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Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Sources. Materials & Fieldwork in African Studies is a double-blind, peer-reviewed journal devoted to research on Africa in the social sciences and humanities. Committed to disseminating excellent scientific research to the widest audience, Sources is entirely accessible online, free of charge.

Sources receives institutional support from the French National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), the Research Unit Les Afriques dans le monde (LAM, Bordeaux, France), and the French research institutes abroad: IFRA Nairobi, IFRA Nigeria, IFAS-Research, the French Center for Ethiopian Studies (CFEE), Cedej-Khartoum, and the French Section of the Sudan Antiquities Authority (SFDAS).

The Sources Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement relies on the COPE general guidelines (http://publicationethics.org/).

We would also like to thank Samaj Editors (https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/) for allowing us to use some wording from their own statement, which also conforms to the COPE guidelines.

Roles and responsibilities within the Editorial Board

Sources is run by an Editorial Board, whose members can be found at the following address: https://journals.openedition.org/sources/163

The Editorial Board is made up of a team of editors, including Editors-in-Chief, Editors, Associate Editors, and Publishing Officers.

The Editors and the Associate Editors are scholars in the field of African studies. The Publishing Officers are publishing professionals responsible for the production and publication of the journal.

The way in which the editorial team works is described in an internal charter which the Editors-in-Chief are responsible for maintaining and which is circulated to all members of the Editorial Board. It also contains the rules governing the procedure for appointing Editors-in-Chief, Editors and Associate Editors, the duration of their terms of office and the conditions for renewal, as well as the procedures to be adopted in the event of conflicts of interest, role conflicts, conflicts of commitment and breach of trust.

The way in which the journal works with Guest Editors is the subject of a specific section which is distributed to all Guest Editors.

Responsibilities of the Editors-in-Chief

The Sources Editors-in-Chief ensure the continuity of the journal’s editorial activities in accordance with its scientific policy, aims and scope. This is carried out by organising and leading regular meetings of Editors and the Editorial Board, regular exchanges with Publishing Officers, and by taking responsibility for planning themed issues.

The Editors-in-Chief are responsible for informing authors about editorial decisions concerning the acceptance, rejection, or revision of submitted texts for scientific purposes. If there is no consensus on the part of the Editorial Board on the nature of the response to be given to authors regarding the publication of their manuscript, the Editors-in-Chief have the final say on publication decisions.

Responsibilities of the Editors

The Sources Editors:

  • decide which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal should be peer-reviewed and published. In making these decisions, the Editors are guided by the policies of the journal, by the scientific relevance of the works submitted, and by legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism;

  • provide guidance to guest editors, authors and reviewers about the peer-review processes and more generally about the expectations of the journal;

  • review the manuscripts on the basis of their academic and intellectual merit, without regard to the race, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic origin, religious belief, citizenship, or social class of the author(s);

  • ensure a fair and unbiased double-blind peer review of the manuscripts and confidential treatment of all information related to the manuscripts, as well as the identities of the authors and the reviewers;

  • ensure that appropriate reviewers are selected;

  • ensure that unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript are not used in an editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author.

Responsibilities of the Associate Editors

The Sources Associate Editors contribute to the journal’s publishing and editing process, particularly through the following actions:

  • by occasionally reviewing articles submitted to the journal. In this case, the Editors and the Publishing Officers undertake to submit review proposals to Associate Editors in the form of anonymised papers, in order to maintain the strict principle of double-blind peer review;

  • by taking part in editorial and scientific discussions on calls for papers for thematic issues: they read, comment and make remarks and suggestions on the texts proposed by the guest editors, ensuring both the scientific quality of the calls for proposals, and their fit within the journal’s aim and scope;

  • by proposing the names of qualified reviewers that Editors and Publishing Officers may contact. (‘Qualified’ meaning both scientifically competent and whose fields and interests are relevant to the papers to be reviewed).

Responsibilities of the Publishing Officers

The Publishing Officers:

  • assist the Editors-in-Chief and the Editors in planning the review and editing work, communicating with authors and guest editors, and advising on the feasibility of publishing articles and associated data from a technical, legal or ethical point of view.

  • ensure proper communication between authors and potential authors, and the journal’s editors, as well as exchanges with the reviewers.

  • ensure that the double-blind status of author and reviewer is maintained.

  • are responsible for the formal quality of the texts (spelling, typography, structuring, clarity of references) and the technical quality of the journal’s website.

  • attend all meetings of the Editors and the Editorial Board, except in the event of major unavailability.

Responsibilities of the Editorial Board

The Sources Editorial Board (altogether the Editors, the Associate Editors and the Publishing Officers):

  • identify potential contributors and guest editors for Sources from among colleagues, doctoral students, members of their research networks and institutions;

  • identify potential editors or associate editors, qualified according to the scientific and editorial ambition of the journal;

  • propose special issues, based on conferences, research teams in which they participate, or on the basis of research themes they find important;

  • participate in increasing the visibility of Sources in their networks and institutions.

Cases of conflict of interest, role conflicts , and conflicts of commitment for members of the Editorial Board

Any case of conflict of interest between members of the Editorial Board and authors as defined below, before or after publication, detected and resolved using the measures described below, must be mentioned in the published version of the article.

Any case of conflict of interest that has led to a real risk for the final scientific reliability of the article must lead to the article’s non-publication or retrac tion.

Cases of role conflicts and conflicts of commitment are governed by the journal’s internal charter.

Participation in multiple boards, permission and limits

It is permissible for an E ditor or A ssociate E ditor to participate on the board of a journal other than Sources in their own field of expertise. However, it is considered a conflict of roles if a Sources Editor-in- Chief accepts responsibility as Editor-in- Chief of another journal. If this is the case, he or she will be required to resign from one of the Editor-in-Chief responsibilities.

If an Editor participating on the board of another journal becomes aware that the same author(s) are submitting the same article, or an article very similar to an article submitted to Sources, in the same period, they must inform the E ditors-in-Chief of Sources as soon as possible.

If the Editor’s commitment to another journal clearly leads to a reduction in involvement and repeated absence from the work of the Sources Editorial Board, this may be considered a conflict of commitment.

These events, if they result in a deterioration in the quality of the journal's development, may lead the Editorial Board to decide, under the authority of the Editors-in-Chief, to remove the editor concerned from the Editorial Board.

Involvement of an Editor in another journal as guest editor, permission and limits

An E ditor may agree to be a guest editor for another journal. However, the limits are as follows:

  • If the task of guest editor for another journal involves repeated absence from the work on the Sources editorial team, this may be considered a conflict of commitment;

  • If the issue for which they are guest editor could have been a thematic issue of Sources, in terms of theme and scope, and this was not presented to the Sources committee, this could be considered a conflict of commitment to the Sources Editorial Board.

These events, if they result in deterioration in the quality of the journal's development, may lead the Editorial Board to decide, under the authority of the Editors-in-Chief, to remove the Editor concerned from the Editorial Board.

Conflicts of interest for Editors

It is not unusual for a text to be proposed by authors belonging to the same institution as one of the Board members, i.e. a university, institute or research unit. This does not in itself constitute a conflict of interest. However, the following cases of conflict of interest should be reported as soon as possible by the board members concerned:

  • if they are in a direct academic work relationship, e.g. doctoral student to thesis supervisor, partner in a joint teaching programme, partner in a research team, especially if the author’s work is derived from these joint programmes;

  • if there is a direct hierarchical link between the authors and a member of the board;

  • if the text submitted is part of a national or international multi-institute research programme in which a board member is a stakeholder;

  • if Editors and authors share common financial, industrial or entrepreneurial interests.

In case of a conflict of interest, the board members concerned should withdraw from discussions on the text, and must maintain the confidentiality of internal discussions not expressed in the review reports given to the authors, and of the reviewers’ identities.

The Editors also reserve the right to examine cases of conflict of interest between one or more editors and authors for personal or family reasons.

Conflicts of interest for Associate Editors

The same conflicts of interest may arise between Associate Editors and Authors in cases where the former are requested by the latter to review a submitted article. Before proposing a review, Publishing Officers and Editors should actively prevent such cases by investigating whether any such links exist. The Associate Editors should also be asked to indicate whether they are aware of such cases. If links exist, it should lead to the cancellation of a review.

Responsibilities of the Guest Editors

The Guest Editors:

  • provide a call for papers defining the subject matter, limits and scientific intentions of the thematic issue, in line with the journal’s editorial policy. They follow the recommendations of the Editorial Board in finalising the call for papers to be published and disseminated.

  • establish a timeline for abstract submission, paper submission, revision and final paper submission with the Editors, and ensure that all deadlines are met;

  • take part in the selection of abstracts and comment on articles for authors in the Review Reports (in the “comments by Guest Editors’ section”);

  • provide informed comments on revised versions of articles based on the reviewers’ recommendations;

  • write the Introduction to the issue, and follow the recommendations of the Editors in finalising the text of this introduction.

Cases of conflict of interest, role conflicts, and conflicts of commitment for Guest Editors

Any case of conflict of interest between the Guest Editors and Authors as defined below, before or after publication, detected and resolved using the measures described below, must be mentioned in the published version of the article.

Any case of conflict of interest that has led to a real risk for the final scientific reliability of the article must lead to the article’s non-publication or retraction.

Cases of role conflicts and conflict of commitment are governed by the journal’s internal charter.

Conflict of interest

It is not a conflict per se when a text is proposed by authors belonging to the same institution as the Guest Editors, i.e. a university, institute or research unit. However, the following cases of conflict of interest should be reported as soon as possible:

  • if Authors and Guest Editors were or are in a direct academic work relationship, e.g. doctoral student to thesis supervisor, partner in a joint teaching programme, partner in a research team, especially if the author’s work is derived from these joint programmes;

  • if there is a direct hierarchical link between Authors and Guest Editors;

  • if the text submitted is part of a national or international multi-institute research programme in which the Guests Editors are stakeholders;

  • if the Guest Editors and Authors share common financial, industrial or entrepreneurial interests.

In case of a conflict of interest, the Guest Editor concerned should withdraw from discussions on the text, and must absolutely maintain the confidentiality of internal discussions not expressed in the review reports given to the authors and of the reviewers’ identities.

The Editors also reserve the right to examine cases of conflict of interest between one or more Guest Editors and Authors for personal or family reasons.

Conflict of role / conflict of commitment

It is not advisable to be a Guest Editor for two journals on two special issues at the same time. Sources Editors may consider this to be a role conflict.

If the Guest Editor’s commitment to another journal clearly leads to a reduction in involvement and repeated absence from the work with the Sources Board, this may be considered a conflict of commitment.

If Guest Editors participating on the board of another journal, or acting as a guest editor simultaneously for another journal, become aware that the same authors are submitting the same articles, or articles very similar to the ones submitted to Sources, they must inform the Editors of Sources as soon as possible.

These events, if they result in deterioration in the quality of the journal's development, may lead the Editorial Board to decide, under the authority of the E ditors-in-C hief, to remove the Guest Editors concerned from the publication project.

Responsibilities of the Authors

The Authors:

  • present an accurate and honest account of their research, their fieldwork, as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Data discussed in the article should be presented accurately in the manuscript or along with the manuscript.

  • ensure that the manuscript has not already been published elsewhere. Authors should not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal at a time. They must also avoid self-plagiarism and as sure the Editors that the proposed text is genuinely original in relation to their previous work.

  • confirm that the submitted works represent their own contributions and have not been copied or plagiarised in whole or in part from other works. They should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. They need to ensure that they have written original works and that any work or words of other authors, contributors or sources have been appropriately credited and referenced.

  • ensure they hold the copyright to whatever images, pictures, text or material they reproduce in their articles. If not, they must obtain necessary permission for the free reproduction of any illustration or other material from the legitimate rightsholders, whether the material has been already published or is still unpublished .

  • ensure that the representation, reputation and safety of the people whose images, words or writings are reproduced in the text are strictly respected. In particular, the Authors shall ensure that no document infringes upon the image rights of individuals.

  • obtain information and follow recommendations about the personal data of third parties referred to in their text, whether they are interviewees, whose traces are found in documents, or whose personal images or texts are reproduced.

  • agree to publish their work immediately on open access, distributed under the Creative Commons CC BY-SA licence, and agree to sign an author’s contract prior to publication specifying their commitments and rights in accordance with this framework.

In all cases of non-compliance with these principles, the journal may cancel publication of the article, or retract it immediately if it has already been published, and will take action against the author for non-compliance with the commitments made in the author’s agreement.
Should an author discover a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editors and cooperate with them in order to retract or correct the manuscript.

Responsibilities of the Reviewers

Peer-reviewers assist the Sources Editorial Board in making editorial decisions and, through editorial dialogue with the authors, may also assist them in improving manuscripts.

The reviews are always double-blind.

The reviews should focus on ways to improve the paper under review. They should be conducted objectively, and observations should be formulated clearly with supporting arguments, so that authors can use them to improve the paper.

Reviewers are requested to follow the peer-review template proposed by the editors of Sources.

Any invited reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its timely review will be impossible should immediately notify the editor, so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents: privileged information and the ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

Reviewers must report to the Sources Editorial Board if they are aware of copyright infringement or plagiarism on the author’s part.

Reviewers evaluate manuscripts based on content without regard to the race, age, gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, citizenship, political orientation or social class of the author.

Reviewers should not consider manuscripts if they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

The Editors undertake to avoid requesting reviews from early-career researchers for papers written by senior researchers, where future breaches of confidentiality, whether intended or not by the parties, could jeopardise the future career of the reviewer. For this reason, publishers will always prefer senior researchers’ papers to be reviewed by colleagues in tenured positions.

Responsibilities of the Publisher

The legal publisher of Sources. Materials & Fieldwork in African Studies is IFRA Nairobi, a publicly-funded, not-for-profit French Research Institute, located in Nairobi, Kenya. The legal representative of the publisher is the Director of IFRA Nairobi.

The Publisher:

  • provides practical support to the Sources Editorial Board so that it can carry out its work and comply as closely as possible with its internal charter and code of conduct;

  • provides the financial support necessary for the editorial activity of Sources by collecting the financial allocations that the journal receives from its funders, and managing payments for the various services accepted by the Editors: translation, editing, graphics, promotion and communication services;

  • ensures the autonomy of editorial decisions;

  • ensures that the best practices are maintained to the standards defined above;

  • protects the intellectual property of authors, in particular by maintaining author contracts systematically signed by two parties: on the one hand by the IFRA Nairobi D irector, on the other hand by each author of content published in the Sources journal.

  • is responsible for investigating all claims of plagiarism, with the assistance of the Editorial Board; submitted manuscripts may be checked for plagiarism using specialized software (in this case, Compilatio: https://www.compilatio.net/);

  • is responsible for investigating all ethical complaints presented concerning a submitted or published manuscript, with the assistance of the Editorial Board. In cases of identified misconduct, the Publisher is responsible for publishing corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies whenever needed.

  • is responsible for taking the decision of withdrawing or not publishing an article for reasons of plagiarism, scientific misconduct, or ethical misconduct. This means that the legal representative of the Publisher signs and sends a letter to the authors concerned informing them of this decision, with a copy to the Editor-in-Chief, and also takes the necessary steps for the actual withdrawal or retraction of the articles.

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