The Ghana Journal of Sociology & Anthropology is an international, biannual, peer-reviewed diamond open-access journal dedicated to advancing sociological and anthropological scholarship grounded in Ghanaian and African contexts. Published in March and September, the journal provides a critical platform for scholars to engage with the rich, grounded realities of African social life through rigorous theoretical and empirical inquiry.

GJSA is one of the first locally produced journals devoted primarily to a Ghanaian intellectual community of authors and readers in sociology and anthropology. The journal offers a vital space for emerging scholars with the requisite skills and Ghana-focused research to share their scholarship with broader audiences. Each issue features 5-6 research articles and book reviews, with articles up to 8,000 words and reviews up to 3,000 words.

Formerly published as the Legon Journal of Sociology (2004-2017), the journal underwent a transformation in 2021, transitioning from print to online publishing and adopting its current title to reflect its expanded scope. The Ghana Journal of Sociology &  Anthropology is now published by Pluto Journals in partnership with African Books Collective and Ghana Sociological and Anthropological Association, hosted by the University of Ghana and hosted on ScienceOpen’s open-access platform, expanding its reach to global audiences while maintaining its commitment to diamond open-access publishing. The journal maintains a completely charge-free diamond open-access policy, ensuring research remains accessible to African scholars and readers without paywalls.

The Ghana Journal of Sociology & Anthropology creates a rigorous platform for sociological and anthropological scholarship that reflects the plurality and complexity of Ghanaian and African social realities. The journal’s mission is to advance conceptual and theoretical engagement grounded in empirical research, foster dialogue between local and global scholarly traditions, and provide emerging scholars with opportunities to contribute to disciplinary conversations.

The journal carries research articles, essays, book reviews, and commentary. We particularly welcome contributions that engage with Ghanaian social, cultural, political, and economic contexts; develop theoretical frameworks emerging from African empirical realities; employ innovative methodologies appropriate to African research settings; address critical issues of development, inequality, and social justice; explore cultural practices, identities, and social change; examine urban and rural transformations; analyse gender, family, and kinship dynamics; investigate health, education, and welfare systems; and contribute to policy-relevant scholarship.

GJSA stands out as one of the first locally produced journals devoted to a Ghanaian intellectual community in sociology and anthropology. The journal provides essential space for scholars conducting Ghana-focused research to share their work with broader audiences. As a diamond open-access publication, GJSA ensures that scholarship remains freely accessible to researchers, students, policymakers, and practitioners across Africa, supporting the journal’s commitment to knowledge accessibility and scholarly equity.

Editor-in-Chief

Please see the submission guidelines here.

Editorial Office

Ghana Journal of Sociology & Anthropology

Department of SociologyUniversity of Ghana, Ghana

Email: gjsa.editor@ug.edu.gh

The Journal is published biannually in January and July. Formerly Shakespeare in Southern Africa, the journal backlog is archived in Sabinet and on AJOL.

As of 1 January 2026, the journal is Open Access and the Open Access statement, Open Access license terms, copyright terms as well as a statement on its absolute lack of author charges can be found here. Bakwethu maintains a fully charge-free policy to all manuscript submissions and processing.

The journal is published Open Access on ScienceOpen. This means the Reuse rights of published material is all under the open CC BY 4.0 license as stated here.

The Ghana Journal of Sociology & Anthropology welcomes high-quality submissions that align with the journal’s aims and scope. All manuscripts undergo initial editorial screening followed by double-blind peer review for those deemed suitable. Authors are expected to adhere to the highest ethical, scholarly, and professional standards throughout the submission and publication process.

The Ghana Journal of Sociology & Anthropology upholds the highest standards of ethical integrity and scholarly responsibility in all published work. This journal follows Pluto Journals’ Ethics and Code of Conduct policy, which aligns with the ethical standards endorsed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). In particular:

1. We expect all authors to state in their article if they have a conflict of interest which could potentially bias their opinions—for example, funding or employment relationships.

2. All named authors on articles should confirm that they have jointly participated in the research and writing of the article, and that no author has been omitted from the list of authors.

3. We require authors to warrant that their articles are original, have not been previously published, and do not plagiarise or otherwise copy someone else’s work without attribution.

4. We also require authors to warrant that their article does not defame, libel, or bring another person into disrepute, and neither does it contain anything illegal (e.g., copyright infringing).

5. Research involving human participants must comply with appropriate ethical standards and approvals. Authors should include information about ethical review and informed consent procedures where applicable.

6. The journal is committed to maintaining rigorous standards of peer review, ensuring that all published work represents a significant contribution to sociological and anthropological scholarship.

7. Editors and reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could influence, or be perceived to influence, their handling of a manuscript. Conflicts may include personal relationships, academic competition or financial interests related to the work under consideration. If a conflict exists, editors and reviewers must decline to participate in the review or editorial decision-making process. The journal maintains procedures to ensure that editorial decisions are made without bias and based solely on scholarly merit. Editors are not involved in decisions about papers in which they have a conflict of interest and such submissions are handled by another qualified editor.

8. All submissions are checked for originality during the editorial review. The reviewer’s role includes the process of checking and dealing with text similarity and suspected plagiarism. Plagiarism includes the unattributed use of another author’s words, ideas, data, or images, as well as excessive text recycling from one’s own prior work. Reviewers are responsible for reporting potential misconduct concerns to the Editor, who handles concerns according to the COPE plagiarism flowcharthttps://members.publicationethics.org/sites/default/files/plagiarism-submitted-manuscript-cope-flowchart.pdf. Manuscripts found to contain significant plagiarism are rejected, and if plagiarism is discovered after publication, the journal may issue a correction or retraction and notify the authors’ institution as appropriate. The editor is responsible for guiding the process and for publishing corrections, retractions or expressions of concern when appropriate. All authors will be informed and their consent (where possible) obtained before any changes are made. Appropriate measures will be taken, including possible retractions of articles, when cases of scholarly misconduct are detected.

9. Retraction of articles may be required when there is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable due to misconduct (e.g., data fabrication, plagiarism) or honest error; when the work has been previously published elsewhere without proper attribution; or when the research or publication process was unethical. Retraction notices are published promptly, clearly identified as such and linked to the original article, which remains in the public record but marked as retracted. The notice will include the reasons for retraction and who is retracting the article.

10. Corrections (errata or corrigenda) are published by the journal to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record. If an error is identified that affects the publication’s reliability, but not its overall conclusions, a correction will be issued. Corrections will clearly describe the change, reference the original article, and be freely accessible. Minor errors that do not affect the interpretation of the work will not typically warrant formal correction.

11. Appeals: should an author wish to appeal a decision of Reject, they should write to the Editorial Executive. Two members of the Editorial Board not involved in the original review process for the article will reconsider the article and reviews and to submit their recommendations. Only one round of appeal will be permitted per manuscript.