The publisher of African Journal of Economic and Management Studies is issuing an Expression of concern for the following article Olaoye O (2023), “Sub-Saharan Africa's rising public debt stock: before another debt relief!”. African Journal of Economic and Management Studies, Vol. 14 No. 1 pp. 86-105, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/AJEMS-03-2022-0105.An investigation by the publisher found that one of the reviews for this article featured multiple verbatim similarities to other reviews provided by the reviewer indicative of the templated content, which raises concerns as to the integrity of the review process. As a result of these concerns and as trust in the content is central to the publication process, the journal and publisher have taken the decision to publish an Expression of Concern. This decision has been informed by COPE's guidelines on Expressions of Concern and Emerald's publishing ethics. Emerald's publishing ethics policies emphasise that peer reviewers are responsible for the reviews they provide and accountable for their accuracy, rigour, and validity.While the article's findings, theoretical contributions, and conclusions remain intact, the journal and publisher have taken the decision to alert readers to these concerns as trust in the content is central to the publication process. The publisher of the journal sincerely apologizes to the readers and authors of this article, who were not found to be involved in any malpractice.
A 2026 study studied this question.