Submissions

AUTHOR GUIDELINES

African Journal of Governance and Development (AJGD) aims to be a leading platform for disseminating innovative research and critical analysis in the fields of public administration, public service delivery, public ethics, and policy-making. Our objective is to contribute to developing and implementing effective governance practices that foster sustainable development and ethical governance.

By submitting an article for publication to the African Journal of Governance and Development, you confirm that you are the corresponding or submitting author. All authors are required to adhere to the Author Guidelines. Please follow these instructions carefully to ensure a smooth and efficient publication process. The editors reserve the right to return manuscripts that have not been prepared following these guidelines. For detailed guidance, please download and use the provided Journal Template.

Preparing your manuscript

• All manuscripts must include the contributors’ names, addresses, institutional affiliations, and ORCiDs. Any changes to authorship, including the order of authors, after the initial manuscript submission must be approved in writing by all authors.
• Authors should observe high standards of publication ethics.
• Authors should ensure that their papers are edited and proofread accordingly before submission.
• Authors should submit proof of professional editing with the final revision following acceptance of the manuscripts for publication.
• Authors should submit only electronic submissions in Word text. Papers must be written in British English and should have a maximum of 8000 words.
• Authors must confirm that their submissions are original, have not been previously published, and are not currently under review by another journal.

Article Title (Book Antiqua Font; Size 14; Bold; Centred)

Abstract

All text in the abstract should be italicised, single-spaced (1.0 line spacing), justified, and in font size 11, Book Antiqua font. Abstracts for research articles must be concise and limited to 200 words.

Keywords: Incorporate a maximum of 5 keywords after the abstract (in English, alphabetically, lower case), ensuring each keyword is followed by a comma (E.g. Commercialisation, Rurality). Use Font Size 10; Book Antiqua font.

Introduction (First Heading must be size-12 font in Book Antiqua)

All text should follow this format: 1.0-line spacing, justified alignment, size-11 font in Book Antiqua.

Research Questions (Second Heading must be in bold italics size-12 font in Book Antiqua)

All text should follow this format: 1.0-line spacing, justified alignment, size-11 font in Book Antiqua.

• Research sub-questions (Third heading must be in bullet italics size-12 font in Book Antiqua. All text should follow this format: 1.0-line spacing, justified alignment, and size-11 font in Book Antiqua.

Figures and Tables

Authors should ensure to use tables and figures sparingly and not duplicate information presented in the text.

All Figures must have a concise explanatory title or legend. Figure captions should be in bold and placed below the figures.

All tables must have a concise explanatory title (caption) in bold, positioned above the tables. The Table’s captions and content should be Book Antiqua font size-9. If using previously published material, include the source as a reference citation at the end of the table caption.

Formatting Pictures

Authors should ensure that pictures in the article retain their quality when enlarging them.

Declarations (First Heading must be size-12 font in Book Antiqua)

Author Contributions: Indicate if “All authors have read and approved the published final version of the article.”

Funding:

Include one of the following applicable statements: “This research did not receive any external funding.” or “This research was sponsored by [NAME OF FUNDER], under grant number [XXX].” Additionally, state: “The Article Processing Charge (APC) was covered by [XXX] if required.”

Acknowledgements (Optional):

Authors must acknowledge the contribution of those who do not meet the criteria for authorship but contributed to the manuscript. Recognise any assistance not addressed in the author contribution or funding segments. This includes administrative and technical aid and in-kind donations, such as materials provided for experiments.

Conflicts of Interest:

Any involvement of the funders or sponsors in the study’s design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript writing, or decision to publish the results must be disclosed in this section. If there is no role, please state, “The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.” Recognise and detail any personal affiliations or circumstances that might influence the depiction or understanding of the research findings.

References (First Heading must be size-12 font in Book Antiqua)

All text should follow this format: 1.0-line spacing, justified alignment, and font size-11 font in Book Antiqua. References should be in APA 7th edition and organised alphabetically.  – First line hanging

Publication Costs

The African Journal of Governance and Development (AJGD) is a self-financing journal that operates without external funding. The publication process is sustained entirely by a fixed Article Processing Charge (APC) of R 6000, which is regularly reviewed. As an Open Access journal, AJGD ensures that all content is freely available to readers on our website without subscription fees.

We provide waivers for deserving authors to ensure inclusivity and accessibility. These charges cover all operating expenses, including web presence, journal production, online publication, editing, web hosting, and the assignment of digital object identifiers (DOIs) for each article.

Privacy Statement

The names and email addresses provided on this journal site will be used solely for the specific purposes of this Journal and will not be shared or used for any other purpose or by any other party.