About the Journal

The East African Journal of Crime and Security is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary, open-access scholarly journal dedicated to advancing research, policy, and professional practice in criminology, crime prevention, security studies, criminal justice, and related disciplines.

The journal provides a scholarly platform for African and international researchers, academics, criminal justice practitioners, policymakers, and security professionals to publish original research, theoretical contributions, and evidence-based policy analyses addressing contemporary challenges in crime, justice, security, and victimisation.

The journal promotes academically rigorous, ethically conducted, and policy-relevant scholarship, with particular emphasis on the social, institutional, legal, and technological dimensions of crime and insecurity within East Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the wider African continent.

Focus and Scope

The journal welcomes original research articles, theoretical and conceptual papers, systematic reviews, and scholarly policy analyses addressing the following areas:

Criminological theories, research methods, and contemporary perspectives on crime and deviance.
Policing, law enforcement, community policing, and public security.
Criminal law, judicial processes, access to justice, and justice sector reforms.
Correctional systems, offender rehabilitation, probation, and reintegration.
Forensic science, criminal investigation, digital evidence, and crime scene management.
Gender-based violence, sexual offences, victimisation, and victim protection.
Youth crime, juvenile justice, vulnerable populations, and social protection.
Cybercrime, digital security, financial crime, and emerging criminal threats.
Terrorism, violent extremism, organised crime, and transnational security.
Border security, regional security cooperation, and conflict prevention.
Human rights, criminal justice ethics, and accountability in security institutions.
Community safety, public perceptions of crime, and crime prevention.
Crime, migration, inequality, governance, and socioeconomic development.
Intelligence-led policing, security risk assessment, and evidence-based crime prevention.

The journal prioritises scholarship grounded in African realities, experiences, and policy contexts while welcoming comparative and international research relevant to its disciplinary scope.

Peer Review Process

The journal operates a double-blind peer-review system, under which the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from one another during the manuscript evaluation process.

All research manuscripts undergo preliminary editorial screening to determine their relevance to the journal's scope, originality, scholarly contribution, methodological suitability, ethical compliance, and adherence to submission requirements.

Manuscripts that successfully complete the initial screening are assigned to at least two independent reviewers with appropriate subject expertise.

Reviewers evaluate submissions according to:

Originality and contribution to existing knowledge.
Theoretical and conceptual foundations.
Appropriateness and rigour of research methodology.
Reliability and interpretation of findings.
Ethical compliance and research integrity.
Clarity, coherence, and quality of scholarly presentation.
Relevance to criminology, security studies, and criminal justice.
Practical, theoretical, and policy implications.

Reviewers submit written assessments and recommendations to the handling editor.

Following peer review, the editor may recommend acceptance, minor revisions, major revisions, or rejection. Where revisions are required, authors are expected to respond to substantive reviewer comments and submit a revised manuscript.

Revised manuscripts may be returned to the original reviewers or assessed by the handling editor, depending on the nature and extent of the revisions.

Final acceptance decisions are made only after the editorial team determines that the manuscript meets the journal's academic, methodological, and ethical standards.

The journal maintains confidential records of reviewer assignments, review reports, editorial decisions, and manuscript revisions to support editorial accountability and quality assurance.

Editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit rather than predetermined publication deadlines. Acceptance is not guaranteed.

Open Access and Licensing

The East African Journal of Crime and Security follows a Gold Open Access publishing model, providing immediate and unrestricted access to published scholarly articles without subscription charges, registration requirements, or embargo periods.

The journal supports the principle that open dissemination of research strengthens scholarly collaboration, promotes evidence-based criminal justice policy, and enhances public access to knowledge.

Readers are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, link to, and reuse published articles in accordance with the applicable open-access license.

Creative Commons License

Articles published under the journal's current licensing policy are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

This license permits:

Free access to published scholarly content.
Copying, redistribution, and sharing in any medium or format.
Reproduction, adaptation, translation, and reuse.
Commercial and non-commercial use of published materials.

Users must provide appropriate credit to the original author(s), identify the original publication, provide a link to the license, and indicate whether modifications have been made.

Attribution must not imply that the original author(s) or publisher endorse the subsequent use of the material.

Official license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The applicable license is displayed on each article's official publication page. Any third-party material excluded from the article's Creative Commons license must be appropriately identified.

Articles published under previous licensing agreements remain subject to their applicable terms unless additional permissions are obtained from the relevant rights holders.

Publication Frequency

The journal follows a Continuous Publication Model, allowing manuscripts to be published online after successful completion of the peer-review process, required author revisions, final editorial approval, copyediting, and production checks.

Under this model, accepted articles are published individually as they become ready, rather than being held until a complete issue has been assembled.

The journal aims to provide an initial editorial decision within approximately 4–6 weeks of submission, subject to reviewer availability and manuscript complexity.

The complete submission-to-publication period may vary depending on the nature of the research, the number of review rounds, the extent of author revisions, and production requirements.

As an operational target, the journal generally aims to complete the publication process within approximately 2–5 months, although manuscripts requiring substantial revisions or additional expert evaluation may take longer.

These processing periods are indicative rather than guaranteed. The journal prioritises rigorous peer review and editorial quality over accelerated publication.

Copyright and Author Rights

Authors retain copyright in their original scholarly works.

Upon acceptance and publication, authors grant the East African Journal of Crime and Security a non-exclusive right of first publication and the rights necessary to publish, distribute, preserve, and disseminate the work under the applicable Creative Commons license.

Under the journal's current licensing policy, articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Authors retain the right to share, reproduce, distribute, and archive their published works, including through institutional repositories, personal websites, academic networking platforms, and other scholarly repositories, provided that the original publication is properly acknowledged.

The journal does not impose an embargo on the self-archiving of articles published under its current open-access policy.

Archiving and Digital Preservation

The East African Journal of Crime and Security is committed to supporting the long-term preservation, accessibility, authenticity, and integrity of its published scholarly content.

The publisher maintains digital copies of published articles and their associated bibliographic metadata as part of its publication management and preservation arrangements.

The journal seeks to strengthen digital preservation through recognised scholarly preservation networks, institutional repositories, and other appropriate archiving services.

Where formal preservation arrangements are operational, details of the relevant service and preservation coverage will be made available through the journal's website.

Published articles are assigned persistent Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), where available, to support reliable identification, citation, and scholarly discovery.

The journal recognises the importance of maintaining access to scholarly publications beyond the immediate publication period and supports the development of sustainable digital preservation arrangements.

Privacy Statement

The East African Journal of Crime and Security is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and other users of its publishing platform.

Personal information collected through the journal's website and manuscript management system may include names, institutional affiliations, email addresses, contact information, and other details necessary for scholarly publishing operations.

Such information is processed for legitimate editorial and publication purposes, including:

Manuscript submission and editorial management.
Coordination of peer-review activities.
Communication with authors, reviewers, and editors.
Publication processing and administration.
Maintenance of editorial and scholarly records.
Compliance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Personal information is not sold or used for unrelated commercial marketing purposes.

Information may be disclosed to authorised editorial personnel and relevant service providers where necessary for legitimate publishing operations and subject to applicable confidentiality and data protection requirements.

The journal takes reasonable technical and organisational measures to safeguard personal information against unauthorised access, misuse, disclosure, alteration, or loss.

Requests concerning access to, correction of, or deletion of personal information may be directed to the journal's editorial office, subject to applicable legal obligations and legitimate recordkeeping requirements.

Sponsorship, Ownership, and Publishing

The East African Journal of Crime and Security is an independently managed scholarly publication supported by academic contributors, research professionals, and scholarly networks within Kenya, East Africa, and the wider international research community.

The journal is committed to editorial independence, transparent publishing practices, academic freedom, and ethical scholarly communication.

Editorial decisions are made on the basis of scientific and scholarly merit and are not influenced by commercial interests, sponsorship arrangements, institutional affiliations, or financial contributions.

The journal supports responsible research conduct, transparent editorial procedures, appropriate management of conflicts of interest, and the prevention of publication misconduct.

Its scholarly publishing activities are guided by internationally recognised principles of publication ethics and editorial accountability.

Journal History

Established in 2025, the East African Journal of Crime and Security was founded to provide a dedicated scholarly platform for research addressing crime, criminal justice, victimisation, security, and related social and institutional challenges across Africa.

The journal emerged in response to the growing need for accessible, contextually grounded, and policy-relevant scholarship examining evolving patterns of crime, justice administration, and security governance within the East African region.

Its founding objectives include increasing the visibility of African criminological scholarship, encouraging interdisciplinary research collaboration, and promoting evidence-based approaches to crime prevention, criminal justice reform, community safety, and security management.

The journal seeks to connect academic research with professional practice and public policy by publishing theoretically informed, methodologically rigorous, and ethically conducted studies.

Through open-access dissemination, the journal aims to strengthen scholarly exchange between researchers, criminal justice institutions, security professionals, civil society organisations, and policymakers within Africa and internationally.