Redefining scholarly publishing for a global horizon.
Horizon Academic Press is an independent scholarly publishing organisation based in Kampala, Uganda, committed to advancing the creation, communication and accessibility of high-quality academic knowledge.
We believe that important scholarship can emerge from every region, discipline and research community, and that the global scholarly record should reflect the diversity of human knowledge and experience. Our publishing philosophy is built around scholarly rigour, research integrity, transparency, accessibility, technological innovation and the responsible dissemination of knowledge. From our base in East Africa, we serve an international community of researchers, authors, reviewers, editors, institutions, practitioners and readers.
Our ambition is not simply to publish more research, but to contribute to a scholarly communication ecosystem in which good research is rigorously evaluated, transparently communicated, discoverable, accessible and capable of generating meaningful intellectual and societal value.
Our mission
To advance the responsible dissemination of high-quality scholarly knowledge by providing researchers and academic communities with rigorous, transparent, accessible and technologically enabled publishing platforms. We seek to:
- support rigorous scholarly research;
- strengthen ethical and transparent publishing practices;
- expand access to academic knowledge;
- support researchers and scholarly communities;
- promote responsible open-science practices;
- facilitate international scholarly communication; and
- strengthen the connection between research, practice, policy and society.
Our vision
To become a trusted international scholarly publisher recognised for research integrity, editorial quality, technological innovation, inclusive scholarship and responsible open-knowledge dissemination. We envision a publishing ecosystem in which geographical location, institutional resources and economic circumstances do not unnecessarily determine whose research is visible, discoverable or able to contribute to global scholarship.
Who we are
Horizon Academic Press brings together scholars, editors, researchers, publishing professionals and technology specialists to develop modern approaches to academic communication. Although our operational base is in Uganda, our scholarly orientation is international.
We recognise that academic publishing has historically been shaped by significant geographical, institutional and economic asymmetries. We seek to contribute to a more inclusive scholarly ecosystem by providing credible publishing opportunities for researchers across regions while maintaining rigorous standards of editorial assessment and peer review.
Our commitment to global inclusion does not mean lowering scholarly standards — inclusion and rigour are complementary principles. Research is evaluated primarily on its scholarly merit, methodological quality, originality, ethical integrity, relevance and contribution to knowledge, rather than on the geographical origin, institutional prestige or demographic characteristics of its authors. This is consistent with international best-practice guidance, which emphasises editorial decisions based on scholarly merit rather than characteristics such as nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs or religion.
Our publishing philosophy
1. Scholarly rigour
Credible scholarship requires rigorous research design, appropriate methodology, transparent reporting, critical evaluation and responsible interpretation of evidence.
2. Research integrity
We protect the integrity of the scholarly record through appropriate policies on authorship, conflicts of interest, research ethics, plagiarism, research misconduct, peer-review integrity, corrections and retractions. Our publication-ethics framework is informed by internationally recognised principles, including the core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
3. Transparency
Authors, reviewers, editors and readers should understand how our publications are governed, evaluated and disseminated. We therefore make our editorial policies, peer-review processes, publication fees, licensing arrangements, authorship requirements, ethical policies, complaints and appeals procedures, data policies, and correction and retraction procedures clearly available to the scholarly community.
4. Open and accessible scholarship
We support models of scholarly communication that reduce unnecessary barriers to accessing research. Where our journals operate under an open-access model, the applicable access, copyright and licensing conditions are clearly stated for authors and readers.
5. Global scholarly inclusion
We broaden participation in scholarly communication by supporting researchers and communities from diverse geographical, institutional and cultural contexts, with particular attention to perspectives that have historically been under-represented in international scholarship.
6. Responsible technology
We use modern publishing technologies to improve scholarly workflows while maintaining human editorial accountability. Technology should support scholarly judgment, not replace it.
Our editorial platform — Horizon Editorial X (HEX)
Horizon Academic Press runs on Horizon Editorial X (HEX), our own purpose-built editorial and publishing platform. Rather than licensing third-party submission software, we developed HEX so that we can safeguard the integrity, security and long-term stewardship of the scholarly record end to end — from a manuscript's first submission through to its indexed, openly available version of record.
HEX manages the complete publishing workflow: online submission, editorial screening, peer review, production and typesetting, and open publication. It is built on the open standards that connect the wider scholarly ecosystem — including Crossref and DataCite DOIs, ORCID researcher identifiers, JATS article metadata and COUNTER-aligned usage reporting — with long-term digital preservation in view.
The platform also provides advisory research-integrity tooling, including originality and similarity screening and AI-writing checks. Consistent with our principle of responsible technology, these tools inform human editorial judgement as decision support; they never make editorial decisions, which always rest with our editors and reviewers.
Journals or publishers interested in HEX are welcome to contact us.
Open access
Horizon Academic Press supports responsible open-access publishing and seeks to expand the availability of scholarly knowledge to researchers, practitioners, institutions and the wider public. Our initial publishing programme includes Diamond Open Access arrangements for the inaugural volumes of the Horizon Journal of Psychology (HJP). Under this model:
- authors are not charged article processing charges (APCs);
- readers do not pay subscription or article-access fees; and
- published research is made openly accessible subject to the journal's applicable licensing terms.
The specific access, copyright and licensing conditions applicable to each journal are stated on the relevant journal website. We do not present Diamond Open Access as a permanent, publisher-wide promise unless it has been formally adopted across the entire publishing programme; this allows us to develop sustainably while remaining transparent about the model applicable to each publication. See our Open Access policy.
What we publish
Peer-reviewed journals
Our journal programme is being developed around carefully defined disciplinary and interdisciplinary areas. The first journal in the programme is the Horizon Journal of Psychology (HJP) — our flagship title, providing a broad scholarly platform for rigorous research across psychological science. HJP operates independently through its editorial structure and applies its own published policies on editorial governance, peer review, research ethics, authorship, conflicts of interest, research integrity, open science, data availability, corrections and retractions, and appeals and complaints. Browse the journals directory. Further journals may be introduced as the programme develops.
Scholarly books and monographs (coming soon)
We intend to develop a scholarly books programme encompassing research monographs, edited academic volumes, scholarly reference works, professional and academic books, and other research-based publications, subject to appropriate editorial assessment and, where applicable, peer review.
Research and policy publications
We intend to develop formats that help translate scholarly knowledge for audiences beyond conventional journals — research briefs, policy briefs, evidence summaries, technical reports, research communiqués and scholarly commentary. These will be clearly distinguished from peer-reviewed journal articles and will identify the nature and level of editorial or peer review they have received.
Scholarly events and knowledge exchange (developing)
We may support scholarly webinars, workshops, conferences, research dialogues and other knowledge-exchange activities that complement our publishing programme — creating opportunities for scholarly dialogue, research dissemination, professional development, interdisciplinary collaboration, early-career researcher engagement and international academic networking.
Our commitment to open science
Where appropriate to the discipline and study design, we encourage authors to consider preregistration, registered reports, transparent research protocols, open research materials, appropriate data and analysis-code sharing, reproducible analytical workflows, replication research, transparent reporting, and the appropriate use of persistent research identifiers.
Openness must be balanced with legitimate requirements concerning participant privacy, confidentiality, research ethics, intellectual property, legal restrictions, cultural considerations and the protection of sensitive data. Open science at Horizon Academic Press therefore means responsible transparency, not indiscriminate disclosure of research data.
Research integrity and publication ethics
We are committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. Our journals maintain appropriate policies on authorship and contributorship; conflicts of interest; ethical oversight; informed consent; research involving human participants or animals; plagiarism and text recycling; duplicate and redundant publication; fabrication and falsification; image and data manipulation; citation and peer-review manipulation; complaints and appeals; corrections; expressions of concern; retractions; and other post-publication issues. Where applicable, our journals follow the principles and guidance of COPE and other recognised standards relevant to their disciplines. See our Publication Ethics policy.
Editorial independence
Editorial decisions are based on scholarly and ethical considerations. Horizon Academic Press provides the publishing infrastructure and organisational support required for its journals, but editorial decisions are entrusted to each journal's authorised editorial leadership. The publisher does not seek to improperly influence decisions on the acceptance, revision or rejection of individual manuscripts. Editors, reviewers and authors are expected to disclose relevant conflicts of interest and to follow the applicable journal policies. See our Editorial Policies.
Our approach to peer review
Peer review is central to the quality control of our scholarly journals. The specific model is determined and publicly stated by each journal; for example, the Horizon Journal of Psychology currently operates a double-anonymous peer-review model for eligible research articles. Our approach emphasises appropriate reviewer expertise, independence, confidentiality, constructive scholarly assessment, methodological scrutiny, conflict-of-interest management and editorial accountability. Peer reviewers provide expert assessments, while final editorial decisions remain the responsibility of the journal's authorised editors.
Our approach to technology
We are developing a modern digital publishing environment designed to support the scholarly lifecycle from submission to publication and post-publication dissemination. Depending on the journal and stage of implementation, our infrastructure may support online manuscript submission, structured editorial workflows, reviewer management, ORCID integration, scholarly metadata management, DOI registration workflows, automated author and reviewer communications, document management, research-integrity screening, publication production, article-level metadata, digital archiving and preservation workflows, analytics and reporting, and accessibility-oriented digital publication.
We may use carefully governed AI-assisted technologies for selected administrative or workflow functions. AI does not replace editorial judgment, peer review or research-integrity decisions, and any use of AI is subject to appropriate human oversight and to confidentiality, privacy, security and ethical safeguards.
Scholarly identifiers and metadata
Where applicable, we support the use of ORCID iDs, DOIs, standardised author metadata, institutional affiliations, article-level metadata, structured abstracts, keywords, funding information and other persistent scholarly identifiers — so that published research is more discoverable, interoperable, citable and accurately attributable across the scholarly communication ecosystem.
Digital preservation and long-term access
Scholarly publishing includes responsibility for maintaining access to the scholarly record over time. Our journals will implement appropriate digital preservation and backup arrangements as their infrastructure develops. The specific preservation service used by each journal will be publicly identified once formally implemented; we will not claim membership in or use of a preservation service until the relevant arrangement has actually been established.
Author rights, copyright and licensing
We seek clear and transparent arrangements concerning copyright ownership, publishing rights, Creative Commons or other applicable licences, author reuse rights, repository deposition, third-party material and permissions. The specific copyright and licensing terms for each journal are stated before submission and on published content; for open-access publications, licensing information is displayed clearly and consistently. See our Open Access policy.
Accessibility and inclusive scholarly communication
We seek to make scholarly content accessible to the widest reasonable audience, and are committed to progressively improving website accessibility, digital document accessibility, readable article formats, discoverability, inclusive language, accessible research communication and equitable participation in scholarly publishing. Accessibility is treated as an ongoing responsibility rather than a one-time compliance exercise.
A global scholarly community
Our geographic location is part of our identity, but it does not define the limits of our scholarly community. From Uganda and East Africa, we seek to facilitate scholarly communication across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Oceania. We particularly value research that brings evidence from diverse populations and contexts into international scholarly conversations. Our aim is not to create a separate "regional" ecosystem, but to contribute to a more geographically representative global scholarly record.
Supporting early-career researchers
Where appropriate, our publishing and scholarly-development initiatives may support early-career and doctoral researchers, emerging and interdisciplinary scholars, researchers from under-represented contexts, and researchers developing international publishing experience. Support does not mean preferential publication: all manuscripts remain subject to the applicable editorial, peer-review and research-integrity standards of the relevant journal.
Our core values
- Rigour — research that is theoretically sound, methodologically appropriate and transparently reported.
- Integrity — protecting the credibility of the scholarly record.
- Transparency — communicating our policies, processes and publishing conditions clearly.
- Accessibility — reducing unnecessary barriers to scholarly knowledge.
- Inclusion — valuing diverse researchers, populations, cultures, disciplines and perspectives.
- Innovation — using technology responsibly to improve scholarly communication.
- Independence — protecting scholarly editorial judgment from inappropriate external influence.
- Impact — valuing research that contributes meaningfully to scholarship, practice, policy and society.
Our publishing ecosystem
Horizon Academic Press is being developed as a connected scholarly ecosystem rather than simply a collection of journals. Our long-term infrastructure is intended to support the full lifecycle: research → submission → editorial assessment → peer review → publication → discovery → open dissemination → citation and reuse → post-publication scholarly dialogue. This lifecycle approach lets us support researchers beyond the moment of publication.
Quality before scale
As an emerging publisher, we recognise that credibility is built over time. Our priority is quality before rapid expansion. We will progressively develop our journal portfolio, editorial infrastructure, reviewer community, publishing technologies and scholarly partnerships while maintaining clear standards for editorial governance and publication integrity. We will not treat the number of journals, articles or authors as a substitute for scholarly quality.
Join the Horizon academic community
Whether you are a researcher looking for a rigorous and accessible venue for your scholarship, an editor interested in contributing to responsible scholarly publishing, a peer reviewer willing to provide rigorous and constructive evaluation, an institution seeking publishing or research-communication partnerships, a practitioner or policymaker interested in evidence for practice and decision-making, or a reader seeking credible scholarly knowledge — we welcome your engagement. Explore publishing with Horizon, reviewing for