Plagiarism Policy

The African Journal of Governance and Development (AJGD) takes plagiarism and the misuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools seriously. The journal follows strict guidelines to ensure the originality and integrity of all published content.

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism includes but is not limited to:

• Copying or paraphrasing another’s work without proper citation.
• Submitting content that is not original, including work generated by AI tools without proper disclosure or attribution.

Plagiarism Checking

• All submitted manuscripts are subject to plagiarism detection software (e.g., Turnitin).
• Submissions with a similarity index exceeding the journal’s acceptable threshold (10%) may be rejected.

Policy on AI Tools and Language Models

• Disclosure Requirement: Authors must disclose the use of AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Grammarly, or others) in the preparation of their manuscript.
• Guidelines for Usage:
  • AI tools may be used for language improvement, grammar checks, or idea generation, but must not replace critical thinking or authorship.
  • The journal does not accept manuscripts entirely or largely generated by AI tools.
• Accountability: Authors remain fully responsible for the originality and accuracy of their work, regardless of AI tool usage.

Consequences of Plagiarism

• • Before Publication: Manuscripts found to contain plagiarised content will be returned to the authors for correction or rejected outright.
  • Post-Publication: If plagiarism is identified after publication, the article will be retracted, and the authors’ institutions will be notified.