About the Journal

Aims

The Journal of African Social Inquiry advances interdisciplinary understanding of African societies, institutions and processes of social change. It provides an intellectual forum for research that engages closely with African contexts and contributes to wider debates in the social sciences through theoretically informed and empirically grounded inquiry.

The journal recognises the diversity of societies, histories and knowledge traditions across the continent. It welcomes locally grounded, cross-national and comparative research, including work on Africa's transnational and diaspora connections. Contributions should explain how their findings inform understanding of African social realities, challenge established assumptions or develop concepts and explanations with relevance beyond the immediate case.

Scope

Topics of interest include:

  • Social inequality, poverty, livelihoods and social protection.
  • Governance, public institutions, citizenship and civic participation.
  • Migration, urbanisation, population dynamics and diaspora relations.
  • Gender, family, youth, culture and identity.
  • Education, health and access to essential services.
  • Informal economies, economic participation and development.
  • Climate change, resource governance and community responses.
  • Digitalisation, technology access and social transformation.
  • Social theory, research methods and knowledge production in African contexts.

Contributions and Scope Boundaries

The journal welcomes original empirical research, theoretical and conceptual contributions, rigorous reviews and comparative or policy-oriented studies. It is open to qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods approaches and encourages engagement across disciplinary traditions. Studies should demonstrate contextual understanding and explain the social significance of their evidence and arguments.

Research conducted in an African country is not automatically within scope. The principal contribution should concern African societies, institutions or social processes. Studies focused chiefly on technical financial modelling, firm performance or AI engineering require a substantive social-science contribution beyond their geographical setting. Comparative research involving other regions should retain a clear analytical connection to Africa.

Publication and editorial information

Published by CalbisPress. Editor-in-Chief: Andrew Enaifoghe.

Gold Open Access; quarterly publication in January, April, July and October, with the first issue scheduled for January 2027. No submission or article processing charges currently apply. Articles are published under CC BY 4.0; authors retain copyright.

Submissions undergo editorial screening and double-anonymous peer review by at least two independent reviewers.

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