Submissions

The African Ecodiversity Systems Journal takes many kinds of manuscripts. The Journal has Original Research Articles with up to 8,500 words, Review Articles of upto 10,000 words, Short Communications of upto 3,500 words, Policy and Practice Papers of upto 5,000 words, and Book Reviews of upto 1,500 words. Overall, the word count does not include references, tables and figure captions.

Click Here to Download Author's Guidelines

Click Here to Read More about our Referencing Policy

Click here to download the Sample Manuscript template

 Manuscript structure
1. Title page
The title page should include:
* Full manuscript title; 
* Running title (maximum 60 characters); 
* Full names of all authors; 
* Institutional affiliations; 
* ORCID IDs (recommended); 
* Corresponding author contact details; 
* Word count; 
* Number of tables and figures; 
* Funding statement; 
* Conflict of interest declaration. 
Titles should:
* Be concise and scientifically informative; 
* Reflect ecological or systems relevance;
* Avoid abbreviations where possible.
2. Abstract
Structured abstract (250–300 words)
Research articles, reviews, case studies, and policy papers must contain:
•       Background
•       Objectives
•       Methods
•       Results
•       Conclusions 
•       Policy or ecological significance 
Provide 5–8 keywords not already used in the title.
3.  Main text formatting
Standard research article structure
•       Introduction 
•       Materials and Methods 
•       Results 
•       Discussion 
•       Conclusions 
•       Recommendations (where applicable) 
•       Acknowledgements 
•       Funding Statement 
•       Conflict of Interest 
•       References 

4. Unique AESJ methodological reporting standards
AESJ encourages methodological transparency and ecological reproducibility. 
Authors should include:
Ecological context statement
Every manuscript must contain a brief subsection describing:
•       Ecological zone; 
•       Habitat type; 
•       Climatic characteristics; 
•       Ecological significance of study area; 
•       Conservation status where relevant. 
5. Systems linkage statement
Authors should explain how their findings relate to broader ecological systems, including:
•       Ecosystem interactions; 
•       Landscape connectivity; 
•       Socio-ecological implications; 
•       Biodiversity resilience; 
•       Climate adaptation relevance.
 
6. Data and geospatial reporting standards
AESJ strongly supports open ecological science. Authors are encouraged to provide:
•       GIS shapefiles; 
•       Coordinates should: Use decimal degrees; 
•       Avoid revealing sensitive locations of endangered species. 
 
7. Text, figures, maps, and tables
Text
•       Double spaced
•       Arial font preferred
•       Font size 10
 
Figures
•       Minimum resolution: 300 dpi; 
•       Acceptable formats: TIFF, PNG, JPEG, EPS; 
•       Figures should remain interpretable in grayscale. 
 
Ecological maps
Maps must include:
* North arrow; 
* Scale bar; 
* Coordinate system; 
* Legend; 
* Data source acknowledgment. 

Tables
* Editable format only; 
* Avoid image-based tables; 
* Use concise titles and explanatory footnotes. 
8. Statistical and analytical standards
Authors should:
* Clearly describe statistical assumptions; 
* Report software and version used; 
* Provide confidence intervals where appropriate; 
* Report effect sizes alongside significance values; 
* Explain ecological interpretation of findings. 
AESJ discourages overreliance on statistical significance without ecological relevance.
 
9.  Species naming and taxonomic standards
* Scientific names must be italicized; 
* Full scientific name and authority should appear at first mention; 
* Common names should be standardized; 
* Taxonomic references should follow internationally recognized databases. 
 
10. Referencing style
AESJ uses the African Ecodiversity Referencing Style (AERS), adapted from Harvard referencing with ecological extensions.
In-text citation
* Single author: (Okello, 2024) 
* Two authors: (Abdi & Mensah, 2023) 
* Three or more authors: (Mwangi et al., 2025) 
 
Reference List
Arrange references alphabetically.
Journal article example
•       Omondi, P., Hassan, A., & Bekele, T. (2025). Dryland vegetation recovery following controlled grazing interventions in northern Kenya. African Ecodiversity Systems Journal, 3(2), 45–62.
Book example
•       Mugisha, J. (2021). Ecological Systems and Climate Resilience in Africa. Nairobi: Savanna Scientific Press.
Dataset example
•       African Climate Data Initiative (2024). East African rainfall variability dataset version 2.1. DOI: xxxx

Authors are encouraged to submit supplementary datasets, geospatial layers, appendices, field protocols, and multimedia files where relevant.

Final submission checklist
Before submission, authors must ensure:
Manuscript follows AESJ formatting requirements;
All figures and tables are cited correctly;
Ethical approvals are included;
References are complete and accurate;
Similarity index is acceptable;
Data availability statement is included;
Conflict of interest declaration is provided;
All authors approve final submission.

This journal uses CC Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
All articles published in this journal are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Under this license:

    Authors retain copyright of their work.

    Users are 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

    Conditions:

        Appropriate attribution must be given to the original author(s) and source.

        A link to the license must be provided.

        Any changes made must be indicated clearly.

This license ensures the widest possible dissemination and use of published research, while giving authors credit for their work.
Why CC BY 4.0?

The CC BY 4.0 license supports:

    Open Access principles, allowing anyone to read, share, and reuse articles without restriction.

    Compliance with funder mandates (e.g., Plan S, Horizon Europe).

    Academic citation and attribution integrity.

For full legal details of this license, please visit:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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7. Contact

For privacy inquiries, contact:
HRL Journal Services
 info@eastafricajournal.org