Publication Policy

Afro-Asian Journal of Law and Governance, published by Prime Crest Publisher, is committed to upholding the highest possible standards in terms of publication ethics and integrity. Editors, members of the editorial board, peer reviewers, and authors are supposed to observe the standards of transparency, integrity, fairness, confidentiality, accountability and responsible research reporting during the entire process of publication of the journal. The Afro-Asian Journal of Law and Governance observes best practices in scholarly publishing and takes measures to address any issues related to ethical practices promptly and openly. These issues may include plagiarism, double or multiple submission, scientific fraud, unethical research practices, data fabrication and falsification, unethical peer review practices, among others. When such an issue comes to the attention of the Journal, an appropriate investigation will be undertaken, and corrective measures will be taken. Such measures will include rejection of the manuscript, issuing of correction or retraction notices and other measures deemed necessary.

PUBLISHING ETHICS STATEMENT

Afro-Asian Journal of Law and Governance, published by Prime Crest Publisher, takes full responsibility for maintaining the highest standards in terms of publication ethics, academic integrity and professional accountability. The journal upholds the internationally accepted norms of scholarly and ethical publication and is based on best practices in scholarly publishing that include appropriate principles set out in the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The Editorial Board, editors, reviewers, authors, and publisher must maintain the integrity, reputation, originality, and academic merit of all scholarly work published in the journal. Everyone involved in the publication process is supposed to adhere to the principle of honesty, originality, fairness, accountability, confidentiality, transparency, and responsible research conduct.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORS

Manuscripts submitted to the Afro-Asian Journal of Law and Governance are required to meet the following criteria:

  1. The manuscript submitted must be an original piece and should not have been published or be under consideration elsewhere.
  2. All sources, references, ideas, data, citations and other information used in the work must be cited properly.
  3. Authors must present their research methodologies, data, results, analysis and interpretations correctly, comprehensively and honestly.
  4. Authors should not engage in fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, duplicate publication, redundant publication, citation manipulation or any other form of academic misconduct.
  5. All listed authors must have made a significant and identifiable contribution to the research conducted and to writing the manuscript. The contributions made by the authors should be accurately described.
  6. The authors should declare all the potential conflicts of interests which may have a bearing on their research, analysis, interpretation or publication of work.
  7. Research involving human subjects should be ethically approved.
  8. The authors should cooperate with the Journal's Editorial Board throughout the process of peer review and publication, including responding adequately to reviewers' comments and making corrections where necessary.
  9. The authors should immediately inform the Journal of any error found in
  10. Authors must promptly notify the Journal of any significant error or inaccuracy discovered in their manuscript after submission or publication and cooperate in correcting the scholarly record where necessary.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF EDITORS

The editors of Afro-Asian Journal of Law and Governance shall discharge their duties fairly, objectively, and in compliance with the accepted standards of publication ethics.

The editors shall:

  1. Assess manuscripts on their scientific value, novelty, relevance, clarity, validity of methodology, and contribution to scholarship without any discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, nationality, religion, ideology, institution of origin, or other personal factors that are not related to scientific merit.
  2. Establish a fair, transparent, and properly confidential peer review process aimed at objective and impartial scholarly assessment.
  3. Safeguard the confidentiality of manuscripts and any information about the authors and reviewers of manuscripts, with the exception of any disclosure that might be required in accordance with ethical and legal requirements.
  4. Abstain from any conflict of interests in respect of scholarly works considered for publication and avoid conflicts of interests in the course of editorial work.
  5. Act appropriately on any allegations of plagiarism, research misconduct, data fabrication or falsification, duplicate publication, citation manipulation, and any other ethical issues.
  6. Base their decisions regarding publication of scholarly works solely on scientific merit of the manuscripts.

The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to reject manuscripts that fail to meet the Journal's academic, ethical, legal, or editorial standards.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF PEER REVIEWERS

Peer reviewers play an important role in maintaining the academic quality and integrity of the Afro-Asian Journal of Law and Governance. Reviewers are expected to:

  1. Give objective, fair, constructive, and scholarly reviews of manuscripts within the period agreed upon with the Editorial Board.
  2. Maintain the confidentiality of all manuscripts submitted for review and shall not disclose, reproduce, disseminate, or make use of the manuscript without proper authorization.
  3. Cite pertinent published literature that has not been appropriately cited by the author(s), provided it is directly related to the manuscript.
  4. Alert the editor immediately of any suspicion of plagiarism, self-plagiarism, substantial duplication, unethical conduct, or ethical issues in general.
  5. Refrain from reviewing a manuscript when there is a personal, professional, financial, institutional, or other conflict of interest that might compromise the objectivity of the review.
  6. Evaluate manuscripts based solely on their intellectual and scholarly merit, and not based on the identity, nationality, gender, institutional affiliation, religion, or other personal characteristics of the author(s).
  7. Do not exploit information and ideas obtained during the peer review process for their own purposes.

ETHICAL MISCONDUCT AND INVESTIGATIONS

All claims or issues regarding publication and research misconduct in connection with the journal will be taken seriously. Such claims or issues may arise prior to or after publication and can be made by authors, reviewers, editors, readers, organizations, or any other relevant person.

Issues investigated by the journal may include, but will not be limited to:

  1. Plagiarism;
  2. Multiple publication;
  3. Falsification of data, evidence, findings, or research results;
  4. Citation manipulation;
  5. Disputes about authorship and unauthorized assignment of authorship;
  6. Unreported or mishandled conflict of interests;
  7. Manipulation or interference in peer review process;
  8. Research on human subjects that violates ethical standards;
  9. Fabricated, false, and unverifiable citations; and
  10. Other forms of misconduct in academic publications.

Where there is a claim, the journal may undertake a preliminary inquiry and, where required, an investigation. The authors may be requested to give an explanation or provide necessary information in this regard.

In cases of misconduct, the following steps could be taken by the Journal:

  1. Refusal to publish the manuscript;
  2. Requesting corrections and clarifications;
  3. Publication of a correction;
  4. Publishing an expression of concern;
  5. Retraction of the published manuscript;
  6. Withdrawing or removing the published manuscript as applicable;
  7. Temporarily preventing future submissions of manuscripts from the offending authors;
  8. Reporting the matter to the respective institutions/employers/research institutions/funding agencies/ regulatory authorities as required; and
  9. Taking any other step that would be required for protecting the academic record.

 

The process would be carried out with due diligence regarding issues of fairness, confidentiality, academic integrity, and the preservation of the scholarly record.