African Centre for the Study and Research on Migration's Policy Briefs' Series on African Migration
The African Centre for the Study and Research on Migration is the African Union Commission’s specialized technical office, with the mandate to enhance understanding of Africa’s migration to ensure well-evidenced and data-driven policies that foster migration governance and the role of migration on inclusive sustainable social and economic development of the African continent.
The African Centre for the Study and Research on Migration (ACSRM) invites African migration researchers, experts, and policymakers to submit policy briefs on contemporary patterns, trends, and dynamics related to African migration. This ACSRM’s Policy Briefs Series is an initiative of the ACSRM and depends on voluntary manuscript submissions by authors (migration experts, policymakers, researchers, scholars, students, and practitioners). Authors will not receive any payment or compensation when submitting papers or when they are accepted for publication.
A policy brief on African migration aims to provide a concise understanding of African migrants’ trends and suggesting policy options, specific actions, and measures to maximize the benefits of migration and address its challenges.
It consists of a concise highlight or summary of a specific thematic issue about migration and the ensuing policy options alongside some recommendations on the best ways to address the topics discussed.
Migration policy briefs are dedicated to Government policymakers, international stakeholders, and other actors interested in migration in general and migration policy formulation and implementation. A policy brief can promote advocacy by promoting a particular course of action. A policy brief also provides balanced information and analysis for policymakers to increase their awareness of well-evidenced and well-informed policy options and recommendations.
The policy briefs on African migration aim to address all aspects of African migration. These include but are not limited the following topics: causes and drivers of Africa’s migration; labor migration; migration and poverty; migration and development; highly skilled international migration; child migration; student migration; migration, women, and gender; international migration of health professionals; migration policy; migration governance; migration, climate change, and environmental degradation; irregular migration; human trafficking; smuggling of migrants; mixed migration; migration and human rights; etc. This Working Paper Series considers all the contemporary patterns, dynamics, and meanings of African migration.
Submission process
Submissions are expected to address African migration’s drivers, patterns, trends, and impacts from a policy standpoint to respond to the challenges and opportunities of Africa’s migration. Submissions are expected to promote policy recommendations to foster safe, orderly, regular migration and the role of migration in the African continent’s inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic development.
The draft policy should provide a concise and clear background about the migration topic to facilitate the reader’s understanding of the problem discussed in the draft. The draft policy should demonstrate how it is urgent to address the problem discussed. It should be grounded in reliable facts and evidence to support drawing on various sources or stimulate policy formulation and implementation as well as measures and interventions. Relevant recommendations should underpin African migration policy briefs.
The focus should be on synthesizing the information to ease understanding of key African migration trends and on the relevance of the policy recommendations rather than a detailed presentation of the methodological framework.
The policy brief should be structured as the following:
- Title
- Summary
- Recommendations
- Introduction
- Research overview
- Policy implications
- Conclusion
Policy briefs can include boxes, cases, tables, graphics, and photographs as supporting materials. The draft paper should also include the series title, author’s bio, acknowledgement, publication details, and references.
Policy briefs aim to present key research findings and recommendations in clear and accessible language and format to a “non-specialized audience” and suggest robust policy options and recommendations.
Policy briefs should be clear, concise, and short. Full papers must be a maximum of 3,000 words count (excluding abstracts, references, and graphics).
Submissions will undergo double-blinded, open, and transparent peer review. Critics, comments, and suggestions from the reviewers will be notified to the authors. Only policy briefs with high-standard quality will be published.
All submissions for this Policy Briefs Series should be sent to Ibrahima.Dia@africa- union.org
The draft must be an editable electronic version (including diagrams and pictures). Authors who wish to submit draft papers are required to refer to the following guidelines:
The cover page must include the following statement: “The views expressed in this paper do not reflect the views of the African Centre for the Study and Research on Migration and are only those of its independent authors”.
Referencing and footnotes
Citations in-text should be framed as follows:
e.g. (David 2013)
Johnson 2010 ; David 2016)- multiple citations Mukelele and Christian 2016 : 17) – for two authors Johnson, David, Shabaz 2013) – for three authors Kane et al. 2012: 45) – for three or more authors
Provide a full list of references/ bibliography at the end of the paper. Please follow the Harvard Style for the complete list of references. The references should be listed alphabetically with the author’s last name and first initial followed by publication year, starting from the most recent year. Please include all authors for multiple author or editor listings. Please, use italics for titles
For multiple author or editor listings, include all authors. Use italics for titles of books and journals.
Please use only footnotes for explanatory or additional materials. Use of footnotes should be minimized and only for substantive observations or citation of websites, blogs, or social media.
Copyright
Submission considered for inclusion as an AMCSR’s Policy Brief Paper does not prevent or undermine subsequent publication in a book or journal. However, authors must not submit papers that have been accepted for publication due to a copyright agreement with the publisher.
To the extent possible, please ensure that the submission is an original, unpublished work that is not also under review elsewhere for publication. Otherwise, if the paper is an updated version of an already published document, please mention it and ensure there are no conflicting issues regarding the copyright.
Review process
The manuscripts will be subject to a double-blind peer review to be accepted into the final publication in the forthcoming website of the African Centre for the Study and Research on Migration (ACSRM).
After the pre-selection, the authors will be informed, and all the critics, comments, and contributions of the reviewers on the manuscripts will be notified to the authors. The Policy Briefs papers will be only accepted and published once they meet high-quality standards.
Accepted Policy Briefs (will be published…) as repositories on the African Centre for the Study and Research on Migration (ACSRM) website. Manuscript submissions are voluntary. By submitting a manuscript, the authors express their commitment to publishing in the ACSRM’s Policy Brief Series. The authors will receive no honorarium or payment for submitting Policy Briefs to the ACSRM. Publishing in the ACSRM’s Policy Brief Paper Series is free of charge.
For more information, please contact
Ibrahima Amadou Dia,
Director of African Centre for the Study and Research on Migration (ACSRM) African Union Commission (AUC)
Bamako, Mali
Email: Ibrahima.Dia@africa-union.org
