Terms & Conditions Policy

1. General Terms and Conditions

The African Journal for Empirical Research (AJERNET), published by AJER Publishing, is committed to maintaining high standards of academic integrity, research quality, ethical publishing, and responsible scholarly communication.

By submitting a manuscript to AJERNET, authors acknowledge and agree to comply with the journal's editorial policies, submission requirements, publication ethics standards, copyright provisions, and applicable terms and conditions.

These terms govern the submission, review, acceptance, publication, and dissemination of scholarly articles in the journal.

2. Responsibility for Published Content

Authors bear primary responsibility for the accuracy, originality, validity, completeness, and integrity of the information presented in their manuscripts and published articles.

The opinions, interpretations, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in articles published by AJERNET are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of AJERNET, its Editorial Board, peer reviewers, or AJER Publishing.

Publication of an article does not imply that the journal or publisher endorses the findings, interpretations, recommendations, or opinions expressed by the authors.

Although AJERNET undertakes editorial assessment, peer review, and quality assurance procedures, the journal cannot guarantee the absolute accuracy or completeness of every statement, dataset, interpretation, or conclusion contained in published research.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, AJERNET and AJER Publishing disclaim liability for losses or damages arising from reliance on published information, except where such liability cannot lawfully be excluded.

This disclaimer does not diminish the journal's responsibility to investigate credible concerns, correct published errors, and take appropriate action where research misconduct or serious inaccuracies are established.

3. Originality and Academic Integrity

Authors submitting manuscripts to AJERNET must ensure that their work is original, authentic, accurately represented, and prepared in accordance with recognised academic and research ethics standards.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that:

  1. Submitted manuscripts do not contain plagiarism, fabricated information, falsified research findings, or other forms of academic misconduct.

  2. All sources of information, data, theories, quotations, and research findings are appropriately acknowledged.

  3. References and citations are authentic, accurate, complete, and verifiable.

  4. The manuscript has not been published previously or submitted simultaneously to another journal, except where permitted under the journal's editorial policies.

  5. All listed authors have made appropriate scholarly contributions and have approved the manuscript for submission and publication.

  6. Necessary research ethics approvals, permissions, and participant consent have been obtained where applicable.

  7. Any use of artificial intelligence or other research-support technologies complies with the journal's applicable policies.

AJERNET reserves the right to investigate suspected academic misconduct and to reject, correct, or retract manuscripts and publications where justified.

4. Peer Review and Editorial Decisions

All manuscripts submitted to AJERNET are subject to editorial screening and, where appropriate, independent peer review before acceptance for publication.

Peer reviewers assess manuscripts based on scholarly relevance, originality, methodological soundness, ethical compliance, clarity of presentation, quality of evidence, and contribution to existing knowledge.

Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, confidential, and impartial assessments.

Peer review recommendations may include acceptance, acceptance subject to revisions, major revisions, or rejection.

Peer reviewers provide recommendations; the final decision regarding manuscript acceptance or rejection rests with the Chief Editor or designated handling editor.

Editorial decisions are based on the manuscript's scholarly merit, peer review reports, compliance with journal policies, and other legitimate editorial considerations.

Authors may appeal editorial decisions through the journal's established Complaints Handling and Appeals Policy. An appeal does not automatically guarantee reconsideration or acceptance.

5. Ethical Standards and Editorial Independence

AJERNET is committed to maintaining high ethical standards throughout the scholarly publishing process.

The journal upholds principles of transparency, fairness, accountability, confidentiality, academic independence, and responsible research communication.

Editorial decisions are made independently and must not be influenced by an author's nationality, ethnicity, gender, religious beliefs, institutional affiliation, personal relationships, financial considerations, or other irrelevant factors.

Editors, reviewers, and authors are expected to disclose relevant conflicts of interest and avoid conduct that could compromise the integrity of the publication process.

The journal addresses allegations of research misconduct, plagiarism, fabricated data, unethical research practices, and other publication-related concerns through its established editorial and publication ethics procedures.

6. Copyright and Open Access

AJERNET operates under an open-access publishing model.

Authors retain copyright ownership of their original scholarly works while granting AJERNET and AJER Publishing the non-exclusive rights necessary to publish and disseminate their articles.

Published articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) licence, which permits sharing and adaptation for non-commercial purposes, subject to appropriate attribution and other licence conditions.

Authors and readers must comply with the journal's Copyright and Open Access Policy.

7. Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Responsibilities

AJERNET recognises that maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record requires appropriate action when errors, ethical concerns, or research misconduct are identified after publication.

Where justified, the journal may issue corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, or other appropriate editorial notices.

Authors are expected to cooperate with the editorial office in investigating concerns and correcting inaccuracies in their published works.

Any post-publication action will be undertaken in accordance with the journal's established correction, retraction, and publication ethics policies.

8. Complaints and Appeals

AJERNET provides procedures for addressing complaints concerning editorial decisions, peer review, publication ethics, copyright infringement, and other matters relating to scholarly publishing.

Complaints should be submitted to the journal's editorial office with sufficient supporting information to permit an appropriate assessment.

The journal is committed to handling complaints fairly, impartially, confidentially where appropriate, and within reasonable timeframes.

Authors and other affected parties may seek reconsideration of editorial decisions through the journal's established appeals procedures.

9. Acceptance of Terms and Policy Compliance

Submission of a manuscript to AJERNET constitutes acknowledgement of the journal's published terms, editorial requirements, and applicable publication policies.

Authors are responsible for familiarising themselves with the journal's submission guidelines, ethical requirements, copyright arrangements, and publication procedures.

Failure to comply with these requirements may result in requests for correction, suspension of editorial processing, rejection of a manuscript, or appropriate post-publication action.

Any amendments to these terms and conditions will be communicated through the journal's official website.

Changes will be implemented consistently with applicable laws, existing publication agreements, and the journal's editorial responsibilities.

10. Policy Implementation and Review

The Chief Editor and Editorial Board are responsible for implementing and periodically reviewing this Terms and Conditions Policy.

AJERNET may revise the policy to reflect developments in scholarly publishing, applicable legal requirements, recognised publication ethics principles, and the operational needs of the journal.

The journal remains committed to ensuring that its terms and conditions promote transparency, fairness, accountability, academic integrity, and responsible scholarly communication.

African Journal for Empirical Research (AJERNET)
AJER Publishing