Journal Policies

Preamble

The African Journal of Women and Gender in Development (TAJWAGID) is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to advancing scholarly understanding of women’s experiences, social inclusion, gender dynamics and their intersection with development processes across the African continent and the Global South. The Journal provides a vibrant platform for rigorous research, critical analyses and innovative perspectives that contribute to academic discourse, inform policy-making and foster social justice and gender equality in Africa. The Journal is committed to academic excellence, editorial independence, research integrity, transparency, and equitable representation of scholars from diverse geographical regions and disciplines.

Vision

To become Africa's leading scholarly journal advancing transformative academic and policy relevant knowledge on women and gender in development.

Mission

The Journal seeks to:

• Publish high-quality original research and theoretical contributions that critically examine women’s issues, gender relations and development in diverse African contexts;
• Encourage emerging scholars while maintaining rigorous academic standards;
• Amplify African voices, scholarship and epistemologies, promoting decolonised approaches to knowledge production;
• Foster interdisciplinary dialogue among academics, researchers, policymakers, practitioners and activists working on gender and development in Africa;
• Bridge the gap between research, policy, and practice by disseminating evidence-based insights that can inform gender-responsive interventions across the continent; and
• Contribute to the global discourse on gender and development from an African perspective highlighting local specificities, challenges and potential solutions.

Scope of Journal

TAJWAGID welcomes submissions that explore a broad range of themes related to women, gender and development in Africa. Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches are encouraged. Thematic areas include, but are not limited to:

• Gender and Development: Feminist theories (African feminisms), gender mainstreaming, women’s empowerment, gender equality frameworks, and Sustainable Development Goals;
• Social and Cultural Dimensions: Gender roles, masculinities, femininities, indigenous knowledge systems, and religions and traditions;
• Political Economy: Women’s economic empowerment, youth development, labour markets, informal sector, entrepreneurship, land rights, poverty, social protection, microfinance, financial inclusion, trade and extractives;
• Education and Knowledge: Girls’ education, gender disparities in schooling, women in academia, STEM education, innovation and technology, digital gender divide, and Artificial Intelligence and gender;
• Environment and Climate Change: Gendered impacts of climate change, women’s roles in environmental management, food security, hazards and disaster risk reduction;
• Health and Wellbeing: Sexual and reproductive health rights, maternal and children’s health, HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, mental health, disability and access to healthcare;
• Politics and Governance: Women’s political participation, leadership, conflict and post-conflict recovery, human rights, justice systems and customary law;
• Urban and Rural Development: Gender, migration and urbanisation, gender and agriculture, rural and urban land use, infrastructure, housing and access to resources, and community development;
• Intersectionality: Analyses of how gender intersects with race, ethnicity, class, disability and other identity markers in shaping experiences and outcomes in Africa; and
• Methodologies: Critical engagement with research methodologies, decolonising research practices, participatory approaches, and ethical considerations in gender research.

Editorial Policies

The Journal operates according to the following principles:

• Academic freedom;
• Early-career researcher participation;
• Editorial independence;
• Fairness;
• Transparency;
• Diversity;
• Inclusivity;
• Research integrity;
• Scientific excellence;
• Confidentiality; and
• Accountability.

Editorial decisions shall remain independent of the publisher, sponsors, advertisers, or institutional interests. No commercial or political influence shall affect publication decisions.

Editorial decisions shall never be influenced by gender, race, nationality, religion, political affiliation, institutional affiliation, disability, and/or financial status.

Editorial Structure

Types of Submissions

The Journal accepts the following categories of contributions:

• Research Articles (6,000 – 8,000 words): Original research, empirical or theoretical contributions that present new findings, methodologies, or critical analyses;
• Review Articles (7,000 – 9,000 words): Comprehensive and critical surveys of existing literature on a specific topic within the Journal’s scope, identifying gaps and future research directions; and
• Book Reviews (1,000 – 1,500 words): Critical reviews of recently published books relevant to women, gender and development in Africa.

Submission Guidelines

Detailed submission guidelines, including formatting requirements, referencing style e.g. APA 7th Edition, abstract structure, keywords and author biography requirements, are available on the Journal’s website (insert link). Authors are strongly advised to strictly adhere to these guidelines to ensure a smooth review process.

Submissions Policy

The Journal accepts only original manuscripts that have not been published previously, are not under consideration elsewhere, comply with ethical standards; and meet the Journal's formatting requirements.

Initial Editorial Screening

Every submission undergoes preliminary screening to determine:

• Relevance to the Journal;
• Originality;
• Academic quality;
• Language quality;
• Compliance with author guidelines; and
• Ethical compliance.

The Editor-in-Chief may reject manuscripts without external review if they fail to meet these requirements.

Peer Review Process

The Journal uses a double-blind peer review process. Each manuscript shall normally be reviewed by at least two independent experts.

Peer reviewers assess:

• Originality;
• Scientific merit;
• Methodological rigour;
• Literature review;
• Data quality;
• Ethical compliance;
• Contribution to knowledge; and
• Policy relevance.

Peer reviewers’ recommendations include:

• Accept;
• Minor Revision;
• Major Revision; or
• Reject.

Where reviewers disagree substantially, a third reviewer may be appointed.

Editorial Decisions

Final decisions rest solely with the Editor-in-Chief. Editorial decisions include:

• Accept with minor or no revisions;
• Accept after minor revision;
• Major revision: Requires significant revisions, after which the manuscript may undergo a second round of peer review; or
• Reject: The manuscript is not suitable for publication in TAJWAGID.

The Editor-in-Chief's decision is final.

Publication Frequency

The Journal shall normally publish two issues annually, with provision for special issues where appropriate.

Special Issues

Special issues may be commissioned to address emerging themes of strategic importance. Guest Editors shall operate under the same editorial and ethical standards of the Journal.

Publication Ethics

TAJWAGID adheres to the highest standards of publication ethics as guided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to comply with these ethical principles.

The Journal adheres to internationally recognised principles of publication ethics and does not tolerate:

• Fabrication;
• Falsification;
• Plagiarism;
• Duplicate publication;
• Image manipulation;
• Citation manipulation;
• Authorship fraud; and
• Peer review manipulation.

Appropriate corrective actions may include manuscript rejection, publication of corrections, retractions, or notification of authors’ institutions where warranted.

Artificial Intelligence 

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools may assist authors in language editing, coding support, or literature organisation. However, AI systems cannot be listed as authors, authors remain fully responsible for all submitted content, and any substantive use of generative AI must be disclosed in the manuscript. AI-generated content must be carefully verified for accuracy, originality, and appropriate citation.

Open Access

The Journal promotes free and unrestricted access to scholarly knowledge. All published articles shall be freely accessible online immediately upon publication. Unless otherwise stated, articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Licence. Users may copy, distribute, adapt and reuse the work with proper attribution, acknowledgement of the Journal, a link to the licence, and indication of changes.

Copyright

The African Journal of Women and Gender in Development (TAJWAGID) is a peer-reviewed scholarly publication of the Women’s University in Africa, established to advance knowledge production, dissemination and impact across multidisciplinary domains. In line with institutional research priorities, global scholarly communication standards and open science imperatives, the Journal adopts the diamond open access publishing model. Authors retain copyright in articles published by TAJWAGID. Articles are made immediately and permanently available without subscription or publication charges and are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0), unless otherwise stated. This licence permits copying, redistribution, adaptation and reuse in any medium or format, including for commercial purposes, provided appropriate credit is given, the original publication is cited, the licence is identified and any changes are indicated. Third-party material may be subject to separate copyright or licensing conditions, as specified in the relevant credit line.

Archiving and Preservation

The Journal shall preserve published content through recognised digital archiving systems and institutional repositories.

Disclaimer

The views and opinions expressed in the articles published in TAJWAGID are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Journal, its editors, editorial advisory board or publisher. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information presented, the Journal cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions.

Policy Review

This Editorial Policy shall be reviewed at least once every five years or earlier where developments in scholarly publishing, research ethics, or legal requirements necessitate revision.

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