Journal of African Politics
Journal / Journal of African Politics / Submissions

Please read these guidelines carefully before you proceed with the submission of your article
to JAP. Any submission which does not conform to Journal Scope, Authorship Policies, Ethical Guidelines and other policies shall not be accepted by the Journal. Do not refer to any published article to format your work; use these guidelines to prepare your paper for submission.

Formatting your manuscript

File Format
Microsoft Word Format

Font Type & Size
Bahnschrift Light Semi Condensed. Font size 12

Article length

• The length of a journal article should be between 7,000 – 10,000 words, including abstracts, main text, tables, figures, notes, references and appendices.
• Shorter contributions and book reviews should not be more than 3,000 words.
• All text should be in Bahnschrift Light Semi Condensed with page numbers centred at the bottom of the page.

Text alignment

• Article abstract should be indented
• Main text should be justified except for headings and subheadings (in bold)
• First-level headings should be bolded and numbered in Arabic numerals (eg. 1, 2, 3, e.t.c)
• Second-level headings (sub-headings) should be bold but not numbered, third level headings should be italicised (not bold)

Language
The Journal prefers the use of English (British) language. It is highly advised that authors engage professional language editors to go through the manuscripts before submission.

Title
Provide a concise title of your article.

Abstract
Provide the abstract of your research article, preferably not more than 250 words. Among others, it should outline the main argument(s), the research approach/methods and highlight key contributions. The abstract should be indented.

Key words
Provide 3 to 5 keywords that capture key issues discussed and that can easily help to make your article to be easily recoverable.

Notes/footnote
Footnotes and end notes should be kept to a minimum. They should be in 10 font sizes numbered in Arabic numerals.

Tables & Figures
Tables and Figures should be numbered in Arabic numerals with the caption placed on the top (for the tables) and at the bottom (for figures). Where appropriate, the sources should be specified.
All illustrations, figures, and tables should be placed within the text at the appropriate points.

Citatation and referencing Style
References should follow APA 7th reference guide but in line with the following formatting:

• Intext citation (at the beginning or in the middle of the sentence)
  · Pastory (2022) for a single author
  ·  Pastory & Chang’a (2022) for two authors
  · Pastory et al. (2022) for three authors and above. Note, “et al” should be in italics.
• Intext citation (at the end of the sentense)
  · (Pastory, 2022)
  · (Pastory & Chang’a, 2022)
  · (Makulilo et al., 2022)
• Citation for more than one work
  · (Rodrick, 2018; Paget, 2020; Shimba & Mwakalobo, 2021; Pastory, et al., 2022)
• Where direct quotation has been used, page number(s) should be added in the following format: Mmassy (2022:10)-when the material are quoted from a single page, or Mmassy (2022:10-12)- if page ranges are involved.
• It is encouraged that, in edited volume, cite a respective author(s) of articles/chapters in the book and not editors of the book.

References
References should be indented and should strictly observe the following format:
Journal Article (Single
Author) Shayo, D.P. (2022). Digitalising Democracy. Journal of African Politcs, 2(2):1-38.
Journal Article (Two Authors)
Makunja, A.B., & Mukama, A. (2022). Democracy and Development, Journal of Social Sciences, 3(1):60-90.
Journal Article (More than Two Authors)
Pendo, P., Changalawe, H., Makula, A.B., & Mgeta, A. (2022). Democracy and Development, Journal of African Politics, 3(1):60-90.
Journal Article with a DOI
Bannet, S. A. (2005). Exploring psychosocial disorders among primary school children: a qualitative approach. Journal of Public Health, 9, 489. https://doi.org/10.1786/1771-2558- 9-382.
Journal with an Article Number
Mihayo, E., & Jackson, J. (2019). Belief in constructivism approach: Implication on pyschosocial skills. PLoS Two, 14(12): Article e0325974. https://doi.org/10.2371/journal.pone.0335864.
Book (Single Author)
Kessy, A. (2023). Local Government in Tanzania, Dar es Salaam: Dar es Salaam University Press.
Book (Two Authors)
Bleck, J., & Van de Walle, N. (2018). Electoral Politics in Africa since 1990. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Book (More than two Authors)
Bee, K., Celin, H. B., & Brian, I. S. (2013). Information Behaviour Concept: A Basic Introduction. New Jersey: University of Life Press.
Book: Organisation as Author
Tanzania Institute of Education. (2015). Standards for educational Management. Dar es salaam: Government Printers.
E-book
Ludovic, T. (2004). The developmental social psychology of children. Children Associates. https://chid.ulm.ac.id/741/record=b1890622.
Chapter from an E- book
Jones, N. A., & Wilson, C. M. (2008). The neurophysiology for mental health. In G. D. Genes & P. W. R. Windhoek (Eds.), Empathy in mental disorder. Dublin University Press. https://lib.ugm.ac.id:363/record=b2130404.
Book Chapter
Ndulu B.J., Mbowe W.E., and Hunter E. (2019). “Ethnicity, citizenry and national building in Tanzania”. In: Hino H, Langer A, Lonsdale J and Stewart F. (eds), From divided pasts to cohesive futures: Reflections on Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: pp. 98–122.
Article in an encyclopedia
Gothbert, D. (2007). Physiotherapy. In E. Paschal & T. Murrel (Eds.), Gale encyclopedia of physical disorders (Vol.3, pp. 326-428). Gale.
Conference paper
Aumueller, D. (2005), "Semantic authoring and retrieval within a wiki", paper presented at the European Semantic Web Conference (ESWC), 29 May-1 June, Heraklion, Crete, available at: http://dbs.uni-leipzig.de/file/aumueller05wiksar.pdf (accessed 20 February 2007).
Paper Presentation from the Internet
Wrightt, S. (2016, March 25-26). What is the use of 3d user interfaces, and can we continue using? [Paper presentation]. ILEL Symposium on 3D User Interfaces, Entebbe, VA. https://doi.org/11.2309/VR.2016.149.
Unpublished Paper Presentation
Adolph, Z., & Newcastle, Y. (2014, June). Integrated waste management system [Paper presentation]. Enviromental Conservation Symposium, Adis Ababa.
Newspaper Article in You to Print
Kissanga, T. (2004, October 5). Covid 19 Pandemic: What strategies can we use to overcome health crisis? The Guardian: Extra, p. 6.
Newspaper Article with URL
Mahenge, H. (2010, January 28). Construction of new classrooms offers hope to increased enrolment. Daily News. http://www.dailynewsonline/tol/news/online/education/article8115302.ece.
Published Thesis
May, B. (2017) A survey of radial velocities in the zodiacal dust cloud. Canopus Publishing.
Unplublished Thesis/dissertation
Venance, T. (2015). Language for life [PhD thesis], University of Dar es salaam].
Tweet
Wizkidsk, T. [@Wizkids]. (2018, February 20). Fiscalproof survey @birdseconomics, great-Scientific findings,live catts #Developmenteconomics: http://apple.co/2kXmeCd:http://batt.hl/2falwmw6
[Tweet]. https://twitter.com/Wizkidsk?ref_dstl=tnmlr^google|twcramp^sirk|twgr^audho

Note: Use APA 7th Referencing Guide on how to reference other sources not listed here. For books, JAP still demand place of publication.

Submitting Your Article

All articles shall be submitted through the editorial system. Before submitting your manuscript, make sure:

1. It complies with the JAP’s publication ethical guidelines and formatting guidelines;
2. You have omitted any information that may identify you as the author. All files containing your name (e.g. title pages, biographic notes) should be uploaded separately;
3. The paper is in line with the Journal's scope

First, Click Submit Your Paper to register and create author account. Click the same tab to login to an existing account if you are already a Registered User. JAP uses ScholarOne Editorial Workflow. Authors have multiple options to login to their account including using their Web of Science account. If you forget your password, you can easily reset it by simply clicking the Rest Password. Then enter your email address and Send a Rest Link.

Starting Submission

• On starting your submission, read and acknowledge that you've completed the requirements (as outlined in Journal Policies).
• There are Seven (7) steps to follow to complete your submission in ScholarOne: Step
  1: Type ,Title & Abstract, Step 2: File Upload, Step 3: Attributes, Step 4: Authors and
  Institutions, Step 5: Reviewers, Step 6: Details & Comments, and Step 7: Review and
  Submit/
• Please read the instructions under each step as you proceed to submit your paper. You may also read Scholar One Author Guides for further details.

Confirming your submission

• After your submission has been uploaded and is ready for submission can click “Submit” to complete your submission. Please note that, you can only go back to review your submission before clicking “Submit.” If you want to change something, make sure you do it before attempting this stage.

After submission

• You will receive an email confirming that your article has been submitted to the Editor.
• The editorial desk will check your article for compliance with author guidelines and whether it suffices for admission for peer review.
• If the article passes editorial scrutiny, it will be forwarded to two anonymous peer reviewers. If not, it will be outrightly dismissed or may be returned for correction and resubmission. Either way, you will be notified by email.
• Based on reviewers’ feedback, the Editor will either decide to accept your manuscript,
  request minor or major revisions, OR reject your work.
• You should expect the first decision within 90 days after submission. If not, please login please login into your account to see the status of your article.

Revising Your manuscript

• Once the decision is made, you will be given time to work on reviewers’ comments and submit a revised manuscript. It is your duty to make sure that all comments are addressed diligently and responded to accordingly. Submission of revisions should observe given timelines. If you need more time to work on your revision, you should consult the Editor through editor.jap@udom.ac.tz immediately after receiving the editor’s decision.
• In submitting a revised manuscript, the revisions/changes made should be in coloured
  text or highlighted by colour highlighter or both. Also, you should prepare a matrix table responding to the comments:

Eg

Reviewer(s) Comment       Response

1.                                              -

Post-revision

• Upon receiving a revised manuscript, editors will check your work to see whether the
  review queries have been adequately addressed. In case of major revisions, editors may forward the revised manuscript to the same reviewers or assign a third reviewer for further confirmation.
• If there are additional comments from the reviewers, you will be asked to work on
  them and submit a second revision.

Copyright & licencing issues

• If your article is accepted, you will be notified and sent a contributor agreement form that will address licence and copyright issues. You will be asked to sign and return a copyright agreement form, in this case:
  o You will be required to check your author details and confirm whether they are correct.
  o You will retain Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 user license
  o You will be allowed to keep the copyright of the paper but grant publication
  rights to JAP.

Production process

• After submitting the licence form, the production process of your article will begin.
  This will involve editorial checks, copyediting and typesetting.
• The proofs will then be returned to you. You will be asked to work on the proofs and return a corrected paper within two business days. This will be the last opportunity for you to correct typographical errors, grammatical errors or incorrect author details. Extensive changes after this stage are strictly not accepted.
• Finalised articles may be published online as “online first articles” before being assigned to the issue and volume. A full issue will be published as per the issue schedule. All articles will be assigned DOI after being assigned to issue.
• You will be emailed a link of your published article

After Publication

You are highly encouraged to share the web-link of your article into your networks so that your work can have more impact.