KMSKenya

East African Journal of Mathematics

Policies

Policies

Ethics Statement

The East African Journal of Mathematics adheres to the highest standards of publication ethics as outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Author Responsibilities

Authors must ensure that:

  • The work is original and has not been published previously
  • All sources are properly cited and acknowledged
  • The manuscript contains no plagiarism or self-plagiarism
  • All data and results are accurate and have not been fabricated or manipulated
  • All co-authors have contributed substantially and approved the final manuscript
  • Any conflicts of interest are disclosed

Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers must:

  • Provide constructive, objective, and unbiased feedback
  • Maintain confidentiality of the review process
  • Disclose any conflicts of interest that might bias their review
  • Complete reviews in a timely manner
  • Decline review invitations when they lack appropriate expertise

Editor Responsibilities

Editors must:

  • Maintain confidentiality and impartiality throughout the review process
  • Make publication decisions based solely on academic merit
  • Disclose any conflicts of interest
  • Handle appeals and complaints fairly and transparently
  • Take appropriate action on suspected ethical violations

Ethical Violations

EAJM takes allegations of misconduct seriously. Potential violations include plagiarism, data fabrication, duplicate publication, and undisclosed conflicts of interest. All allegations are investigated following COPE guidelines.

Corrections and Retractions

When errors are identified in published articles, EAJM will issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions as appropriate, following COPE retraction guidelines.

Conflict of Interest Policy

Definition

A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as research validity) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain or personal relationships).

Author Disclosure Requirements

Authors must disclose any financial, personal, or professional relationships that could influence their research, including:

  • Funding sources: All research grants, institutional support, or corporate funding
  • Financial interests: Stock ownership, consulting fees, patents, or royalties related to the research
  • Institutional affiliations: Employment, board memberships, or advisory positions
  • Personal relationships: Family relationships or close personal friendships with individuals who could benefit from the research
  • Academic collaborations: Recent or ongoing collaborations that could create perceived bias

Reviewer Conflicts

Reviewers must decline review invitations when they have:

  • Recent co-authorship with any author (within the past 3 years)
  • Current collaboration or grant applications with authors
  • Personal or professional relationships that could bias their judgment
  • Financial interests in the research outcomes
  • Direct competition in the same research area

Editor Conflicts

Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts when they have:

  • Co-authored papers with any author
  • Current institutional affiliation with authors
  • Personal relationships with authors
  • Financial interests related to the research

Disclosure Process

All conflicts must be disclosed at the time of manuscript submission. The editorial team will assess whether disclosed conflicts preclude publication or require special handling. When in doubt, disclose.

Non-Disclosure Consequences

Failure to disclose relevant conflicts of interest may result in manuscript rejection, article retraction, or prohibition from future submissions.

Authorship Criteria

Authorship Qualifications

To qualify as an author, individuals must meet all of the following criteria:

  1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data
  2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content
  3. Final approval of the version to be published
  4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to accuracy or integrity are appropriately investigated and resolved

Contribution Roles

Authors should specify their contributions using CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy):

  • Conceptualization
  • Methodology
  • Formal analysis
  • Investigation
  • Resources
  • Data curation
  • Writing (original draft)
  • Writing (review and editing)
  • Visualization
  • Supervision
  • Project administration
  • Funding acquisition

Author Order

  • Author order should reflect the relative contributions to the work
  • The corresponding author assumes primary responsibility for communication with the journal
  • All co-authors share responsibility for the published content

Corresponding Author Responsibilities

The corresponding author must:

  • Ensure all listed authors meet authorship criteria
  • Confirm that all authors have approved the final manuscript
  • Manage communication with the journal throughout the publication process
  • Coordinate author responses to reviewer comments
  • Handle any post-publication inquiries or corrections

Changes to Authorship

Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission require:

  • Written agreement from all authors (including those being added or removed)
  • Explanation for the change
  • Approval from the editor

Acknowledgments

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged with their permission. This includes technical support, writing assistance, or provision of materials.

Ghost and Guest Authorship

EAJM prohibits:

  • Ghost authorship: Omitting individuals who made substantial contributions
  • Guest authorship: Including individuals who did not make substantial contributions

Copyright & Licensing

Open Access License

All articles published in the East African Journal of Mathematics are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0) license.

Author Rights

Authors retain copyright of their published work. This means authors maintain ownership of their research while granting others permission to use it under specific terms.

User Rights

Under CC-BY 4.0, anyone is free to:

  • Share: Copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
  • Adapt: Remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially

License Conditions

The only requirement is proper attribution:

  • Credit must be given to the original authors
  • A link to the CC-BY 4.0 license must be provided
  • Any changes made must be indicated
  • No additional restrictions may be applied

Reuse and Permissions

No permission is required for:

  • Educational use in courses and training
  • Inclusion in research databases or repositories
  • Translation into other languages
  • Reprinting in subsequent publications by the authors
  • Data mining and text analysis

Third-Party Materials

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to include any copyrighted materials (figures, tables, substantial quotes) from other sources. Proper attribution must be provided for all third-party materials.

Commercial Use

The CC-BY 4.0 license permits commercial use, provided proper attribution is given. This supports knowledge dissemination while protecting author recognition.

Institutional Repositories

Authors are encouraged to deposit published articles in institutional and subject repositories. EAJM provides publisher PDFs for this purpose.

For licensing questions, contact: editorial@eajm.ac.ke