THE AFRICAN REVIEW
A Journal of African Politics, Development and International Affairs
Instructions to Authors
Introduction
The African Review hosts intellectual discussions of politics, development and international affairs that have a focus or impact on Africa. It welcomes theoretical and empirical submissions which are provocative in analyzing the social, economic and political forces that shape the present and future of the continent. Being an interdisciplinary journal, the African Review covers a wide range of fields such as political science, international relations, strategic studies, law, public administration, sociology, gender studies, history, economics, political geography, demography, and development studies. The journal publishes articles, book reviews, conference papers, research reports, important addresses, critical comments and other genres of academic writing. The African Review has for many years established itself as a peer reviewed academic journal of repute in Africa and beyond. It is published twice a year, in June and December, by the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Dar es Salaam.
The journal carries full length articles (8,000-12,000 words), as well as shorter contributions (about 4,000 words) and book reviews. Each article should be accompanied by an abstract of about 150 words. The manuscript must be double-spaced, with ample margins and numbered pages. The title of the article must appear clearly on at least the first page. To facilitate anonymity in peer reviewing, the author’s name or similar identification marks should not appear on any page other than on a separate sheet bearing the name(s) of the author(s), the title of the article, contact addresses, and a short biographical note. The manuscripts should be sent to the Chief Editor in electronic form by e-mail: theafricanreview@udsm.ac.tz; theafricanreview@gmail.com. All contributions should be submitted in word format.
Peer review
The African Review uses a double blind peer review process. A manuscript is initially received by the Chief Editor and an in-house review is done to ensure it conforms to the scope and policies of the journal. If the manuscript is in conformity to the scope and policies of the journal, the editor sends it out to two reviewers who are anonymous to the author. The review focuses on the quality of the manuscript in terms of its scholarly content, structure, and originality. This process takes six to eight weeks. Depending on the outcome of the review process, the author will be required to undertake major or minor corrections as suggested by the reviewers. In case major corrections are suggested, the author is supposed to resubmit the revised work and this will be sent back to the reviewers for vetting. In some cases the manuscript may be rejected outright. Once the review process is over, the editors make the final decision.
Statement of Malpractice
The African Review encourages adherence to the best standards of publication ethics and takes extremely serious measures against publication malpractices. Authors should only submit original works to constantly maintain the integrity of the journal. As such, all submitted manuscripts are subjected to the Turnitin software to determine any cases of plagiarism, in all its forms. Manuscripts which have already been published or are still under review elsewhere cannot be submitted. The journal retains the right to retract the already published works, if cases of plagiarism or other forms of publication malpractices are discovered. Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any material in which they do not own copyright, to be used in both print and electronic media, and for ensuring that the appropriate acknowledgements are included in their manuscript.
Journal Style
It is the responsibility of authors to ensure that their manuscripts strictly adhere to the journal style. Manuscripts which do not conform to the journal style will not be accepted. A guide to style is presented as follows:-
- The manuscript should be double-spaced. All text should be in Calibri (Body), in 11-point except for the title of the manuscript which should be 12-point, bold. The text should be justified except for the title which should be centred, with page numbers centred at the bottom of the page.
- The author’s name, immediately below the title on the first page, should be centred in Small Capitals; immediately beneath, also centred but in italic, is the author’s position and institutional affiliation; beneath that, is the email address. Endnotes to the text should be kept to a minimum. Tables, figures and illustrations should convey their full meaning independent of text. If unable to transmit figures electronically, authors should send them in a finished form that is suitable for reproduction.
- A brief abstract of about 150 words, should appear at the head of the article describing the main arguments and conclusions of the article.
- The journal uses English (British). Authors are responsible to ensure that their papers are readable and their academic content is fully understood by the editor and any reviewers. It is therefore advisable for authors to take their papers to professional language editors before submission.
- ‘Per cent’ should be used where the figure preceding it is given in words “two per cent”; % where it is given in numbers like 25.1%.
- Line spacing: The main text is single spaced with one line space between paragraphs.
- Italics should be used for the titles of publications, such as books and journals, as well as for non-English words which are not commonly used.
- Title, headings and sub-headings should be in bold; and should not be numbered. Use headline style for titles, headings and sub-headings. Examples: Neo-liberalism and the state: lessons from the Tanzania coffee industry
- Sub-Headings:
a) Begin on left hand side,
b) Capitalize all major words in the sub-heading with the rest of the letters in lower case. (ex Degradation of the Natural Resource Base),
c) Sub-headings should not be numbered,
d) Sub-headings should be in italic.
e) The first Sub-Heading should be two lines below the Author’s name.
f) There is one line space between the Sub-Heading and last line of previous section,
g) First paragraph under Sub-Heading comes directly under Sub-Heading without extra line spacing,
10. In-text Citations should be as follows:
a) For published works with authors
In-text citations should be indicated in the text by giving the author’s name, with the year of publication in brackets, e.g. Mushi (2003) or (Mushi, 1997) or (Clay, 1997: 123; Juma and Wachira, 1967: 23; Pot, 1888:45), (Bayart et al, 1997: 53).
b) Interviews
For interview if respondent’s identity is not disclosed (Interview, 20.12.2015) or if identity is disclosed (John, Interview, 20.12.2015) or if end not is preferred, then the citation should indicate name (in case identity is disclosed), position of the respondent, place and date of interview.
c) For Newspapers
Cite as (Daily News, 10.5.2009).
d) Quotations
All quotations, except those set off from the text by indents, should be enclosed by quotation marks. For quotes over three lines in length, indent, single-space, and do not use quotation marks. Single quotation marks should be used only for quotations within quotations.
Example of use of quotation marks:
As Nnoli (2003: 128) said, “… the basis of constitutions shifted from arguments about natural law to the functional utility of these constitutions”
Or
As Nnoli (2003: 128) explained:
Later, the basis of constitutions shifted from arguments about natural law of the functional utility of these constitutions. When the industrial commercial bourgeoisie became the ruling class the constitution merely legalized its domination........
Thus, the dominant social class has, throughout history, manipulated the political system to ensure outcomes that favour their material interests. This stands in direct contradiction to pluralist or liberal democratic notions of the state as an impartial referee deciding political contests on the basis of logic as opposed to the power of the conflicting parties.
- End of Article References:
All references cited in the text should be listed in full at the end of the paper. The reference section should be 2 line spaces below the conclusion of the article. Authors should make absolutely sure that all reference information is complete. References should be in the following standard form:-
Books
Kimambo, I. 2000. Humanities and Social Sciences, Dar es Salaam: Dar es Salaam University Press.
Bayart, J.F., S. Ellis and B. Hibou 1997. La Criminalisation de l’État en Afrique, Paris: Editions Complexe.
Edited Book
Colclough, C. and J. Manor, eds. 1991. States or Markets? Neoliberalism and the development policy debate. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Chapters in Edited Book
Grosh, B. 1988. “Comparing parastatal and private manufacturing firms: would privatisation improve performance?”, in Coughlin, P. and Ikiara, G.K. eds. Industrialisation in Kenya: in search of a strategy. Nairobi: Heinemann Kenya.
Articles
Hyden, G. 2002. “Public Policy and Governance in East Africa”, the African Review, 28 (2): 32-50.
Dissertation
King, A. J. 1976. “Law and Land Use in Chicago: A pre-history of Modern Zoning” Ph.D. Dissertation: University of Wisconsin.
Newspapers
A list of newspapers and magazines referred to, with their place of publication, is provided as follows:-
New York Times. (13.8.2017). “the real suspense in Kenya”, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/opinion/the-real-suspense-in-kenya.html , accessed: 2.10.2017.
Or
New Vision. (10.1.2006). “MPs Okumu, Ocula acquitted,” Uganda.
Official Publications
United Nations Centre for Environment and Development (UNCED). 1992. Agenda 21: Rio Declaration, Forest Principles. Rio de Janeiro: UNCED.
Or
United Republic of Tanzania (URT). 1997. Agriculture and Development Policy, 1997. Dar es Salaam.
Unpublished Sources
Myers, G. 1995. “Survey of Construction Industry Operators,” (unpublished fieldwork). Zanzibar
Website references
NDI, 2014. https://www.ndi.org/publications/ndi-30th-anniversary-report, accessed 12.6.2017
Interviews
Interview with Mr. E. Mshiu, Director of Marketing, Business Times, 17.10.2004, Arusha, Tanzania.
Or
Interview with Youth Group Leader, 17.8.2017, Nairobi, Kenya.
- Free Volume and Article
Each contributor to an issue is entitled to one hard copy of the volume in which his or her article appears. Moreover, the contributor gets a free soft copy of his or her article.