Author Guidelines

Manuscript Format

All manuscripts must be submitted as Microsoft Word files (.doc or .docx), typeset in Times New Roman, 12pt. Articles should not exceed 4,000 words, excluding abstracts and reference lists. Submissions are accepted in both English and French.

All references must follow APA format. In-text citations appear in brackets, placed after periods or commas and before colons or semicolons: "… new evidence has proven otherwise (2, 3); …" "… this phenomenon has been demonstrated by numerous groups prior. (4, 7-9) In addition, …"

UHURU accepts the following:

  • Academic research papers
  • Creative writing & personal essays
  • Digitized art & photography (high-resolution photos & scans)

Plagiarism & Redundant Publication

UHURU holds a zero-tolerance position on plagiarism in all its forms, including uncredited paraphrasing. We adhere to COPE guidelines when investigating allegations and handle cases on a spectrum of severity. Minor infractions will be communicated directly to the author, with revisions required before any path to publication. Major infractions result in immediate rejection and a permanent submission ban; institutional contacts may be notified.

UHURU does not publish work that has been previously released as a final publication. That said, the following are not considered prior publication: dissertations and theses, preprints deposited on not-for-profit servers (e.g., arXiv.org), and conference abstracts or posters. Once a manuscript has been submitted to UHURU, authors should cease depositing revised versions to preprint servers while the review process is ongoing.

Appeals

Authors who believe their submission was incorrectly rejected are welcome to resubmit at any time, provided they include a clear, substantiated rationale and any editorial revisions that were previously requested. Appeals re-enter the editorial process at the stage they had previously reached. UHURU cannot guarantee that a successfully appealed manuscript will appear in the same issue as originally intended.

AI Use Policy

While UHURU does not actively encourage the use of AI or AI-assisted tools, we acknowledge their growing presence in research and writing workflows. When used, AI must be approached responsibly, transparently, and with ethical care. Authors are required to disclose any use of AI tools at the time of submission, including: the name(s) of the tools used, their specific purpose (e.g., grammar editing, translation, coding support), known limitations associated with those tools, and a justification for their use. This disclosure will be reviewed by editors and peer reviewers, and may appear in the published article.

UHURU permits the use of AI to support clarity and expression — such as refining grammar or language — but AI must not replace substantive scholarly work. This includes generating references, producing insights or policy recommendations, or interpreting and analysing data. African Studies is grounded in equity, transparency, and scholarly integrity. Any AI use that contradicts these values may result in rejection or retraction.

Additional ethical considerations for authors:

  • Training data for AI tools may have been collected without full ethical review or informed consent.
  • Entering research data into AI systems may not be private and could affect the communities central to your study.
  • Generative AI carries a significant environmental cost in energy and water consumption — authors should weigh its use against its impact.
  • AI outputs vary with prompt wording. Always verify results across different inputs before drawing conclusions.