About the Journal

The African Journal of Gender and Religion (AJGR) is a semi-annual publication, moved in 2017 from the Gender and Religion programme at UKZN (the Centre for Deconstructive Theology at UKZN) to the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice at the University of the Western Cape.

Since 2004, the Journal has published research papers, which are relevant to gender, religion, and theology in Africa. The editorial committee considers for publication submissions of a scholarly standard from any of the social science and theological disciplines or related fields of inquiry, which provide useful perspectives at the intersections of gender, religion, and theology in Africa. Particular areas of interest include the gendered analysis of religion; theology and the study of religion; innovations in contextual theological education; theological and ethical reflection on social transformation; the significance of new religious movements and African-initiated forms of religion; the role of women in religion and society; interfaith dialogue; peace-making and reconciliation; normative and non-normative sexualities; and queer politics.

The African Journal of Gender and Religion seeks to promote dialogue and response, not only within the academic community in Africa and beyond, but also with faith practitioners working “on the ground” to build a more just society in the region. These may include religious leaders, clergy, other religious officials, professionals, and laity across broad social spectrums who seek to read their faith against the critical issues confronting society today.

Online ISSN 2707-2991
Print ISSN 1025-5648

Open Access Policy

The journal became OA in 2018. It provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

Peer Review Process

There is a call for papers where manuscripts are submitted via the online platform. There are two rounds of double-blind peer review; 1) the editorial round which is the editorial collective consisting of an editor, co-editor, and managing editor who evaluate if the articles meet the scope and the focus of the journal. The editorial collective identifies 2-4 potential peer reviewers based on their expertise and specialisations. Potential reviewers all have PhDs. We prioritise our editorial board as potential reviewers who all have expertise in various fields. 2) Once reviewers indicate that they are able to review the paper within the specified timeframe (we grant reviewers 6-8 weeks but it often takes 10-12 weeks.) we send them an anonymised article along with guidelines and a review sheet.
The editorial collective makes the final decision.

Author Fees

The African Journal of Gender and Religion (AJGR) charges page fees for authors from South African universities. Invoices are sent to the respective research offices after publication. The page fees are R200 per page.

Archiving

The African Journal of Gender and Religion (AJGR) is currently archived through CLOCKSS, LOCKSS and the PKP PN. 

Repository

The African Journal of Gender and Religion (AJGR) allows authors to deposit versions of their work in institutional repositories or repositories of their choice. 

Ethics Statement

"The African Journal of Gender and Religion ( AJGR) is committed to following best practices on ethical matters, errors, and retractions. The AJGR follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on appeals to journal editor decisions and complaints. (Please see attached 2008 Code of Conduct). By submitting their manuscripts to the journal, authors are bound to high ethical research standards, that include inter alia, not misrepresenting information, or using the work of others without due acknowledgement and citation. The journal reserves the right to subject submitted manuscripts to originality checks at any point in the publication process. The AJGR does not consider language and views which perpetuate racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia or is otherwise discriminatory as acceptable.

All research studies on humans must be in accordance with the principles stated in the Declaration of Helsinki. The AJGR  is, however, committed to engaging the ethics of research in discursive and not prescriptive ways and reserves the right to reject manuscripts on the basis of non-compliance with the values of gender justice in particular and social justice in general. Evidence of ethical approval must be provided for any studies that involve contact with human research participants. A separate statement to confirm that ethical clearance was obtained by the home institution of the author and at least one of the authors( in the case of co-publication) must be submitted with the manuscript or the review process will be delayed until evidence of institutional ethical approval has been provided".