I. Selecting peer-reviewers
Reviewer selection is made as per the rules of AJAE. Reviewers are selected based on different factors namely, professionalism, expertise, reputation, and seriousness of the person. The reviewers who do not meet deadlines, careless or fail to give reasons for their comments will not be selected.
II. The Peer Review Process
Articles are sent to reviewers by Editor in Chief. This will be double blind review. The peer review process is done based on anonymity i.e. blind review. The reviewers are required to advise the editorial board on the following:
i) Originality and contribution of knowledge
ii) Substance of the article
iii) Format
iv) Advise the editorial board as to whether the article
• be published as it is
• be published after the corrections indicated by the reviewer are made
• not be published at all due to the lack of originality, insufficient analysis or major technical or linguistic problems.
v) Make inline comments as they review the work where necessary.
III. After the Peer Review Process
The corrections and improvements suggested by the peer reviewer are organized and edited for consistency and then sent to the author who will be given 30 days to make corrections and improvements as suggested by the reviewers. After making corrections or improvements as suggested by the peer reviewers, the author resubmits the article to the Editor in Chief for further processing.
iv. Final Editorial
Once the author resubmits the revised version of the article after making corrections or improvements as suggested by the peer reviewers, the article is edited. The article which is accepted for publication is then finalized and prepared for production

ARTICLE TYPES

Original Research Paper

Original Articles may range in length from short communications through to more in-depth studies reporting original research. Regardless of the length, an Article must present results or analyses that are essentially new and that have not been published or are under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Articles can present theoretical, empirical, qualitative, or quantitative research. Case studies, replication studies, and policy perspectives can be categorized as Original Articles.

We do not impose strict word length limits, but the length of Original Articles should ideally not exceed approximately ten printed pages, which corresponds to 20-25 manuscript pages (size 12 font, double-spaced), including everything from the title page to the last figure, if applicable. Where a manuscript includes unusually long methodological descriptions and data or figures that are not core to the message of the publication, the use of Supplementary Material is encouraged.

 

Review Paper

A Review Paper is an authoritative, balanced, and scholarly survey of the state of the art and recent developments in a clearly defined area of research. Reviews should be recognized as scholarly by specialists in the field and be accessible to those in allied disciplines. We do not impose strict word length limits, but the length of Review Papers should ideally not exceed approximately 50 manuscript pages (size 12 font, double-spaced), including everything from the title page to the last figure, if applicable. A Review may include up to seven figures and/or tables, if applicable.

THE JOURNAL GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS AND REVIEWERS 

Before commencing the peer review process, the reviewers should consider the following matters:

I. Page set-up

Page set-up of the manuscripts should be on A4 paper, Microsoft Word, 12 font size Times New Roman double-spaced with margins of at least one inch-left and right, and one and half inch margin-top and bottom.  Manuscripts should be arranged in the following order:

• Title page with names of the author(s) and correspondence.
• Abstract including up to six key words and JEL Classification Codes
• Introduction section
• Literature review section
• Methodology section
• Results and Discussion section
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgements
• References (Harvard Style)

Tables of results and figures must be inserted appropriately in the main text.  Mathematical equations should appear on a separate line with equation numbers aligned at the right hand margin.  Full mathematical workings should accompany the article in order to assist the referees.  These workings will not be published. In the case of statistics (such as regression coefficients), author should be prepared to send to the Editor a copy of the data and details of the methodology used (possibly in the form of a self-explanatory computer printout) so that the referee may test the derivation of such statistics.  Authors of articles accepted for publication will be asked to supply the final version in electronic copy.  The Editors reserve the right to reject, edit or shorten any article submitted and approved for publication.  A decision on every manuscript shall be made within two months from submission date, and authors will be informed accordingly.

I. Open Access

Africa Journal of Applied Economics (AJAE)  will offer an open access option that authors will not pay article processing charge (APC). However, in the future the Journal will charge APC. This will enable handling secretariat to cover all the necessary costs for the publication process.

II. Peer Review

This journal operates under a double-blind peer review model. Except where otherwise stated, manuscripts are peer reviewed by at least two anonymous reviewers and the Editor. Papers will only be sent to review if the Editor determines that the paper meets the appropriate quality and relevance requirements. The acceptance criteria for all papers are the quality and originality of the research and its significance to our readership. Final acceptance or rejection rests with the Editor, who reserves the right to refuse any material for publication. Manuscripts should be written so that they are intelligible to the professional reader who is not a specialist in the field. They should be written in a clear, concise, direct style. Where contributions are judged as acceptable for publication based on content, the Editor and the Publisher reserve the right to modify typescripts to eliminate ambiguity and repetition and improve communication between author and reader. If extensive alterations are required, the manuscript will be returned to the author for revision.

In-house submissions, i.e. papers authored by Editors or Editorial Board members of the title, will be sent to Editors unaffiliated with the author or institution and monitored carefully to ensure there is no peer review bias.

III. Data Sharing and Data Availability

This journal expects that data supporting the results in the paper will be archived in an appropriate public repository. Authors are required to provide a data availability statement to describe the availability or the absence of shared data. When data have been shared, authors are required to include in their data availability statement a link to the repository they have used, and to cite the data they have shared. Whenever possible the scripts and other artefacts used to generate the analyses presented in the paper should also be publicly archived. If sharing data compromises ethical standards or legal requirements, then authors are not expected to share it.

IV. Data Protection

By submitting a manuscript to or reviewing for this publication, your name, email address, and affiliation, and other contact details the publication might require, will be used for the regular operations of the publication.

V. Funding

You should list all funding sources in the Acknowledgments section. You are responsible for the accuracy of their funder designation

VI. Authorship

All listed authors should have contributed to the manuscript substantially and have agreed to the final submitted version. Review editorial standards and scroll down for a description of authorship criteria.

VII. ORCID

This journal will also require ORCID. The ORCID is a nonproprietary alphanumeric code to uniquely identify authors and contributors of scholarly communication as well as ORCID's website and services to look up authors and their bibliographic output.

VIII. Reproduction of Copyright Material

If excerpts from copyrighted works owned by third parties are included, credit must be shown in the contribution. It is your responsibility to also obtain written permission for reproduction from the copyright owners.

In the peer review process, the reviewer must consider the following:

a) Title

The title must be carefully formulated. It is important to ensure that the title is brief, clear, specific and unambiguous. It must clearly describe the problem under investigation and be sufficiently succinct by giving summary of key ideas.

b) Abstract

The article must have an abstract that reflectsits contents procedures and findings in summary.

c) Introduction

The article must have an introduction. The following must be captured in the introduction, namely, description of the title and its relationship with the branch of Economics in which it falls. The subject matter which the article is based and justification for writing on it- i.e. article must convince readers that there is need of publishing on the subject matter. Also, the introduction should not be too long i.e. author must avoid verbosity. It must also describe what the author hoped to achieve accurately by clearly stating the problem being investigated.

d) Content of the Article

The reviewer is supposed to evaluate the article’s content and establish as to whether the content is useful for publication as the article or may be published as something else under the AJAE subdivision; the content is well organized; sufficient literature review related to the subject under investigation; and if there is additional references and/or information which may be referred to the author for improving the article. Also the reviewer in the course of reviewing the general content of the article must establish if referencing style corresponds with the one stated in the AJAE Rules; formatting of headings, tables and figures comply with AJAE style; conclusions in the article are supported by the data presented; and the article is consistent with the length as stated in the AJAE Rules.

e) Quality of Writing

The reviewer is supposed to read the article paragraphs and show if they conflict each other and request the author to clarify. Also, the reviewer must look at the flow of paragraphs and make suggestions where necessary. In case of unnecessary repetition, suggest for improvements. Lastly, see if there are enough examples provided to assist readers in relating to the author's ideas.

f) Language

Where the article is written in poor language making it difficult to understand, the reviewer must bring that to the attention of the editorial board and not correcting grammatical errors of the author. 

MEMBERS OF EDITORIAL BOARD - AFRICAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMICS (AJAE)

CHIEF EDITOR

Dr. Eliaza Jones Mkuna, PhD (Mzumbe University, Tanzania)

SECRETARY

Dr. Felister Tibamanya, PhD (Mzumbe University, Tanzania)

Dr. Christina Shitima, PhD (Mzumbe University, Tanzania)