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Africa Spectrum

journal

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 6, 2026
Entity authorityQ383918
Source-derived summary

Africa Spectrum (also formerly known as Afrika Spectrum) is an interdisciplinary double-blind peer-reviewed academic journal concentrating on current political, sociological, historical, and development matters in Africa. It was founded in 1966 and was the only German academic journal exclusively devoted to Africa. Today, Africa Spectrum is published in English and is Platinum Open Access. Africa Spectrum is published three times a year by the GIGA Institute of African Affairs. The journal is part of the GIGA Journal Family of the GIGA-Institute of African Affairs (Deutsches Institut für Afrika-Forschung/Institute of African Studies (Hamburg) within the German Institute for Global and Area Studies in (Hamburg, Germany). Issues starting from the year 1966 are available at JSTOR, with a three-year moving wall.

Concept

Africa Spectrum publishes scientific knowledge on politics, societies, and development in Africa, as well as Africa's role in the international system. Africa Spectrum is double-blind peer reviewed and, as of 2024, tied as the highest ranked African studies journal. Its intended audiences are academics, students, general readers, and practitioners with a concern for contemporary Africa. Since 2003, the journal collaborates closely with the Association of Africanists in Germany (Vereinigung für Afrikawissenschaften in Deutschland, VAD).

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Africa Spectrum” as journal. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Africa, Spectrum and journal.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1966, 2024, 2003—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Africa, Spectrum and journal providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Africa Spectrum”, the useful work is to connect “journal” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q383918. 6 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1966, 2024 and 2003.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Africa Spectrum”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Africa Spectrum primary sources, Africa Spectrum archive and Africa research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Africa Spectrum”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Africa Spectrum” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.