Editorial Policy

The BJAS publishes scientific articles on Africa's International Relations. Original research or review articles with emphasis on Foreign Policy of African countries, International Cooperation, Integration Organizations, Security and Defense, Political Systems, Economic Development, Social Structures, Currents of Thought, as well as historical and geopolitical processes that address the international dimension of African events fall within the scope of the Journal. The BJAS' target audience includes researchers, teachers, and students interested in the specificities of the African continent and its international relations. Alongside such perspective, the Journal intends to broaden the debate on the projection of emerging powers, in particular the case of Brazil and its cooperation efforts (including in Defense field) with the African countries on the South Atlantic perimeter and the construction of a regional identity in face of a scenario of geopolitical transformations. The BJAS also publishes reviews of consolidated works in the area.

Peer Review Process

The paper sent to the journal will be submitted to an editorial process composed of the following phases:

1) The articles received will be subject to a preliminary assessment by the members of the Editorial Team, who will determine the relevance, or not, of their publication and adequacy to the Authors Guidelines.

2) Once it has been established that the article meets the thematic and formal requirements indicated in the Authors Guidelines section, it will be subjected to verification of plagiarism, using the external tool Plagius - Plagiarism Detector.

3) Once it has been established that the article does not exceed the 15% similarity rate in the text, it will be sent to two external reviewers (ad hoc), specialists in the journal's areas of activity, through the “double-blind” system, which will determine, anonymously:

     a) the publication of the article unmodified;
     b) the publication of the article after the modifications;
     c) the analysis of the article by a third evaluator; or
     d) the non-publication of the article.

4) In case of any divergent decision, a third referee will evaluate the article. The third referee’s decision will define whether the article is published or not.

5) At last, the referees’ decision will be announced to the author(s). 

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Our statements are based on COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and SciELO Guidelines on Best Practices for Strengthening Ethics in Scientific Publication.

Every party involved in the process of publishing must agree upon certain patterns of ethical behavior: the editor, the author and the peer reviewers. The review process will be carried out using the blind and peer review method, also known as the “double-blind” system.

Duties of the Editor

Publication decisions

The editor of the Brazilian Journal of African Studies is responsible for the final decision concerning the publication of an article. The editor is guided by the policies, mission and focus of the journal and can be constrained by legal requirements, such as plagiarism, which implies the immediate rejection of the submission. The editor must also base his decision on peer reviews when making this decision.

Fair play

The editor of the Brazilian Journal of African Studies will at any time evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without any regards to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin or ideology of the authors.

Confidentiality

The editor and any editorial staff of the Brazilian Journal of African Studies must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers and other editorial advisers, as appropriate.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's or in a reviewer's own research without the express written consent of the author.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and, along with the editorial communications with the author, may also assist the author in improving the paper.

Promptness

Any selected reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.

Confidentiality

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except if authorized by the editor.

Standards of Objectivity

Reviews must be conducted in an objective way. Personal criticism is inappropriate and unacceptable. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments. 

Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers of the Brazilian Journal of African Studies must identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. The perception that an argument or information has been previously reported must be accompanied by the corresponding citation.

A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage by the reviewers. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive or negative relationships or connections of any kind with the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Duties of Authors

Reporting standards

Authors of papers published in the Brazilian Journal of African Studies must have made an original research, accurately presented in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to use the work for their own researches. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are, therefore, a reason for the rejection of the manuscript.

Data Access

Authors must be prepared to be asked to provide the raw data used when preparing a paper for editorial review.

Originality and Plagiarism

The authors must submit original articles, under penalty of rejection of the manuscript. Thus, if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, it must be appropriately cited or quoted.

Concurrent Publication

An author should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal without any notice constitutes unethical publishing behavior and will imply the rejection of the manuscript.

Acknowledgement of Sources

The authors of the manuscripts must indicate adequately any appropriation of ideas and/or arguments already published.

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project must be recognized.

Fundamental errors in published works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to notify the Brazilian Journal of African Studies' editor and cooperate with the editor to correct it.