About the Journal
Aims and Scope
Ubuntu stands for humaneness built on the foundations of a relational worldview embedded in most African cultures and reflected in the philosophy of non-violent conflict transformation. The journal is expected to serve as a forum for scholars in the fields of peace studies and social transformation who seek to go beyond the paradigm of power and rational choice assumptions to tap on moral and creative human potential to resolve conflicts and bring about positive change in a just manner in recognition of human interrelatedness and connection. For about two decades (since about the 1990s), there has been a greater realization that the focus of any meaningful resolution of conflict should not be about the mere settlement of conflicts; rather, it should embrace ways and means by which the parties can be brought to live together and cooperate in the future to avoid recourse to conflict and war. But when the guns go silent it is important that bridges are built across the social divides to ensure that the recourse to conflict and war can no longer be an option. Societies must therefore change for the better and this is at the heart of the focus of Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict and Social Transformation.
Submissions
The journal publishes two issues a year in June and December which may include a special edition. Issues are available as open access. The Journal invites manuscripts all through the year, submitted online through its website. Submissions must be between 7000 and 8000 words long, prepared according to author guidelines.
Author fees
The journal subscribes to the principle that results of largely public-funded research must be published without article processing charges (APCs) on contributors.
Open Access
The journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Archiving and Indexing
The articles published are archived and indexed accordingly through LOCKSS, CLOCKSS and the PKP PN.
Peer Review Policy
All research articles go through a double-blind peer-review process. The reviewers have expertise in the areas that they review. The decisions on publication are based on the balance of the views of reviewers. Those who are interested in being reviewers must send a note to the editor-in-chief.
Authorship
Authors are those who make a substantive contribution to a submission. The author who makes more contributions than another must appear first in the authors' list in the submission, regardless of their position or status. A student must be listed as the principal author in multiple-authored publications that substantially derive from their research work.
Funding
Authors must acknowledge their sources of funding under a specific heading.
Conflict of interest
Authors are required to disclose conflicts of interest. Journal editors must declare a conflict of interest, and recuse themselves from managing submissions where such conflict of interest is present. The conflict of interests matters relating to board members will be declared. The editorial board will serve as an appeal body in cases of disputes.
Publishing ethics
The journal commits to maintaining the academic integrity of submissions it publishes.
We respect the rights of our authors and act firmly on any suspicion or evidence of plagiarism or misuse of published articles.
Editor’s Code of Conduct
The editors of this journal will:
- Maintain high-quality assurance and ethical standards in submissions published in the journal;
- Ensure the integrity of the peer-review process;
- Promote equal and equitable access to publishing opportunities for authors;
- Maintain cordial relations among all stakeholders including authors, reviewers, editors and the board;
- Attend expeditiously to all complaints;
- Treat all submissions fairly and justly on the merits of their content;
- Maintain and improve the journal’s reputation;
Role of the editorial committee
The committee is made of the editor-in-chief, editors and editorial assistants of the journal responsible for the day-to-day editorial management of the journal production. They are responsible for soliciting or receiving submissions, quality checking them, assigning reviewers, overseeing the revision of the submissions and supervising the production process. The editor-in-chief leads this committee and assigns editors submissions to work and convenes discussions, where necessary, and ratifies editorial decisions in line with the journal editorial policies. The final decision rests with the editor-in-chief.
Duties of the Board
The editorial board is an advisory and governance structure appointed by the Association in line with best practices in journal governance. It brings together scholars representing various areas of expertise within the scope of the journal’s focus. Board members serve voluntarily for a three-year term subject to renewal. The Board functions include:
- Promoting the journal in their networks;
- Providing advice related to the publication of high-quality manuscripts;
- Serving as a mechanism for authors to appeal against editorial decisions.
- Receiving an annual report from the Editor-in-Chief detailing the status of operations and including such statistics and other relevant information;
- Make recommendations to the Editor-in-Chief based on the annual report.