Queries to the editor and all relating correspondence, including book reviews, should be sent to Terry Barringer: abrd@internationalafricaninstitute.org .
Africa Bibliography, Research and Documentation
Journal of the International African Institute
Africa Bibliography, Research and Documentation brings together essay content from Africa Bibliography, the authoritative guide to works in African studies published under the auspices of the International African Institute annually since 1984, with the former African Research & Documentation, the journal of SCOLMA (the UK Libraries and Archives Group on Africa) published since 1973.
Africa Bibliography, Research and Documentation publishes articles and book reviews on topics relating to research, libraries, archives and publishing in and on Africa, and in African Studies.
Africa Bibliography, Research and Documentation is provided as part of a subscription to the Africa Bibliography. From 2022, the bibliography is published as an online database only. The online consolidated database version of the bibliography brings together every record collected since its foundation, producing a rich and interactive resource for all scholars interested in the study of Africa, with some 6,000-8,000 entries added annually.
Manuscripts submitted for publication are considered for acceptance on the understanding that they have neither been published nor are currently being considered for publication elsewhere. Contributors must inform the editors if the work has been made public in another form or language. The editors reserve the right to make editorial revisions, but will not make major changes without the author’s approval.
Manuscripts should not exceed 8,000 words (excluding bibliography and notes).
Manuscripts which include orthographic conventions or special symbols should be accompanied by a pdf version of the article with all orthographic fonts embedded.
Article submissions in French and Portuguese
Articles may be submitted to the journal in French or Portuguese. If accepted for review, such papers will be peer-reviewed in English. In the event of acceptance we will seek to publish the paper in an English translation in the print + online version of the journal, and in the original language in the online only version of journal. The aim is to make such francophone and lusophone research that would be of interest to ABRD’s readership accessible in English. Article submissions are welcome from both established and younger scholars. Submissions must not be previously published, in English or any other language. The IAI has limited funds for the translation of one or two articles per year. Once a paper has been accepted, we can also consider drawing on other research or institutional funds that may be available to the author.
Length
Manuscripts should not exceed 8,000 words (excluding bibliography and notes).
Notes and references
Notes should be kept to a minimum, numbered consecutively as footnotes. Only include references that are cited in the text. References in the text should take the form (Smith 2000: 234-8) with details listed in a bibliography; where more than one work by the same author is cited references should be in date order. Use letters (2000a, 2000b) for works in the same year, with no work unlettered. References in the bibliography should take the form:
Books :
Hunter, S. and J. Williamson (2000) Children on the Brink: updated estimates and recommendations for intervention . Arlington VA: USAID.
(NOTES: no upper case in book’s subtitle, except for proper nouns; use ‘and’ not ‘&’ except for works in languages other than English.)
Chapters in books :
Silitshena, R. (2001) ‘The influence of government policies on the development of rural settlement in Botswana’ in C. de Wet and R. Fox (eds), Transforming Settlement in Southern Africa. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
(NOTE: Do not specify page numbers in books cited.)
Articles :
Last, M. (2000) ‘Children and the experience of violence: contrasting cultures of punishment in northern Nigeria’, Africa 70 (3): 359–93.
(NOTE : no upper case for any words, except the first word and proper nouns.)
Websites :
Renan, E. (1822) ‘What is a Nation?’ http://www.tamilnation.org/selfdetermination/renan.htm , accessed 2 June 2004
Theses :
Mayombo, R. P. (1990) ‘Economic Structural Changes and Population Migration in Kilombero Valley’. MA thesis, University of Dar es Salaam.
(NOTE: Use upper and lower case for title and subtitle of PhDs. The style is the same as for books. For PhDs, cite as PhD dissertation.)
Archival sources:
Can be cited in the text, e.g. (TNA n.d.; 2022; Verstraelen 1972), and added to the References as follows:
The National Archives (n.d.), Freedom of Information requests, https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/our-role/transparency/freedom-of-information-requests/.
The National Archives (2022), Temporary withdrawal of record series FCO 141, https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/news/temporary-withdrawal-of-record-series-fco-141/.
Verstraelen, F. (1972) Verslag van de Bespreking van het W.A.-project Zambia, 15 December.
Library references (e.g. shelf marks):
Can be added as footnotes adopting a consistent style, e.g. accessible at http://digital.soas.ac.uk/swahili/about/.
https://www.fihrist.org.uk/
Fieldwork interviews:
Should be cited as footnotes giving full information – interviewee, place, date. Personal communications can be similarly cited as footnotes.
Authors' initials
Should be spaced: Weatherhead, A. E. in References; A. E. Weatherhead in text.
Orthography of African languages
Citations from African languages should, where possible, follow the established orthography in the country or one of the countries involved. In the absence of an established orthography, recognized symbols must be used, preferably the 'Africa script' of the IAI. Details of this script can be obtained from the IAI.
Word-processing
Files should be set up in 12 pt type on paper size of A4 (or US equivalent) size paper.
The article title should be in capitals and centred and in 14pt font. Author(s) name(s) should be in italics and centred, just below the title. Section headings should be in capitals and centred, subsection side headings should be italicized.
Quote Marks :
Single quotation marks should be used, with double marks for any quotation within a quotation.
Indentation of Quotations :
Quotations of more than fifty words should be indented, and in this case no quotation marks are needed.
Italicization :
Foreign words (except proper names) should be italicized.
Dates :
Please use the following forms:
- 9 November 1996 (that is, date as Arabic numeral, followed by month’s full name, followed by full year in figures – not ’96)
- 1930s (not 1930’s)
- in the twentieth century (but twentieth-century literature)
- 1899–1901, 1900–1, 1900–10, 1910–18, 1923–4, 1989–91.
Numerals :
Numerals under 100 should be spelt out except percentages and specific dimensions like 6 ft 6 in. Minimize repetition of digits in page sequences: thus 100–1, 234–8. But note the following exception: 110–11, 113–14.
Punctuation of sources after quotations :
If an indented quotation, end quotation with a full stop and put citation in brackets thereafter. Thus:
The genocide can never be a subject of discussion. (Survivor, Nyamata)
But if a short quotation forms part of the main body of text, put citation in brackets after the quotation, with a final full stop at the end. Thus:
In this regard, it is worth remembering the following words: ‘Genocide can never be a subject of discussion’ (Survivor, Nyamata). This is because …
Closing quote marks and full stops :
If the quoted extract forms a complete sentence, or ends with a complete sentence, place the full stop inside the closing quote mark. Thus:
According to Smith, ‘Fluctuations in currency have a long history in West Africa. We need to bear this in mind when studying the contemporary situation.’
In all other cases, the quote mark should be inside the full stop. Thus:
In studying the contemporary situation, we need to bear in mind the significance of Smith’s ‘fluctuations in currency’.
Abbreviations:
Generally USA, UK, PhD, Dr, Ms etc. However, in bibliographic references, use ed. for editor, but eds for editors. Initials are spaced: A. E. Weatherhead.
Spelling :
Please use z spellings generally.
Countries :
The Gambia; Sudan; Congo; Zaire (without an umlaut); Côte d’Ivoire, Eswatini.
Regions :
West Africa; East Africa; North Africa; Southern Africa; Central Africa; Western Province; Morogoro District; The North; The South. But eastern Africa; western Africa.
Currencies :
US$300,000; Ksh20
Tables
- All tables must be clearly numbered, cited in the text and included in the Word file at the end of the manuscript after the references.
- Authors who wish to submit tables as supplementary materials should contact Terry Barringer: abrd@internationalafricaninstitute.org and should also refer to the Notes on Supplementary Materials at the end of this document.
Figures
- Line artwork (graphs) should be saved at 1200dpi and ideally saved as TIFF or EPS files.
- Halftones (photographs) should be saved at 300dpi and ideally saved as TIFF files.
- All figures must include an accompanying figure legend. Photographs should include reference to sources. Figure legends to be included at the end of the Word document after the references.
- All figures must be cited in the text.
- Figures to be supplied at approximately the size of reproduction (maximum 120mm x160mm)
- The print version of ABRD does not support colour figures, therefore please indicate if you wish colour figures to be published online in colour.
- Authors who wish to submit figures as supplementary materials should contact Terry Barringer: abrd@internationalafricaninstitute.org and should also refer to the Notes on Supplementary Materials at the end of this document.
- For further details of file formats please see Cambridge Journals Artwork Guide .
Abstracts and Author’s biographical note :
Each article should have an abstract, of not more than 200 words, for translation into French or English as the case may be. A brief biographical note about the author for the foot of the first page should also be included.
Acknowledgements :
These (if any) must be located at the end of your article, before the References.
Copyright :
The policy of Africa Bibliography, Research and Documentation is that authors (or in some cases their employers) retain copyright and grant the International African Institute a licence to publish their work. In the case of gold open access articles this is a non-exclusive licence. Authors must complete and return an author publishing agreement form as soon as their article has been accepted for publication; the journal is unable to publish the article without this. All Supplementary Material is subject to the same copyright requirements as primary material. Please download the appropriate publishing agreement here .
For open access articles, the form also sets out the Creative Commons licence under which the article is made available to end users: a fundamental principle of open access is that content should not simply be accessible but should also be freely re-usable. Articles will be published under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY) by default. This means that the article is freely available to read, copy and redistribute, and can also be adapted (users can “remix, transform, and build upon” the work) for any commercial or non-commercial purpose, as long as proper attribution is given. Authors can, in the publishing agreement form, choose a different kind of Creative Commons license (including those prohibiting non-commercial and derivative use) if they prefer.
Permissions :
It is the responsibility of the author to obtain permission for any previously published material.
Discounts for journal authors
Authors are entitled to a 20% discount on an individual subscription rate to any Cambridge University Press journal and a 30% discount on books published by Cambridge University Press.
Please e-mail journals@cambridge.org for discounted journal subscriptions and directcs@cambridge.org for discounted book orders.
African language names
For guidance on African language names, please download this document:
Last updated October 2023
Policy on prior publication
When authors submit manuscripts to this journal, these manuscripts should not be under consideration, accepted for publication or in press within a different journal, book or similar entity, unless explicit permission or agreement has been sought from all entities involved. However, deposition of a preprint on the author’s personal website, in an institutional repository, or in a preprint archive shall not be viewed as prior or duplicate publication. Authors should follow the Cambridge University Press Preprint Policy regarding preprint archives and maintaining the version of record.
English language editing services
Authors, particularly those whose first language is not English, may wish to have their English-language manuscripts checked by a native speaker before submission. This step is optional, but may help to ensure that the academic content of the paper is fully understood by the Editor and any reviewers.
In order to help prospective authors to prepare for submission and to reach their publication goals, Cambridge University Press offers a range of high-quality manuscript preparation services – including language editing – delivered in partnership with American Journal Experts. You can find out more on our Language Services page.
Please note that the use of any of these services is voluntary, and at the author's own expense. Use of these services does not guarantee that the manuscript will be accepted for publication, nor does it restrict the author to submitting to a Cambridge-published journal.
Competing Interests
All authors must include a competing interest declaration in their main manuscript file. This declaration will be subject to editorial review and may be published in the article.
Competing interests are situations that could be perceived to exert an undue influence on the content or publication of an author’s work. They may include, but are not limited to, financial, professional, contractual or personal relationships or situations.
If the manuscript has multiple authors, the author submitting must include competing interest declarations relevant to all contributing authors.
Example wording for a declaration is as follows: “Competing interests: Author 1 is employed at organisation A, Author 2 is on the Board of company B and is a member of organisation C. Author 3 has received grants from company D.” If no competing interests exist, the declaration should state “Competing interests: The author(s) declare none”.
Authorship and contributorship
All authors listed on any papers submitted to this journal must be in agreement that the authors listed would all be considered authors according to disciplinary norms, and that no authors who would reasonably be considered an author have been excluded. For further details on this journal’s authorship policy, please see this journal's publishing ethics policies.
Author affiliations
Author affiliations should represent the institution(s) at which the research presented was conducted and/or supported and/or approved. For non-research content, any affiliations should represent the institution(s) with which each author is currently affiliated.
For more information, please see our author affiliation policy and author affiliation FAQs.
ORCID
We encourage authors to identify themselves using ORCID when submitting a manuscript to this journal. ORCID provides a unique identifier for researchers and, through integration with key research workflows such as manuscript submission and grant applications, provides the following benefits:
- Discoverability: ORCID increases the discoverability of your publications, by enabling smarter publisher systems and by helping readers to reliably find work that you have authored.
- Convenience: As more organisations use ORCID, providing your iD or using it to register for services will automatically link activities to your ORCID record, and will enable you to share this information with other systems and platforms you use, saving you re-keying information multiple times.
- Keeping track: Your ORCID record is a neat place to store and (if you choose) share validated information about your research activities and affiliations.
See our ORCID FAQs for more information. If you don’t already have an iD, you can create one by registering directly at https://ORCID.org/register.
ORCIDs can also be used if authors wish to communicate to readers up-to-date information about how they wish to be addressed or referred to (for example, they wish to include pronouns, additional titles, honorifics, name variations, etc.) alongside their published articles. We encourage authors to make use of the ORCID profile’s “Published Name” field for this purpose. This is entirely optional for authors who wish to communicate such information in connection with their article. Please note that this method is not currently recommended for author name changes: see Cambridge’s author name change policy if you want to change your name on an already published article. See our ORCID FAQs for more information.
Supplementary materials
Material that is not essential to understanding or supporting a manuscript, but which may nonetheless be relevant or interesting to readers, may be submitted as supplementary material. Supplementary material will be published online alongside your article, but will not be published in the pages of the journal. Types of supplementary material may include, but are not limited to, appendices, additional tables or figures, datasets, videos, and sound files.
Supplementary materials will not be typeset or copyedited, so should be supplied exactly as they are to appear online. Please see our general guidance on supplementary materials for further information.
Where relevant we encourage authors to publish additional qualitative or quantitative research outputs in an appropriate repository, and cite these in manuscripts.
Supplementary Materials
Authors who wish to submit supplementary materials such as audio and video files to support their article should contact Terry Barringer: abrd@internationalafricaninstitute.org .
File naming
Files should be named in such a way that it is clear which article they belong to and what they contain
e.g. J.Smith_appendix_table_1.xls
J.Smith_supplement-movie1.mov
Audio Files
- Preferred formats: mp3 or mp4
- Accepted formats: AAC, AIFF or WAV
- Maximum file size 15Mb
Video Files
Video files should be submitted according to the following specifications.
- Preferred formats: mpg/mpeg, mp4 or mov
- Acceptable formats: wmv or avi
- Maximum file size: 15Mb
- Minimum dimensions: 320 pixels wide by 240 pixels deep
- Verify that the videos are viewable in QuickTime or Windows Media Player
For each video, provide a citation in the appropriate place in the manuscript text and include a title and pertinent copy, preferably limited to 20 words.
This citation will appear in print as a boxed text and also specify the video file format. In the case of multiple video files, number them in the order in which they should be viewed.
If associated with a figure, please include a citation at the end of the figure caption explaining the video’s function, its file format, and that it is accessible at Cambridge’s CJO site: journals.cambridge.org.
The video will be posted at the site of the appropriate journal title, volume, issue number, and article. At the article’s title, the video can be accessed via a link which states “Supplemental Materials,” or a more specific label such as “Movies.”
Please be advised that Cambridge University Press will not edit your video file. It will be posted online exactly as supplied. If deemed unacceptable, the author will be responsible for rectifying the problem and supplying an acceptable file.
Other acceptable file formats
Accepted formats: pdf, doc/docx, xls/xlsx, ppt/pptx, jpeg, tiff, png, and zip
Author Hub
You can find guides for many aspects of publishing with Cambridge at Author Hub, our suite of resources for Cambridge authors.
Use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools
We acknowledge the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the research and writing processes. To ensure transparency, we expect any such use to be declared and described fully to readers, and to comply with our plagiarism policy and best practices regarding citation and acknowledgements. We do not consider artificial intelligence (AI) tools to meet the accountability requirements of authorship, and therefore generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and similar should not be listed as an author on any submitted content.
In particular, any use of an AI tool:
- to generate images within the manuscript should be accompanied by a full description of the process used, and declared clearly in the image caption(s)
- to generate text within the manuscript should be accompanied by a full description of the process used, include appropriate and valid references and citations, and be declared in the manuscript’s Acknowledgements.
- to analyse or extract insights from data or other materials, for example through the use of text and data mining, should be accompanied by a full description of the process used, including details and appropriate citation of any dataset(s) or other material analysed in all relevant and appropriate areas of the manuscript
- must not present ideas, words, data, or other material produced by third parties without appropriate acknowledgement or permission
Descriptions of AI processes used should include at minimum the version of the tool/algorithm used, where it can be accessed, any proprietary information relevant to the use of the tool/algorithm, any modifications of the tool made by the researchers (such as the addition of data to a tool’s public corpus), and the date(s) it was used for the purpose(s) described. Any relevant competing interests or potential bias arising as a consequence of the tool/algorithm’s use should be transparently declared and may be discussed in the article.