Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I submit an article to AJOL or find author guidelines for a journal?
2. How do I find the contact details of a particular journal?
3. How do I find out if I qualify to download a specific article? How does AJOL’s graded payment scheme for article downloads work?
4. Can one pay for an AJOL article via means other than a credit card?
5. Why are certain articles unavailable for download?
6. My article did not download after my completed order – what do I do?
7. I tried to login but have lost my password. What do I do?
8. I am an author of an article on AJOL and would like a free copy of the article. Who do I contact in that regard?
9. What does this sign mean?
10. Does AJOL run a subscription service?
11. Which AJOL titles have Impact Factors?
12. I would like permission to reprint/use an article (or part thereof) indexed on AJOL? Can AJOL give me permission for that or how should I go about it?
13. Why are some titles out of date? Does it mean they are no longer publishing?
14. Why is my IP range and country not being picked up by the system?

 

*If you have a suggestion for an FAQ that is not answered here, please get in touch!

 

1. How do I submit an article to AJOL or find author guidelines for a journal?

   AJOL is not the publisher of the journals you see on the AJOL website, so papers cannot be submitted to us directly. Online submissions are currently only being accepted by a small number of journals - details of these titles will be added here soon. Otherwise please submit your article to the journal editor directly either via email or post. Contact details as well as the author guidelines for all the journals can be found on their home pages under the green ‘about’ tab at the top of the page. Please do not submit your article to AJOL.

2. How do I find the contact details of a particular journal?

   Comprehensive contact details for all the journals can be found by visiting the journal’s AJOL-home page and clicking on the green ‘about’ tab near the top of the page. Journal editors and staff can not be contacted through AJOL – they must be contacted directly.

3. How do I find out if I qualify to download a specific article? How does AJOL’s graded payment scheme for article downloads work?

   AJOL uses IP address identification and user registration details to determine where a user is located in the world. Prices for subscription based journals are charged according to the country the user is ordering from. Users from Low-Income Countries (only) are entitled to order 3 free articles per month and there after pay according to lower-middle income country rates. To find out your country’s classification (according to the World Bank) please click here: http://data.worldbank.org/about/country-classifications. Our pricing scheme is listed below. (Note: All articles from Open Access titles are free to download at all times.)

    

   Country Type*	Delivery Type	Charge in US$
   Low-income country	Monthly quota (maximum 3) free	$ 0
   Lower Middle-income country	AJOL-subsidized	$ 9
   Upper Middle-income country	AJOL-subsidized	$ 15
   High-income country	Full rates	$ 27
   * Country type classification is based on World Bank lists (Excel link on that site) updated annually

    

4. Can one pay for an AJOL article via means other than a credit card?

   Unfortunately AJOL does not accept any other means of payment other than credit card. These payments must be made via the online credit card system (2CheckOut) for verification of the transaction. However, articles can be purchased in advance (in bulk) by means of a pre-paid article bundle. More details on this option can found here: How to use AJOL for Librarians

5. Why are certain articles unavailable for download?

   AJOL is still in the process of populating the site with the corresponding PDF files for all the articles. At this stage the site is 85% complete so please bear with us while we upload the last of the files. In many cases the articles may be available on another site so please do use these links to access the articles where possible.

6. My article did not download after my completed order – what do I do?

   Article PDF files should automatically download and open up on one’s pc on completion of the download. If this did not occur then please login to the AJOL website again. Once logged in you will see a green link on the extreme left of the screen called 'view past orders'. Please click on this link to open a list of your previous orders made from the AJOL site – you should see the article listed here and be able to download the PDF successfully once again.

7. I tried to login but have lost my password. What do I do?

   Try login to the AJOL site as usual (even if you don’t enter a password) – then click the green ‘forgot your password?’ link. This will then ask you to enter your email address. Do so and then go straight to your email (do not click ‘log in’ on the AJOL site). Open the new email received from AJOL and click the link/URL included in that email. You will then be directed to an AJOL page which will read “A new password has been sent to your email address. You may now login to the site with your new password”. Once again, go directly back to your inbox and open the 2nd new email received from AJOL. This email will read “Your password has been successfully reset…” and will list your username and new password in it. You can then go to the website and then attempt to login again using your new details received in that 2nd email.

   Once logged in you will receive the option to change the new password to something more user-friendly. You can then enter the password from the email (generated password) and then select your new password and enter this into the two fields below that (2nd & 3rd empty fields). You should then be suitably logged into the AJOL website with your new personalised password.

8. I am an author of an article on AJOL and would like a free copy of the article. Who do I contact in that regard?

   Please contact the journal editor in this instance. Contact details for the journal editor are found on the journal’s home page under the green ‘about’ link. You can then send your request for a complementary author copy to him/her directly. If they give you permission to access it from AJOL the editor/publisher needs to email that permission through to us so that we can release a copy of the file.

9. What does this sign mean?

   This symbol is found next to all the ‘Open Access’ (OA) titles indexed on AJOL. Open Access means the articles do not have a charge on them and are therefore free for anyone to download. The full-texts of these articles are available on either the AJOL website or the journal’s own website. Please note that open access does not mean it has no copyright.

10. Does AJOL run a subscription service?

    AJOL is not a publisher and therefore does not run a subscription service to our website. Users wishing to purchase hard copy subscriptions will need to contact the journal in question directly. Contact details for the journal editor are found on the journal’s home page under the green ‘about’ tab near the top of the page. AJOL does have an option to purchase bulk-articles in advance at slightly discounted rates by means of a pre-paid article bundle. More details on this option can be found here.

11. Which AJOL titles have Impact Factors?

    AJOL is currently accumulating this information and will list the titles concerned here soon.

12. I would like permission to reprint/use an article (or part thereof) indexed on AJOL? Can AJOL give me permission for that or how should I go about it?

    As AJOL is not the publisher of these journals we unfortunately cannot give permission for articles or part thereof to be reprinted. Please contact the journal editor/publisher in this case with your permission request. Contact details for the journal editor are found on the journal’s home page under the green ‘about’ tab near the top of the page.

13. Why are some titles out of date? Does it mean they are no longer publishing?

    It is possible that the journals are still publishing but have failed to submit their more recent issues to AJOL. The AJOL site is updated when the journals send new issues for uploading and if AJOL cannot reach the journal to request more recent work it is possible that the journal is still functional but that the contact details for the title are merely outdated. In cases where AJOL is sure of the journal ceasing publication, a note has been put on the journal’s home page. In other cases, some titles are still functional but are behind schedule in terms of their publication output.

14. Why is my IP range and country not being picked up by the system?

    Depending on your internet connection the system may not be able to accurately determine your IP range. If you are experiencing problems in this regard please do contact us at info@ajol.info so we can help you.