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The following guidelines provide clear guidance for authors who want to submit their papers to the Journal of African Trade.

1. About the Journal of African Trade (JAT)

The Journal of African Trade is an international peer-reviewed journal devoted to the publication of studies and research in the areas of African trade and trade finance, as well as other socio-economic issues relating to trade and economic development in Africa. Please see the Journal’s Aim & Scope for more information about its focus and peer-review policy.

All publications fees are subsidized by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), and all articles are published and disseminated under a CC BY 4.0 License.

2. Language

Manuscripts must be written in English in a clear and concise manner. Any author who is not fluent in idiomatic English is urged to seek assistance with manuscript preparation prior to submission. Reviewers are not expected to correct grammatical errors and any deficiency in this area may detract from the scientific content of the paper and result in acceptance delays or rejection.

3. Types of Articles Accepted

The Journal of African Trade only accepts Original Research Articles.

4. Publishing Fees

Publishing in the Journal of African Trade is free of charge for all authors. All Publication fees are subsidized by The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank).

5. Before Submission

Only authors or authorship holders are eligible to submit their publications to the Journal of African Trade. For more on authorship, kindly check our 1. Authorship Criteria.

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract, a published lecture, or an academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically without the written consent of the copyright holder.

Before submitting your manuscript, please make sure that your manuscript meets the below criteria:

  1. Your manuscript is an original work and has not been published or is currently under review with another journal or Conference Proceedings. Kindly check our misconduct policy for more information.
  2. The English of the manuscript is acceptable, and it should be free of grammatical and spelling errors.
  3. The manuscript should be edited according to the KIJOMS template (Manuscript Template).
  4. Your figures are of acceptable quality and uploaded as separate files.
  5. Your references are formatted correctly and numbered as they appear in the text.
  6. Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims & scope of the journal will be reviewed.
  7. Manuscripts must conform to the guidelines of the Journal of African Trade guidelines. Submissions that do not adhere to these guidelines will be rejected or returned to the Author prior to the peer review process.

6. Manuscript Preparation

Please prepare your manuscript, including tables, using a word processing program and save it as a .doc, .tex, .rtf, or .ps file. The typesetters are unable to copy, edit, or typeset manuscripts or tables in pdf formats. All manuscripts must adhere to the Article structure provided by the Journal of African Trade. Kindly check the Article Structure guidelines.

7. Submission of Papers

Papers must be submitted electronically to our online submission platform at: Journal of African Trade | Afreximbank Research

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8. Initial Evaluation

All submitted manuscripts will be checked by the Editorial Office to determine whether they are properly prepared and whether they follow the ethical policies of the journal.

All submitted manuscripts are screened for potential plagiarism via iThenticate software. Manuscripts that do not fit the journal's ethics policy or do not meet the standards of the journal will be rejected before peer review. Incomplete manuscripts not prepared in the advised style will be sent back to authors without scientific review. After these checks, the Editorial Office will consult the journal’s Editor-in-Chief to determine whether the manuscript fits the scope of the journal and whether it is scientifically sound. Manuscripts with insufficient priority for publication will be rejected promptly. Please write your text in good English (American usage is accepted). The Editor reserves the right to reject a manuscript on the grounds of insufficient language quality. Reject decisions at this stage will be verified by the Editor-in-Chief.

9. Article Structure

Manuscripts submitted to the Journal of African Trade must follow the following Article Structure:

  1. Title page
  2. Abstract, Keywords, and JEL Classification
  3. Abbreviations
  4. Introduction
  5. Data and Methodology
  6. Results and Discussions
  7. Conclusions and Recommendations
  8. Ethics Information (if applicable)
  9. Author Contributions
  10. Funding
  11. Conflict of Interest
  12. Acknowledgements
  13. References

9.1 Title page

All title pages should include the following elements:

  • Title must be short, specific, and informative.
  • The first name, initial(s), and surname of each author should be followed by his or her department, institution, city with postcode and country.
  • Contact details of each corresponding author should also be provided, mainly phone number and email address.
  • Our policy is to list only one author for correspondence.
  • Any deletions or additions to the author list after acceptance of the paper must be submitted in writing, signed by all authors, to the editorial office.

9.2 Abstract

The abstract should be self-contained, citation-free, and should not exceed 250 words. The abstract should briefly describe the purpose of the study, how the investigation was performed, the most important results, and the principal conclusions that were drawn from the results, respectively. Nonstandard or uncommon abbreviations should be defined at first mention within the abstract.

9.3 Keywords

Authors are asked to provide (4 to 6) keywords, separated by a dash.

9.4 JEL classification

Authors are required to provide the JEL Classification numbers for the article.

9.5 Abbreviations

Non-standard abbreviations should be defined at the first occurrence and introduced only where multiple use is made. There should be no abbreviations in headings.

9.6 Introduction

This section should be succinct, with no subheadings. The author(s) should strive to define the significance of the work and the justification for its publication. Any background discussion should be brief and restricted to pertinent material.

9.7 Data and Methodology

This part should contain sufficient detail that would enable all procedures to be repeated. It can be divided into subsections if several methods are described. Authors should be as concise as possible in experimental descriptions. The experimental section must contain all the information necessary to guarantee reproducibility.

9.8 Results and Discussion:

They should be combined. The study results should be clear and concise. Restrict the use of tables and figures to depict data that is essential to the message and interpretation of the study. The results should be presented in a logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations. The discussion should explore the significance of the results of the work, not repeat them. Include in the discussion the implications of the findings and their limitations, how the findings fit into the context of other relevant work, and directions for future research.

9.9 Conclusions and Recommendations:

The main conclusion(s) of the study should be presented in a short conclusion statement highlighting the goals of the study and its importance. State new hypotheses when warranted. Include recommendations when appropriate.

9.10 Ethics Information

Authors should confirm that the study complied with relevant ethical standards and guidelines. Where applicable, approval from an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board should be stated.

9.11 Author Contributions

All authors should have made substantial contributions to the work and approved the final manuscript. A brief statement describing each author’s contribution should be included.

9.12 Funding

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support for the research, including grant numbers where applicable.

9.13 Conflict of Interest

Authors must declare any competing interests that could be perceived to influence the results or interpretation of the work. If no conflicts exist, authors should state: “The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.”

9.14 Acknowledgement(s):

All acknowledgments (if any) should be included at the very end of the manuscript before the references. Anyone who contributed to the research or manuscript, but who is not a listed author, should be acknowledged (with their permission). Please check Authorship and Contribution section of the Policies and Ethics page for more details.

9.15 References

Full references should be provided in alphabetical order in accordance with current edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) with links for all electronic/online sources clearly indicated. Journal titles and author initials should be properly abbreviated and punctuated. If an automatic referencing system has been used in the preparation of the paper, the references must not be left embedded in the final text file submitted.
All references should be included in the reference list.

10. Using Visual Data in your Article

Please read relevant sections of the Policies and Ethics page regarding the use of Image and figures.

10.1 Figures and Illustrations

  1. For reproduction in the journal, authors will be required after acceptance to supply high-resolution .tif files (1200 d.p.i. for line drawings and 300 d.p.i. for colour and half-tone artwork) or high- quality printouts on glossy paper. We advise that you create your high-resolution images first as these can be easily converted into low- resolution images for online submission. Figures will not be re- lettered or re-numbered by the publisher.
  2. The journal reserves the right to reduce the size of illustrative material.
  3. Wherever possible, photographs or diagrams should fit within the print area or within a column width. When creating figures, please make sure any embedded text is large enough to read. Many figures contain minuscule characters such as numbers on a chart or graph. If these characters are not easily readable, they will most likely be illegible in the final version.

10.2 Color Figures

  1. If there is a choice of colours on a schematic, please choose clearly distinct colours (e.g., not two shades of blue) and avoid black backgrounds if possible.
  1. Any figures submitted to the journal in colour can be published in colour. Authors may choose to also publish their figures in colour in the print journal. Black and white figures will also be accepted, but figures that may be converted from colour to black and white should be well prepared with high contrast and must have a resolution of at least 300 dots per inch at their final size. Figure captions must be suitably worded to apply to the article.

10.3 Tables

  1. All tables submitted must be in editable format (e.g., Word, excel, ppt) as the typesetters are unable to typeset any tables in image format (e.g., pdf).
  2. All tables should be on separate pages and accompanied by a title and footnotes where necessary. The tables should be numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals. Units in which results are expressed should be given in parentheses at the top of each column and not repeated in each line of the table. Authors are advised not to overcrowd the tables and limit the use of words.
  3. The format of tables should be consistent with what is normally used in international journals. Please note that it is the author’s responsibility to ensure that the data given in tables are correct. i.

11. Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

If generative AI or AI-assisted tools have been used in the preparation of the manuscript in a way that materially contributed to the text, content, or analysis, authors must disclose this at the time of submission and include an appropriate statement in the manuscript. The disclosure should identify the tool used, its purpose, and the extent of its use. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the manuscript. AI tools may not be listed as authors. Please refer to the Policies and Ethics page for further details.

By submitting a paper to the Journal of African Trade, the author agrees to the Copyright Policy stated on the Policies and Ethics page.

Authors retain copyright of their work and grant the Journal of African Trade an exclusive license to publish and distribute the article All published articles are distributed under a CC BY license.