Journal Policies
Copyright and Licensing
The Journal of Computer Adaptive Testing in Africa (JoCATiA) is an open-access journal that provides immediate access to its published contents. Authors retain unrestricted copyright and publishing rights for all articles published from August 2022.
The authors also grant the publisher permission to publish the articles and be recognised as the original and the first publisher. Articles published are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0) which permits commercial re-use (download, copy, redistribute, translate, remix, adapt, and build upon materials published, etc.) of open access articles, as long as the original author and source are properly attributed. The authors grant the publisher permission to apply a DOI to their articles and to archive them in databases and indexes.
Authors also grant other third-party users the right to use the article freely as long as its original authors and citation details are acknowledged without prior permission from the publisher or the author.
Peer Review Process
JoCATiA operates a conventional double-blind reviewing policy in which the reviewer's name is always concealed from the submitting author. Authors should present their papers honestly without fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or inappropriate data manipulation. Submitted papers are evaluated by anonymous referees for contribution, originality, relevance, and presentation. Papers will be sent for anonymous review by at least two (2) reviewers who will either be members of the Editorial Board or others of similar standing in the field. To shorten the review process and respond quickly to authors, the editors would triage a submission and come to a decision without sending the paper for external review. The editor shall inform authors of the results of the review as soon as possible, with an average turnaround time of 18 weeks. The editors’ decision is final, and no correspondence can be entered into concerning manuscripts considered unsuitable for publication in this journal. All correspondence, including notification of the editors’ decision and requests for revisions, will be sent by email. Note that all accepted publications would be screened for plagiarism using Turnitin before publication.
Open Access Policy
This journal adheres to the best practices and high publishing standards and complies with the following conditions:
- Provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge;
- Allows the author to hold the copyright and to retain publishing rights without restrictions;
- Deposits content with a long-term digital preservation or archiving program;
- Uses DOIs as permanent identifiers;
- Embeds machine-readable CC licensing information in articles;
- Allows generous reuse and mixing of content, in accordance with CC BY-NC license;
- Can provide article-level metadata for any indexers and aggregators
- Has a deposit policy registered with a deposit policy registry, e.g. Sherpa/Romeo.
Archiving
This journal utilises the PKP PN system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration.
Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
JoCATiA is a non-profit international scientific association of distinguished scholars engaged in educational assessments and devoted to promoting research in adaptive technologies for educational assessments through digital technology. JoCATiA publishes high-quality open-access peer-reviewed electronic journals designed to improve the science and practice of computerised adaptive testing (CAT), aimed at advancing the frontiers of computerised testing in Africa to the second generation of computer-based assessment and beyond. JoCATiA is designed to provide a platform for the researchers, academicians, professionals, practitioners, and students to impart and share knowledge in the form of high-quality empirical and theoretical research papers, simulation studies, and meta-analysis. This statement is based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.
Ethical Guideline for Journal Publication
The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed JoCATiA is an essential building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. It is a direct reflection of the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the scientific method. It is therefore important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behaviour for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the authors, the journal editors, the peer reviewers, the publisher, and the society.
The Association of Computer Adaptive Testing in Africa (ACATA), as the publisher of JoCATiA, takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing extremely seriously, and we recognise our ethical and other responsibilities. We are committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint, or other commercial revenue
has no impact or influence on editorial decisions. In addition, the ACATA and Editorial Board will assist in communications with other journals and/or publishers where this is useful and necessary.
Publication decisions
The editors of the JoCATiA are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such decisions. The editors may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.
Fair play
An editor at any time evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
Confidentiality
The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.
Duties of Reviewers
Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and, through the editorial communications with the author, may also assist the author in improving the paper.
Promptness
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.
Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorised by the editor.
Standards of Objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
Acknowledgement of Sources
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.
Disclosure and Conflict of Interest
Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.
Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Submitted for possible open access publication under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
