About the Journal
I. Editorial Policies
1.1. Mandate
The Institute of Ethiopian Studies publishes the Journal of Ethiopian Studies and other pertinent publications by the responsibility bestowed on it by Addis Ababa University and a mandate given to it by the AAU Senate Legislation governing research and publications (AAU Senate Legislation, March 2019 and relevant preceding versions1 ). As a publisher the Institute of Ethiopian Studies has the objective of publishing high-quality research journal/s and monographs2¨ in a timely and cost-effective manner. The research journal/s and monographs published by IES provide researchers and students in Ethiopia and elsewhere with a means to communicate with their peers in the international research community. The IES and the Editorial Board of the JES are committed to producing highquality international publications, thereby adding Ethiopian contribution to the world's research literature. (See “Publisher‟ under “Responsibilities”).
1.2. Rationale
Since IES began the publication of research journals in 1963, various editorial practices and
procedures have been developed on the basis of accepted pertinent traditions of the disciplines
within its coverage. It is essential that IES follow the best current practices, and where possible,
improve on them. This document reviews and formalizes the editorial and production policies.
Adherence to these policies will, it is believed, protect the integrity of the process of publication
and the reputation of IES as a publisher.
1.3. Scope
The policies outlined in this document are intended to cover all aspects of the IES publications
program. Some procedures emanating from this policy are to be developed in due course. This
document begins with a description of the responsibilities of Publisher, Authors,
Referees/Reviewers, the Editorial Board, Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, and Associate
Editors. The section on publishing policy treats areas such as copyright, language of publication,
advertising policy, journal page limits. In addition, some procedural guidelines are attached.
1.4. Responsibility
1.4.1. Publisher
a. The Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) ES is a Publisher. The Publisher is represented
by the Director of the Institute, who enters into/ terminates/ agreements with other
publishers or institutes, etc., or delegates, as the need arises, the technical operations to
the Publications Office.
b. The IES has the mandate to publish and distribute printed works. Printed works
include: journal/s, other serials, and books, etc. electronic resources, such as the
electronic versions of books and periodicals, as well as websites (to be outlined in the
“PUBLICATIONS PROGRAMME” of the IES. [See AAU Senate Legislation 2007; Senate
Legislation Feb. 1987; Consolidated Legislation of the Faculty Council. HSIU 1973.
c. The IES publishing includes: the stages of the development, acquisition, copyediting,
graphic design, production, marketing, and distribution (and its electronic equivalents)
of journals, other serials, books, literary, musical, art works, etc.
d. The Publisher, through its operational office -- the Publications Office/Section, ensures
that confidentiality of the manuscripts is maintained at all stages of the pre-publishing
process. Information must not be given to persons unauthorized by the author
(reporters for the news media or employees of investment firms, for example) prior to
the appearance of the research paper in print. [See also the relevant Article 8, under
“Managing Editor‟.]
e. The Publisher accepts no responsibility for statements or opinions expressed by a
contributor, and a statement to this effect will appear in all publications.
f. The Publisher is responsible for setting (with advice and endorsement by the JES
Editorial Board) publication policies, procedures, and guidelines, and for production of
the journal/s and other publications.
g. The Publisher ensures that the outlined policies and procedures of the
Editorial/Publication Office conform to the requirements of the relevant policy and
procedures of the Addis Ababa University Senate Legislation. The Editor-in-Chief and
the Managing Editor are the responsible persons for this duty.
h. Responsibilities of the Managing Editor are in essence extensions of that of the
Publisher’s. [See, Responsibility F.]
1.4.2. Authors
a. Authors have an obligation to present an accurate account of the research performed
and are responsible for complete reporting of the observations made and data collected.
b. Authors must relate their works to those of others and provide complete and accurate
citations so that the readers can objectively evaluate the paper.
c. The authors should describe the safeguards used to meet both formal and substantive
standards of ethical conduct of research as per code of ethics to be adopted by Office of
the VPGSR (See Article 18 Sub-article 18.1 -18.1.15, AAU Senate Legislation 2007).
d. Co-authors of a paper should be limited to those who have made significant
scientific/research contributions to the work reported. All authors of a paper should be
able to take public responsibility for the content. All additional contributions should be
indicated in a footnote or in the acknowledgements section.
e. All manuscripts with multiple authorships will have one author corresponding with the
Editorial Office of JES. The corresponding author must give assurance that all other coauthors
have read and approved the manuscript as submitted. When dealing with
manuscripts with more than one author, the Editor-in-Chief and/or Managing Editor
assume that the corresponding author takes responsibility on behalf of the others.
f. The author/s is responsible for obtaining any formal or informal approval or clearance
of the paper from their institution or company that sponsored the research before a
paper based on such research is forwarded to JES and/or other IES publications. (See
Article 3, above.)
g. Authors must identify the sources of all information quoted and materials obtained
through personal contact. (See Article 3, above.)
h. When a manuscript contains material (tables, figures, charts, etc.) that is protected by
copyright, it is the obligation of the author to secure written permission from the holder
of the copyright. Letters of permission must be sent to the Editorial Office before final
acceptance of the manuscript.
i. It is the responsibility of authors to ensure that manuscripts accepted for publication
are free of any kind of prejudice, especially gender and racial stereotyping.
j. Authors are expected/responsible to disclose any information pertaining to whether or
not the work has been previously presented in any format (conference proceedings,
abstract publication, etc.) and submitting a list of related manuscripts that the author
has in press or under consideration by another journal. The paper will be considered
for publication only with the understanding that it has not already been submitted to,
accepted by, or published in another journal. Authors are obligated to provide them
when and if the Editorial Office requests copies of related or possibly duplicative
materials (i.e., those containing substantially similar content or using the same or
similar data) that have been previously published or are under consideration
elsewhere,. [See also JES -- Affirmation of Originality and Assignment of Copyright.)
k. Authors need to be informed that the JES strictly maintains the Peer Review Process,
which means that a double-blind review process is followed. Each manuscript
submitted to the JES will be reviewed by at least two referees. Referees will be selected
by the Editorial Board (with the Editor-in-Chief /Managing Editor taking active role)
based on qualification and ability of reviewers to provide a timely review.
l. Authors are advised to note this fact: While we maintain a double-blind review process,
authors may opt not to include any information that leads to easy identification of them as
author(s).
1.4.3. Referees
a. Refereeing - (also known as peer review) is the process of subjecting an author's
scholarly work, research or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same
field. A referee is a reviewer, i.e. someone who reads manuscripts and judges (evaluates
professionally) their suitability for publication. A Refereed Journal3 is one that maintains
this process of getting its manuscripts reviewed/refereed.
b. Referees must treat the paper as confidential. If a referee wishes to seek expert advice
from an associate, he/she should consult the appropriate Editor -- Editor-in-Chief,
Managing Editor or Associate Editor -- before proceeding. The associate must also
honor the confidentiality of the document.
c. All statements made by the referee must be adequately supported so that the Editor-in-
Chief may make a well-informed decision regarding the manuscript.
d. The referee should call to the attention of the Editor-in-Chief/Managing Editor any
failure by an author to cite relevant work by other scientists.
e. Referees should serve only in their areas of expertise. A referee who feels inadequately
qualified to evaluate a manuscript should return it promptly to the Editor.
f. Referees are advisory to the Editors and do not make decisions on acceptance or
rejection of a manuscript.
g. A referee who cannot give an unbiased opinion about a manuscript should declare this
bias or conflict of interest to the Editor and return the manuscript promptly.
h. A referee who is unable to complete the review of a manuscript in an appropriate time
frame should return it to the Managing Editor promptly.
i. Unpublished information, arguments, or interpretations stated in a submitted
manuscript should not be used for the referee's own research except with the consent
of the author.
j. The name of a referee will only be conveyed to an author with the explicit consent of
the referee.
k. See guidelines for Referees, attached.
1.4.4. The Editorial Board
a. JES will have an Editorial Board. The conception of the editorial board as well as its
formation is based on the principles and cognizance that a forum for academic dialogue
serves as a basis for meeting and maintaining a minimum set of scholarly standards.
This deliberation or conference of scholars with expertise in various pertinent fields of
research interest to the JES would enable the Editorial Board to provide professional
review of matters pertaining to the Journal and associated ones.
b. The Editorial Board members are responsible for the scientific caliber of the contents of
their journal. The Editorial Board will thus be an assembly of scholars.
c. The Editorial Board for the journal is appointed by the functioning/sitting Editorial
Board members, except when it has to be initially appointed by the IES. The Editorial
Board will have expertise in the following major fields of research interest of JES:
History, Linguistics; Literature, Geography, Anthropology, Sociology, Philosophy, Law,
and Political Science.
d. The Editorial Board consists of 11+ members that include the Editor-in-Chief (who
serves as Chair), at least 8 regular members, who serve three-year renewable term, and
two "ex officio" members (the Director of the IES and the Managing Editor). At least
one-third of the Editorial Board members are to be retained whenever replacements
are selected.
e. A specified term of appointment is useful in recruiting; staggered terms (overlap in
duration/term) are important for journal’s continuity.
f. The primary functions of the Editorial Board include serving as reviewers of submitted
articles, writing editorials, critiquing their journal and the review process, editing
manuscripts for substantive content as assigned, setting or reviewing the Journal’s
policy, as the need arise, and also do long-term planning for the journal, discuss special
features, special publications, or special issues of JES, deliberate on policy and financial
issues, and assist in selection of ad-hoc editorial teams for monographs evaluate the
performance of editors at different levels, the managing editor and the publisher.
g. Things to consider when Editorial Board members are to be invited/selected are the
potentials of a candidate’s performance in manuscript reviewing, expertise, and quality
of articles submitted in the past, and practical matters such as availability to attend
meetings.
h. Upon selection to the Editorial Board, new members receive letter of invitation, for
Editorial Board membership. The letter needs to outline responsibilities -- duties and
mandates of EB that should include the term/duration of appointment.
i. The Editorial Board may appoint one or more Associate Editors (Subject Editors), who
may assume the Editor-in-Chief's responsibilities during an absence. If this absence is
expected to be prolonged, an Editor-in-Chief pro tem (for the time being) may be
delegated/appointed by the Editor-in-Chief out of the Associate Editors.
j. Editorial Board members receive no remuneration. /To date./ On the other hand, it is
believed that participation in the Editorial Board is a rewarding and educational
experience. It provides an opportunity to work with outstanding scholars and
professionals with expertise in various fields of research interest to Ethiopian studies.
In addition, manuscripts received are often on cutting-edge topics of interest to the
intellectual community.
1. 4.5. Editor-in-Chief
a. The Editor-in-Chief has overall responsibility for the scientific and editorial integrity of
the journal.
b. The Editor-in-Chief has the overall responsibility for making the final decision on
acceptance or rejection of a manuscript.
c. Questions regarding the scientific quality and competitiveness of the publications, as
well as ethical questions (e.g., reporting of fraudulent data, duplicate publication,
submission of inappropriate material), may be referred to the Editor-in-Chief or the
Managing Editor who will always have to make such matters known to the Editor-in-
Chief.
d. The Editor-in-Chief should give unbiased consideration to all manuscripts and should declare any potential conflict of interest, in which case Editor-in-Chief should delegate the consideration of the manuscript to Managing Editor and Associate Editor or to a member of the Editorial Board.
e. One of the major responsibilities of the Editor-in-Chief is communicating with Editorial Board members and evaluating their performance. The Editor-in-Chief has the right of access to all files maintained by the Managing Editor’s Office of JES. [For example, contributions of Editorial Board members could only be corroborated by the Editor-in-Chief based on records maintained by the Editorial Office.]
f. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for selecting Associate Editors. In this regard, the
Editor-in-Chief consults broadly and may seek advice from other Editorial Board
members and from relevant scholars, professionals regarding the selection of a new
Editor-in-Chief.
g. The Editor-in-Chief may delegate some duties to the Associate Editors, or to a
temporary Editor appointed to oversee a special issue or section, but the final
responsibility remains with the Editor-in-Chief.
h. In cases where Associate Editors are not fulfilling their obligations as outlined in this
policy the Editor-in-Chief recommends to the Editorial Board that their appointments
be terminated.
i. In cases where Guest Editors (temporary Editor/s appointed to oversee a special issue or section) are not fulfilling their obligations as outlined in this policy, the Editor-in-Chief has the authority to advice termination of appointments.
j. The Editor-in-Chief advises the selection of Ad-hoc Editorial Boards for the
monographs published occasionally under the auspices of the IES publications
programme.
1. 4.6. The Managing Editor
a. The Managing Editor is responsible for the editorial/publications office of the Institute and the duties thereof. These duties are in the main overseeing the publication process of the JES and other publications.
b. The Managing Editor is appointed by the Institute.
c. The Managing Editor is responsible for all phases of the production and distribution
processes of the journal. Specifically the Managing Editor is responsible for developing
and/or implementing and maintaining sound business procedures consistent with
prevailing JES/University policies pertaining to publications. For example these
procedures include: (a). overseeing and coordinating all phases of the production and
distribution processes of the journal, i.e., among others, supervising contacts with
potential and actual authors, managing trajectory/routes of submissions for editors,
ensuring the smooth flow of manuscripts and proofs to authors, copy editors and press, ensuring deadlines are met, etc.; (b). other aspects of publication activities4.
d. It is the responsibility of the Managing Editor to ensure that manuscripts accepted for publication meet the guidelines established for authors. This responsibility is carried out in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief, and hence the duty is a shared one.
e. The Managing Editor is responsible for ensuring that proper review procedures are
followed.
f. The peer review process is carried out under the direction of the Managing Editor in
close consultation with Editor-in-Chief. When a manuscript is deemed appropriate for consideration for publication, arrangements are made for it to be reviewed by at least
two referees.
g. The Managing Editor/ Editorial Office ensures that submitted papers are dealt with in a timely manner; notify all authors of the receipt of the manuscript; and ensure that the corresponding author is notified of any changes in the status of the manuscript and all decisions that follow.
h. The Managing Editor is responsible for ensuring the contents of an author's paper are not divulged to anyone other than persons necessarily involved in reviewing it or
persons assisting in these functions. [Complements the relevant Article 5, under
“Publisher‟.]
i. After a manuscript has been accepted for publication, the Editor-in-Chief or copy editor may make redactorial changes as required but must not make substantive changes in the content of a paper without consultation with the author and the Editor-in-Chief.
j. The Managing Editor or the staff of the Publications Section/Office must alert the
Editor-in-Chief concerning any substantive changes requested by an author after
acceptance of the manuscript, including changes in authorship or deletion or insertion
of substantial amounts of material.
k. When notified of errors in facts or conclusions in a paper subsequent to its publication,
the Managing Editor consults the Editor-in-Chief. After notifying the corresponding
author, the Editor-in-Chief and the Managing Editor are responsible for initiating
publication of an erratum or a report pointing out the changes. The Editorial Board will
be informed of such developments.
l. If the Managing Editor receives convincing evidence of plagiarism, duplicate
publication, or falsification of data, the Managing Editor must notify the Editor-in-Chief
as soon as possible of any serious breaches of ethical behaviour. The Editor-in-Chief and the Managing Editor must then initiate publication of a retraction. The Editorial Board will be informed of such developments.
m. The Managing Editor should give unbiased consideration to all manuscripts and should declare any potential conflict of interest, in which case the Managing Editor should refer the consideration of the manuscript to the Editor-in-Chief, an Associate Editor or to a member of the Editorial Board.
n. All files regarding an individual manuscript are the property of the Editorial Office and are to be retained by the Managing Editor or disposed of in consultation with the
Editor-in-Chief.
o. The Managing Editor works closely with the Editor-in-Chief, who has to remain
informed of all developments in the publications office.
2) Publishing Policy
2.1. Copyright
Once an author's paper is accepted for publication, the author transfers copyright to the Publisher -- the IES. As the holder of copyright on all original material published by the IES publications, the IES exercises the right to grant permission to authors to copy or republish articles or portions thereof, provided that the source of such material is fully acknowledged.
The IES reserves the right to charge for all forms of copying or publishing, such as copying for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, for creating new collective works, or for resale.
2.2. Advertising in IES Publications
Advertising is accepted subject to approval by the Publisher with the advice of the JES
Editorial Board on matters impinging on the nature of the JES. All advertising must be
consistent with the editorial policy and no advertisement that is detrimental to the IES or scholarly research journals will be accepted. The following types of advertising are
accepted:
I. Advertisements submitted by other scholarly journals may be accepted free of
charge where benefit is expected for the IES publications in exchange.
II. Advertisements announcing upcoming conferences and symposia may be accepted
free of charge, subject to approval by the Editorial Board of the JES. Such
advertisements will only be accepted when the event is of interest to a significant
proportion of the Ethiopianist scholarly/research community served by that
publication. The event need not take place in Ethiopia.
III. Paid advertisements may be accepted providing they are consistent with the
editorial policy of the JES. No advertising that implies endorsement of a product or
service by the publication, the Editorial Board, or IES will be accepted. Loose inserts
are considered to be paid advertisements.
2.3. Disclaimer
The views expressed in papers published in JES represent the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors, the Editorial Board or other staff.
2.4. JES’ Review Process
The review procedures of JES are basically similar to other peer-reviewed research
journals worldwide.
3. Submission and Style Guide
The JOURNAL OF ETHIOPIAN STUDIES (JES) publishes scholarly articles in the Social
Sciences and Humanities with reference to Ethiopia in particular and the Horn of Africa in general. Beside original research papers, the JES publishes book reviews, dissertation abstracts, and short communications of research projects. Before submitting their manuscripts for publication in JES, authors should ensure that the following requirements are complied with:
I. LANGUAGE: Amharic and English; under special circumstances only, manuscripts in
French and Italian can be considered.
II. RESPONSIBILITY FOR VIEWS: Any statements in an article accepted for publication
remain the sole responsibility of the author and should in no way be construed to reflect the opinions of the Editors or the Publisher.
III. COPYRIGHT: Authors submitting manuscripts do so on the understanding that if it is accepted for publication, copyright in the article including the right to reproduce the article in all forms and media, shall be assigned exclusively to the Publisher. The Publisher will not refuse any reasonable request by the author for permission to reproduce any of his or her contributions to the journal.
IV. FORM OF MANUSCRIPT: Manuscripts should be typed in 1.5 line spacing on one side of 8.5-11 inch (A4) white paper not more than 30 pages or 10,000 words long all in all. Use Times New Roman font only. It should be accompanied by an abstract consisting of 250-350 words. Leave a space of one inch on the left and right margins as well as the top and bottom of each page. All pages should be consecutively numbered. Author's name, institutional affiliation (include location unless obvious in the name), and a complete email address for correspondence should appear only on a separate page. An abstract together with 4-6 keywords must be included on the first page.
Authors may include in a separate file, called "README", any special instructions as to the layout or other features of their manuscripts.
V. NOTES AND REFERENCES: Notes should be numbered consecutively with superscript Arabic numerals in the text and presented separately at the end of the article. They should be as brief as possible. Published works, works accepted for publication, and citable datasets, code, and materials, should appear in the bibliography as Reference List Entries (per Chicago Manual of Style or Author-Date method) in the following manner:
Eshetu Chole. 1993."Privatisation and deregulation in Ethiopian industry: problems,
prospects and impact on economy" Journal of Ethiopian Studies, XXVI (1): 33-58.
Balibar, Etienne and Machery, Pierre. 1981. "On Literature as an Ideological Form." In
Untying the Text, a Post-Structuralist Reader, edited by Robert Young, 79-99.
Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Ullendorff, Edward. 1973. The Ethiopians: an Introduction to Country and People, 3rd
edition. London: Oxford University Press.
Schulz, William F, ed. 2007. The Phenomenon of Torture: Readings and Commentary.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Dersanä Kidanä Mehrät, EMML 1860, ff.34r - 38s.
VI. FIGURES, PLATES AND TABLES: Line drawings (figures) and photographs (plates) must be incorporated into their places in the text, or provided separately as camera-ready copy. These should be numbered consecutively with their captions typed double-spaced on a separate page, not on the illustrations themselves. Number all tables consecutively with Arabic numerals. Each table likewise should be typed spaced 1.5 on a separate page and given its own title. Indicate in the margins where you would prefer to have the tables and illustrations inserted.
VII. FOREIGN WORDS: If there is an English word for a foreign term, use it. Foreign terms not found in a standard dictionary should be italicized and fully transliterated with the appropriate system. However, italicization and transliteration are not necessary with foreign words found in a standard dictionary, the names of heads of state and similarly well-known individuals, and well-known foreign organizations (e.g., Hamas). Foreign titles should be italicized and transliterated (i.e., däǧǧazmač), unless they can be found in a standard dictionary.
For languages using the Ethiopic (fidäl) script, please follow the system employed by
Encyclopedia Aethiopica as in examples in the following table:
|
a) Vowels |
b) Consonants |
||||||
|
vowels |
Symbol |
Example |
Translit-eration |
Consonats |
Symbol |
Example |
Translit-eration |
|
1st order |
ä |
ዘፈነ |
Zäffänä |
ሸ |
š |
ሸሸ |
šäššä |
|
2nd order |
u |
ሁሉ |
hullu |
ቀ |
q |
ቆቅ |
qoq |
|
3rd order |
i |
ሂድ |
hid |
ቸ |
č |
ቸረቸረ |
čäräččärä |
|
4th order |
a |
ራራ |
rarra |
ኘ |
ñ |
ኞኞ |
ñoñño |
|
5th order |
e |
ቤት |
bet |
ዠ |
ž |
ገዥ |
gäž |
|
6th order |
ï/ә |
እግር |
ïgïr/ әgәr |
የ |
y |
ይታይ |
yïttay |
|
7th order |
o |
ሆድ |
hod |
ጀ |
ǰ |
ጀግና |
ǰägna |
|
· For detailed information, please |
ጠ |
ť |
ጠጣ |
ťäťťa |
|||
|
ጨ |
čʹ |
ተንጫጫ |
tänčʹačʹčʹa |
||||
|
ጰ |
pʹ |
ጳውሎስ |
Pʹawlos |
||||
|
ፀ |
sʹ |
ፀፀት |
sʹäsʹät |
||||
|
ሟ |
mwa |
ላሟ |
lamwa |
||||
Oromo orthography should follow the Qubee standard.
VIII. PROOFS: Authors are responsible for correcting the proofs of their articles. The
proofs should be returned to the Managing Editor promptly. Authors will be charged for changes (other than corrections of printing errors) in excess of 10% of the cost of
composition.
IX. OFFPRINT: Two copies of the printed journal will be provided to authors free of charge.
X. PLAGIARISM: Submitted articles will be checked with Turnitin detecting software, and decisions will be passed in accordance with AAU’s legislation and related policy documents.
XI. Conflict of interest: Authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might have influenced the presented results or their interpretation. If there is no conflict of interest to declare, the following standard statement should be added: ‘No competing interests were disclosed’. If a paper is a result of the funded project, authors are required to specify funding sources according to their contracts with the funder.
All manuscripts for publication and other correspondence should be addressed to:
Managing Editor
Journal of Ethiopian Studies, IES,
Addis Ababa University
P.O.Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Email: jes@aau.edu.et
Online submission: Submissions | Journal of Ethiopian Studies (aau.edu.et)