Ethical Consideration

The African Solutions Journal (AfSol Journal) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and academic integrity. All authors and reviewers are expected to adhere to these principles to ensure the quality, credibility, and trustworthiness of the journal.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting to the AfSol Journal must ensure that:

  • The work is original, properly cited, and not under consideration elsewhere;
  • All sources, data, and contributions from others are accurately acknowledged;
  • Underlying data, methods, and materials are shared where possible, and sufficient details are provided to enable verification and reproducibility of their research, in accordance with ethical, legal, and confidentiality considerations;
  • All listed co-authors have contributed significantly to the work and have approved the final manuscript;
  • Any form of conflicts of interest disclosed;
  • Fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism of data shall be prohibited;
  • Use of AI tools is disclosed transparently, and authors are responsible for verifying the accuracy and integrity of AI-assisted content.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to:

  • Provide objective, constructive, and timely reviews;
  • Maintain confidentiality of the manuscripts under review;
  • Declare any conflicts of interest and recuse themselves if necessary;
  • Ensure the reviewers forms are filled-in accurately and appropriately in line with the journal’s requirements;
  • Avoid using information from manuscripts for personal advantage;
  • Refrain from uploading manuscripts into open-source AI tools that may compromise the intellectual property of the authors;
  • Commit to not using AI tools to generate review reports, and instead rely on their own intellectual judgment and available resources to provide fair and independent opinions.

Handling Misconduct

The AfSol Journal adheres to internationally recognized publication ethics standards, including those of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), to address publication malpractice, including but not limited to:

  • Plagiarism: All submissions are screened for originality. Submissions found to contain plagiarized content will be rejected.
  • Duplicate Submission: Manuscripts submitted elsewhere or previously published will be rejected.
  • Data Fabrication/Falsification: Submissions with falsified or manipulated data will be rejected, and relevant institutions may be notified.
  • Unethical Authorship: Ghost-writing, honorary authorship, or unjustified authorship claims will be addressed according to international guidelines.
  • AI Misuse: Submissions that fail to disclose AI-assisted content or that rely on AI in ways that compromise academic integrity will be rejected.
  • Retractions: Papers found to have serious ethical breaches—including plagiarism, data manipulation, or unethical AI use—will be retracted with clear notices explaining the reason.

Complaints and Appeals

All complaints and appeals will be addressed through a fair, transparent, and timely process, ensuring that all concerns are carefully reviewed and resolved in accordance with internationally recognized ethical and editorial standards.

Intellectual Property Rights

The AfSol Journal upholds clear intellectual property policies to protect authors’ rights and ensure proper attribution, in accordance with its  Editorial Policies, which include the Journal’s open access policy, copyright agreement, privacy statement and disclaimer.