About the Journal

The African Journal of Gender and Religion (AJGR) grew and developed from The Journal of Constructive Theology, founded in the early 2000’s at the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) to publish research related to gender and theology. The journal moved from UKZN in 2017 and is now housed at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice at the University of the Western Cape, and publishes research on diverse religious and cultural traditions including, and beyond Christian theology. The AJGR is an accredited publication of the South African Department of Higher Education and Training.

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.

We are an African journal and seek to encourage authors to reflect on Africa as context, concept, and theory. Yet, we are equally welcoming of international contributions engaging with a variety of social and geographic contexts.

The AJGR 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

Open Access Policy and Licencing

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. 

All work published is licensed under an https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ license (CC BY).

Peer Review Process

Manuscripts can be submitted via the online platform at any time. When responding to special issue calls however authors should adhere to the timelines stated by the Call for Papers. Manuscripts first go through a process of editorial review where the editorial collective, consisting of an editor, co-editor, and managing editor, evaluates if the articles meet the scope and focus of the journal. Manuscripts that meet these criteria then go through a double-blind peer review process. The editorial team identifies 2-4 potential peer reviewers based on their expertise and specialisations. Potential reviewers all have PhDs and we prioritise our editorial board as potential reviewers who have expertise in various fields. Once reviewers indicate that they can review the paper within the specified timeframe, we send them an anonymised article along with guidelines and with links to our review rating sheet. The reviewers' comments and decisions are then communicated with the author who, if required, makes the necessary adjustments following the review reports. The final decision remains with the editors.

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.

Waiver Policy

At the African Journal of Gender and Religion (AJGR), we understand that some institutions may have limited funding for their research activities.  Thus, we have instituted a generous waiver system that may ease the payment of the manuscript handling fee when their researchers choose to publish their manuscripts in our journal.  Our primary goal is to accelerate the dissemination of knowledge through the publication of high-quality research articles. We are continually pursuing this goal, without putting undue financial burden on researchers or their institutions.

To request a waiver, kindly send an application to our journal administrator at fmarlie@uwc.ac.za. Waiver applications should contain the manuscript title and state the reason for requesting a waiver.

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). The AJGR also adheres to the ASSAf Code of Best Practice in Scholarly Journal Publishing, Editing and Peer Review (2018).

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 acknowledgment 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 are 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.

Plagiarism Policy

We routinely screen article submissions for plagiarism, so if possible we advise authors to submit their own Turnitin or iThenticate report.