Journal of African Cultural Studies

Aims & Scope

The Journal of African Cultural Studies publishes leading scholarship on African culture from inside and outside Africa, with a special commitment to Africa-based authors and to African languages.

Our editorial policy encourages an interdisciplinary approach, involving humanities, including environmental humanities.

The journal focuses on dimensions of African culture, performance arts, visual arts, music, cinema, the role of the media, the relationship between culture and power, as well as issues within such fields as popular culture in Africa, sociolinguistic topics of cultural interest, and culture and gender.

We welcome in particular articles that show evidence of understanding life on the ground, and that demonstrate local knowledge and linguistic competence.

We do not publish articles that offer mostly textual analyses of cultural products like novels and films, nor articles that are mostly historical or those based primarily on secondary (such as digital and library) sources.

The journal has evolved from the journal African Languages and Cultures, founded in 1988 in the Department of the Languages and Cultures of Africa at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London.

From 2019, it is published in association with the International African Institute, London.

Journal of African Cultural Studies publishes original research articles.

The journal also publishes an occasional Contemporary Conversations section, in which authors respond to current issues.

The section has included reviews, interviews and invited response or position papers.

We welcome proposals for future Contemporary Conversations themes.

View Aims & Scope

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Metrics & Ranking

Journal Rank

Year	Value
2024	14054

Journal Citation Indicator

Year	Value
2024	120

SJR (SCImago Journal Rank)

Year	Value
2024	0.389

Quartile

Year	Value
2024	Q1

h-index

Year	Value
2024	23

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Abstracting & Indexing

Journal is indexed in leading academic databases, ensuring global visibility and accessibility of our peer-reviewed research.

• Scopus
• Google Scholar

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Subjects & Keywords

Journal’s research areas, covering key disciplines and specialized sub-topics in Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences, designed to support cutting-edge academic discovery.

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Most Cited Articles

The Most Cited Articles section features the journal's most impactful research, based on citation counts. These articles have been referenced frequently by other researchers, indicating their significant contribution to their respective fields.

• Rethinking African culture and identity: the Afropolitan model

  Citation: 96

  Authors: Chielozona

• African cuisines: Recipes for nationbuilding?

  Citation: 96

  Authors: Igor

• Dakar Wolof and the configuration of an urban identity

  Citation: 74

  Authors: Fiona

• The myths surrounding people with albinism in South Africa and Zimbabwe

  Citation: 72

  Authors: Charlotte, Patricia, Richard, Julie

• Sheng: Peer language, Swahili dialect or emerging Creole?

  Citation: 66

  Authors: Chege

• ‘Why I am (still) not an Afropolitan’

  Citation: 53

  Authors: Emma

• Cosmopolitanism with African roots. Afropolitanism's ambivalent mobilities

  Citation: 52

  Authors: Susanne

• Agency in tight corners: Narrative and initiative in African history

  Citation: 50

  Authors: John

• Nairobi is a shot of whisky: queer (Ob) scenes in the city

  Citation: 47

  Authors: Eddie

• Homi Bhabha's Third Space and African identity

  Citation: 47

  Authors: Fetson

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