topic, state the scope of
the research, indicate significant data, and point out major findings and
conclusions. The Abstract should be 100 to 200 words in length.. Complete
sentences, active verbs, and the third person should be used, and the
abstract should be written in the past tense. Standard nomenclature should
be used and abbreviations should be avoided. No literature should be cited.
Following the abstract, about 3 to 10 key words
that will provide indexing references to should be listed.
A list of non-standard Abbreviations should be
added. In general, non-standard abbreviations should be used only when the
full term is very long and used often. Each abbreviation should be spelled
out and introduced in parentheses the first time it is used in the text.
The Introduction should provide a clear
statement of the problem, the relevant literature on the subject, and the
proposed approach or solution. It should be understandable to colleagues
from a broad range of disciplines.
Materials and methods should be clearly
explained to allow possible replication of the research. However, only truly new
research method should be described in
detail; previously published methods should be cited, and important
modifications of published methods should be mentioned briefly.
Subheadings should be used. Methods in general use need not be described in
detail.
Results should be presented with clarity and
precision. The results should be written in the past tense when describing
author's findings. Previously published findings should
be written in the present tense. Results should be explained, but largely
without referring to the literature. Discussion, speculation and detailed
interpretation of data should not be included in the Results but should be
put into the Discussion section.
The Discussion should interpret the findings in
view of the results obtained in this and in past studies on this topic.
State the conclusions in a few sentences at the end of the paper. The
Results and Discussion sections can include subheadings, and when
appropriate, both sections can be combined.
The Acknowledgments
of people, grants, funds, etc should be brief.
Tables should be kept to a minimum and be
designed to be as simple as possible. Tables are to be typed double-spaced
throughout, including headings and footnotes. Each table should be on a
separate page, numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals and supplied with a
heading and a legend. Tables should be self-explanatory without reference to
the text. The details of the research methods should
preferably be described in the legend instead of in the text. The same data
should not be presented in both table and graph form or repeated in the
text.
Figure legends should be typed in numerical order on a separate sheet.
Graphics should be prepared using applications capable of generating high
resolution GIF, TIFF, JPEG or PowerPoint before pasting in the Microsoft
Word manuscript file. Tables should be prepared in Microsoft Word. Use
Arabic numerals to designate figures and upper case letters for their parts
(Figure 1). Begin each legend with a title and include sufficient description
so that the figure is understandable without reading the text of the
manuscript. Information given in legends should not be repeated in the text.
References: In the text, a reference identified
by means of an author’s name should be followed by the date of the reference
in parentheses. When there are more than two authors, only the first
author‘s name should be mentioned, followed by ’et al‘. In the event that an
author cited has had two or more works published during the same year, the
reference, both in the text and in the reference list, should be identified
by a lower case letter like ‘a’ and ‘b’ after the date to distinguish the
works.
Examples:
Abayomi (2000), Agindotan et al. (2003), (Kelebeni, 1983), (Usman and Smith,
1992), (Chege, 1998; Chukwura, 1987a,b; Tijani, 1993, 1995), (Kumasi et al.,
2001)
References should be listed at the end of the paper in
alphabetical order. Articles in preparation or articles submitted for
publication, unpublished observations, personal communications, etc. should
not be included in the reference list but should only be mentioned in the
article text (e.g., A. Kingori, University of Nairobi, Kenya, personal
communication). Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy of the references.
Examples:
Igbinovia PE (2003). The Criminal In All Of Us: Whose
Ox Have We Not Taken, University of Benin Inaugural Lecture series 71.
University of Benin press. p.81
Edigin LU, Otoghile A (1994). Essentials of Nigeria Government and Politics:
A Conceptual Framework. Benin City, Nationwide Publication Bureau, p. 7.
Ikelegbe A (2004). Issues and Problems of Nigeria politics. Benin City;
Imprint Services. p. 150.
Critical Reviews, Surveys,
Opinions, Commentaries and Essays
Submissions of critical reviews, surveys, opinions,
commentaries, essays and
perspectives covering topics of current interest are welcome and encouraged.
Proofs and Reprints: Electronic proofs will be
sent (e-mail attachment) to the corresponding author as a PDF file. Page
proofs are considered to be the final version of the manuscript. With the
exception of typographical or minor clerical errors, no changes will be made
in the manuscript at the proof stage. Because AJPSIR will be published
online without access restriction to the full text (PDF), authors will have free electronic access to the full text ( PDF) of the article. Authors can freely download the PDF file from
which they can print unlimited copies of their articles.
Copyright: Submission of a manuscript implies:
that the work described has not been published before (except in the form of
an abstract or as part of a published lecture, or thesis) that it is not
under consideration for publication elsewhere; that if and when the
manuscript is accepted for publication, the authors agree to automatic
transfer of the copyright to the publisher.
Fees and Charges: Authors are charged a $450 handling
fee. Publication of an article in the African Journal of Political Science and International Relations is not contingent upon the author's ability to pay the charges.
Neither is acceptance to pay the handling fee a guarantee that the paper
will be accepted for publication. Handling fee is accepted only after a
manuscript has been reviewed and accepted for publication. Authors may still request (in advance)
that the editorial office waive some of the handling fee under special
circumstances.
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