About the Journal

The Journal of Afrocentric Governance of Public Affairs (JAGPA) is a peer-reviewed, open-access scholarly journal that advances research and scholarship on Afrocentric approaches to governance, public administration, public policy, leadership, institutions, and public affairs. The journal provides a scholarly platform for original research that examines governance and public affairs from African perspectives, experiences, intellectual traditions, and institutional contexts.

JAGPA promotes interdisciplinary scholarship that interrogates the theory, practice, and transformation of governance in Africa and the African diaspora. The journal particularly welcomes research that draws on Afrocentric epistemologies, indigenous knowledge systems, African political thought, traditional governance institutions, and locally grounded approaches to public administration and policy. The journal contributes to contemporary debates on effective, ethical, inclusive, accountable, and development-oriented governance. It welcomes studies that critically examine the relationship between governance institutions, political leadership, public policy, citizens, communities, and broader processes of social and economic transformation.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Afrocentric governance theories and practices
• African political thought and governance
• Public administration and public management
• Public policy and policy implementation
• African indigenous governance systems
• Traditional institutions and customary governance
• Democratic governance and political participation
• Leadership and public sector governance
• Accountability, transparency, and institutional integrity
• Public-sector reform and institutional development
• Decentralisation and local government
• Community governance and grassroots development
• Public finance and fiscal governance
• Anti-corruption and public-sector ethics
• Human rights, justice, and the rule of law
• Gender, inclusion, and governance
• Youth participation and political engagement
• Digital governance and public-sector innovation
• Artificial intelligence and public administration
• E-government and digital public services
• Development governance and sustainable development
• Indigenous knowledge and public policy
• Governance, culture, and African identity
• Conflict, peacebuilding, and security governance
• Environmental governance and climate policy
• Health governance and public policy
• Education governance and policy
• Comparative African governance
• Governance in the African diaspora
• State-society relations and citizenship
• Civil society and participatory governance
• Regional integration and African governance institutions
• African Union governance and regional policy
• Governance and the Sustainable Development Goals

The journal welcomes original research articles, review articles, conceptual papers, theoretical contributions, policy analyses, case studies, and comparative studies that advance knowledge, theory, policy, and practice in governance and public affairs. All submissions undergo a rigorous double-anonymous peer-review process to ensure academic quality, intellectual integrity, fairness, and scholarly independence. JAGPA is committed to open scholarship and seeks to make published research freely accessible to researchers, policymakers, practitioners, students, and the wider public.

Publication Frequency

The journal publishes two issues annually (June and December). Articles may be published online immediately after final editorial processing and production, where applicable.

Peer Review Process

All manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Afrocentric Governance and Public Affairs (JAGPA) undergo initial editorial screening to assess suitability for the journal's scope, scholarly quality, originality, and compliance with submission requirements.

Manuscripts that meet the journal's requirements are subjected to a double-anonymous peer-review process, in which the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from one another throughout the review process.

Reviewers are expected to evaluate manuscripts objectively, constructively, confidentially, and ethically. They must disclose any potential conflicts of interest and maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and associated review materials.

In cases involving suspected research or publication misconduct, manipulation of the peer-review process, or other breaches of research integrity, JAGPA will investigate and respond in accordance with recognised principles of publication ethics and research integrity.

Each manuscript is evaluated by at least two independent reviewers based on:

• originality and contribution to knowledge
• theoretical and conceptual soundness
• methodological rigour
• significance and relevance
• clarity and coherence
• ethical compliance
• quality of analysis and interpretation
• relevance to the journal's scope
• implications for governance, policy, or public affairs

The Editor-in-Chief makes the final publication decision after considering reviewers' recommendations and the manuscript's overall scholarly quality.

Typical review time: 8 - 12 weeks.

Publication Ethics

JAGPA is committed to maintaining high standards of research and publication ethics. The journal expects authors, reviewers, editors, and other contributors to uphold principles of academic integrity, transparency, accountability, fairness, and responsible scholarship.

The journal does not tolerate:

• Plagiarism
• Unethical and irresponsible use of Artificial Intelligence
• Duplicate or redundant publication
• Fabrication of data
• Falsification of data or research findings
• Inappropriate or disputed authorship
• Undisclosed conflicts of interest
• Manipulation of citations or references
• Unethical research practices
• Peer-review manipulation
• Misrepresentation of research findings

The journal will assess and manage allegations of research or publication misconduct in accordance with its editorial policies and recognised international standards of publication ethics.

Plagiarism Screening

All submitted manuscripts are screened for originality using appropriate plagiarism-detection software before or during the editorial and peer-review process.
Manuscripts containing unacceptable levels of unattributed similarity may be returned to authors for correction, rejected, or subjected to further editorial investigation, depending on the nature and extent of the concern.

Open Access Policy

JAGPA supports immediate open access to its published research on the principle that scholarly knowledge should be accessible to researchers, institutions, policymakers, practitioners, and the public.

Unless otherwise stated, readers may access, read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, and link to published articles in accordance with the licence under which the work is published and with appropriate attribution.

Copyright

Authors retain copyright in their published work, subject to the terms of the journal's publication agreement.

Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), which permits the sharing and, where applicable, adaptation of published work in accordance with the conditions of the licence and with appropriate attribution.

Digital Preservation

JAGPA is committed to ensuring the long-term accessibility and preservation of its published scholarly record.

Published articles are preserved through [North-West University's institutional repository (Boloka)] and the journal's publishing platform to support continued access and scholarly discoverability.

Abstracting and Indexing

JAGPA is indexed or intended to be indexed in:

• Boloka: NWU Institutional Repository
• Google Scholar
• Crossref

We will update indexing and abstracting information as the journal is accepted into additional scholarly databases and services.

Why Publish with JAGPA?

Authors who publish with the Journal of Afrocentric Governance of Public Affairs benefit from:

• Rigorous double-anonymous peer review
• Interdisciplinary scholarly engagement
• An Africa-centred approach to governance scholarship
• International and African scholarly visibility
• Open access to published research
• Opportunities to contribute to policy and governance debates
• Engagement with researchers and practitioners across disciplines
• Commitment to research integrity and ethical publishing
• Dissemination of scholarship relevant to African governance and public affairs

Audience

The journal serves researchers, academics, postgraduate students, policymakers, public administrators, political scientists, governance specialists, development practitioners, civil society organisations, public-sector professionals, traditional and community leaders, and other stakeholders interested in governance, public administration, public policy, leadership, institutional development, and public affairs from Afrocentric and comparative perspectives.

JAGPA aims to foster scholarship that places African experiences, knowledge systems, institutions, values, histories, and contemporary realities at the centre of critical inquiry into governance and public affairs.

Review Timeline