Publication Ethics

Integrity, rigour and transparency
This policy sets out the responsibilities of authors, reviewers and the editorial team of Cahiers Africains de Rhétorique. It aims to ensure the scientific quality of publications, respect for individuals and the protection of intellectual property.

1. Identity, scope and objectives

Cahiers Africains de Rhétorique is a scholarly journal published by the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Humanities (FLASH) of Marien Ngouabi University in the Republic of the Congo. It publishes two issues per year and welcomes original work by researchers from Africa and other continents. Its mission is both inter-African and international.

The journal covers African, French and English linguistics, discourse analysis, stylistics, grammar, African, Francophone and Anglophone literatures, and communication. Articles may be written in French or English; the title, abstract and keywords must be provided in both languages.

It promotes research on the linguistic, literary, discursive, rhetorical and communicative dimensions of African societies, while welcoming contributions from other geographical areas that fall within its scope.

2. Ethical principles and references

The journal refers to the research integrity requirements of the African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education (CAMES) and draws on the good practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Reference to COPE recommendations does not constitute a claim of membership or certification by that organisation.

These principles address allegations of misconduct, authorship and contributions, complaints, conflicts of interest, data reliability, respect for individuals, intellectual property, editorial management, peer review and post-publication corrections.

3. Responsibilities of the editorial team

• The publication director and editor-in-chief oversee compliance with the editorial policy and this ethics policy.
• The editor-in-chief coordinates the review, revision, editing and publication of contributions.
• The scientific and reading committees contribute to scientific quality assurance, verification of requested revisions and examination of possible misconduct.
• Decisions are based on the relevance, originality, rigour and scientific quality of the manuscript, without discrimination based on authors’ nationality, origin, gender or beliefs.
• Information relating to unpublished manuscripts is confidential and accessible only to those involved in the editorial process.

4. Peer review

Eligible manuscripts undergo double-blind peer review by two reviewers: authors’ identities are not disclosed to reviewers, and reviewers’ identities are not disclosed to authors. Authors must prepare an anonymised version of their manuscript.

Reviewers provide a reasoned recommendation: acceptance, revision or rejection. The editor-in-chief makes the editorial decision in light of the reports and authors’ responses. Payment of fees cannot guarantee acceptance.

Reports, correspondence and manuscripts remain confidential, including after the review process has ended, unless expressly authorised or necessary for investigating a suspected breach.

5. Responsibilities of reviewers

Reviewers are selected according to their specialisation and scientific expertise. The journal particularly seeks associate professors and full professors from the CAMES area with recognised experience in the manuscript’s field.

• Accept a review only when their expertise and availability permit a rigorous assessment.
• Meet the communicated deadline, normally 30 days, or promptly notify the editorial office of any impediment.
• Complete the assessment form and provide precise, documented and respectful comments, without personal attacks.
• Report suspicious similarities, significant errors and potential conflicts of interest.
• Do not use unpublished ideas, data or findings for personal advantage or share the manuscript without permission.
• Decline the review if a conflict of interest could compromise their impartiality.

6. Responsibilities of authors and co-authors

• Submit original work that has not already been published in a journal or edited volume and is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal.
• Report methods, corpora, results and research limitations honestly; fabrication and falsification are prohibited.
• Cite sources accurately, distinguish quotations from paraphrases and obtain the necessary permissions for protected material.
• Provide accurate affiliations, a contact email address, an ORCID identifier and a biographical note stating their institution, status, academic rank and publications.
• Disclose co-authors’ contributions, funding and potential conflicts of interest.
• Ensure that all co-authors contributed to the work in accordance with disciplinary conventions, approved the submitted version and agreed to its publication.
• Respond to revision requests and promptly report any significant error discovered before or after publication.

The corresponding author manages communication with the editorial office and co-authors, coordinates revisions and manuscript approval, completes publication formalities with their agreement and arranges payment of the announced fees. Any change to the author list, author order or corresponding author must be justified and accompanied by the agreement of the persons concerned; it is reviewed by the editorial office.

7. Conflicts of interest and independence

Authors disclose financial, institutional, professional or personal relationships that could influence the research or its interpretation, or state that they have no conflicts of interest. Editors and reviewers also disclose their conflicts and withdraw from handling the manuscript when they cannot ensure their impartiality.

8. Originality and plagiarism prevention

Plagiarism means presenting another person’s ideas, text, data, illustrations or findings as one’s own without appropriate attribution. Substantial reuse of one’s own work without citation or disclosure may also constitute a breach of originality or redundant publication.

The journal checks submissions using similarity detection tools and editorial assessment. A similarity score alone is not proof of plagiarism. Properly attributed quotations, bibliographical references and common expressions must be distinguished from unattributed copying.

The journal’s announced threshold of 20% serves as a benchmark for closer examination. Exceeding it requires analysis of the relevant passages and the author’s explanations; it does not lead to an automatic decision based solely on the percentage. Confirmed plagiarism may result in rejection of the manuscript or, after publication, retraction, regardless of the overall score.

9. Data, corpora and respect for individuals

Methods and sources must be described in sufficient detail to allow scientific scrutiny of the results. The journal encourages a data availability statement and sharing of corpora where copyright, confidentiality obligations and permissions allow.

For research involving participants, interviews or personal data, authors describe the consent obtained and, where required, ethical approvals. They protect the identity and confidentiality of the individuals concerned and explain any restrictions preventing the sharing of certain data.

10. Reporting concerns, complaints and appeals

Any author, reviewer or reader may report an error or suspected misconduct to the editor-in-chief at cahiersafricainsderhetorique@gmail.com, providing the manuscript or article title, its link or DOI, the relevant facts and available supporting evidence.

The editorial office examines the evidence confidentially and impartially, seeks explanations from the persons concerned and provides reasons for its decision. Suspicion alone does not establish misconduct. If the editor-in-chief has a conflict of interest, the case is assigned to another editor who is not involved.

An author may request reconsideration of a decision by presenting scientific arguments or new evidence. Measures are proportionate to the established facts and may include a request for correction, rejection, retraction or, where necessary, referral to the relevant institution.

11. Post-publication corrections

A limited error may be addressed through a correction notice linked to the article. A serious concern under investigation may warrant an expression of concern. When an article’s reliability is seriously compromised or a major breach is established, the editorial office may issue a reasoned retraction notice, drawing on COPE’s retraction guidelines.

These notices clearly identify the article concerned and explain the decision. The publication record is preserved; retraction does not mean silently removing the article.

12. Publication fee (APC)

The publication fee is 50,000 CFA francs per accepted article, payable only after acceptance. No manuscript processing fee is charged upon submission. Payment instructions are provided by the editorial office. Payment does not influence peer review or scientific decisions; reading and downloading articles remain free.

13. Copyright, open access and archiving

Authors retain their copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication, editing and online dissemination. They remain responsible for the scientific content of their contributions and receive an electronic PDF version of their article. A printed copy may be requested, with shipping costs borne by the requester.

The licence displayed by the journal is Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). It permits sharing articles with attribution and a link to the licence, for non-commercial purposes, without distributing modified versions. The licence indicated on each article must be respected.

Articles can be read and downloaded without a subscription or pay-per-view charge. Published issues are available in the journal archives. For deposit and preservation conditions, consult the archiving policy. Any deposit in HAL or another repository must respect authors’ rights and the article’s licence.

Editorial contact
cahiersafricainsderhetorique@gmail.com

14. Editorial governance and transparency

The institutional publisher is the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Humanities (FLASH), Université Marien Ngouabi, Bayardelle campus, 01, rue Gouverneur Général Bayardelle, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. PO Box 69 supplements this physical address. The journal and institutional contact details provide direct contact routes.

The editorial team checks board members’ affiliations and roles, the relevance of their expertise and participation from different institutions and regions. Board renewal should meet the journal’s scholarly needs.

Scholarly decisions are independent of fees, editorial positions and institutional relationships. A complaint involving an editor is reviewed by an uninvolved person. Acceptance or rejection statistics are published only with a reference period, sample size and verifiable calculation method.

The journal announces two issues per year. Calls and archives specify schedules; significant delays are communicated. Indexing statements, links, downloadable files and metadata should be checked regularly. A directory listing, DOI or personal ResearcherID does not constitute journal indexing in Web of Science.