About the Journal

The African Journal of Leadership and Development (AJOLD) is a double-anonymous peer-reviewed journal published by Ethiopian Public Service University since its inception in 2016. This journal encompasses a wide array of subjects, particularly focusing on research in leadership and development. AJOLD is dedicated to publishing innovative and thought-provoking articles that engage scholars and change-makers alike. To further the advancement of practical studies, AJOLD is released biannually, with issues circulated in June and December to effectively reach a global audience interested in African studies and development. As an open-access publication, AJOLD is accessible in both print and online formats, ensuring broad dissemination of knowledge and insights that can inspire transformative change across the continent and beyond.

Aim and Scope

Thematically, the Journal has a broad aim and scope focusing on two major areas: leadership and development. The inclusion of the term “Africa” in its nomenclature reflects the Journal’s commitment to engaging scholars from Africa and beyond, while also addressing regional and global issues related to leadership and development.

The Journal welcomes original research articles, systematic reviews, conceptual and theoretical papers, empirical studies, analytical case studies, short communications, book reviews, research reports, and related scholarly works. Submissions may originate from disciplinary, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary perspectives in the fields of management and leadership studies, policy and development studies, social and behavioral sciences, humanities, education, health, agriculture, and socio-economic development.

However, manuscripts with a purely disciplinary focus that lack explicit relevance to leadership and development fall outside the scope of the Journal.

Among others, the following broad thematic areas constitute the scope of the Journal:

Leadership Stream Themes

  • Leadership theories and practices
  • Public sector leadership and governance
  • Political leadership and democratic development
  • Corporate leadership and organizational development
  • Educational leadership and institutional transformation
  • Ethical leadership, accountability, and integrity
  • Gender, youth, and inclusive leadership
  • Indigenous and contextual leadership approaches
  • Leadership and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  • Innovation, digital transformation, and leadership
  • Crisis leadership, resilience, and change management
  • Comparative leadership studies

Development Stream Themes

  • Development policies and strategies
  • Development and its impacts on society, culture, and the environment
  • Socio-economic impact assessments of development projects
  • Poverty, social protection, and development
  • Political economy of development
  • Social and cultural dimensions of development at regional, national, and international levels
  • Urban, rural, and regional development
  • Environment, development, and natural resource conservation
  • Historical narratives of development
  • Value chain development
  • Urban–rural sustainable livelihoods
  • Education and development, with a focus on quality issues and their long-term impacts
  • Health and development, with a focus on quality issues and their long-term impacts
  • Gender and development
  • Cross-cutting issues, including population, disabilities, heritage, HIV/AIDS, and related areas
  • Natural, cultural, and historical heritage: their value as development assets and their vulnerability to the impacts of large-scale development initiatives

Journal Identifiers

ISSN 2957-9104 - https://portal.issn.org/resource/ISSN/2957-9104 (Online)

ISSN 2519-5255 - https://portal.issn.org/resource/ISSN/2519-5255 (Print)

Published: Since 2016

Publisher:  Ethiopian Public Service University

Language: English

Frequency: biannual

Open Access Statement: This is an open-access journal, which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles or use them for any other lawful purpose without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

Licensing: All articles published by the journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Keywords: Leadership, Development studies, Public administration, Governance, African development, Social change.