About the Journal

FOCUS AND SCOPE 
The POTRAZ ICT Research Journal (PICTRJ) is a peer-reviewed publication established by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority Zimbabwe (POTRAZ). POTRAZ was established in terms of the country’s Postal and Telecommunications Act Chapter 12:05 of 2001 and is also the designated Cyber and Data Protection Authority in Zimbabwe as per the Cyber and Data Protection Act Chapter 12:07 of 2021. As the national regulator, POTRAZ is dedicated to advancing research and development in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Data Protection, aligning with its mandates. The PICTRJ invites contributions from researchers, academics, and practitioners worldwide. It seeks Through rigorous peer review, the PICTRJ aims to ensure the highest standards of academic excellence. It provides valuable insights for policymakers, industry leaders, and the educational community. The journal aims to foster a wide range of research topics and shape the future development of ICT in Zimbabwe and beyond.  
Editorial Policy: 
POTRAZ adheres to the highest ethical standards in scholarly publishing. All submissions undergo a rigorous double blind peer review process to ensure the quality, originality, and significance of the research. The editorial board is committed to maintaining a fair and transparent review process. 
Types of Submissions: 
The PICTRJ considers a wide variety of submissions that include but not limited to original research papers: Presenting novel research findings and contributions to the field. Review articles: Providing comprehensive surveys of existing literature on specific topics. Technical reports: Describing practical implementations and case studies. Short communications: Reporting preliminary findings or significant results. 
The PICTRJ invites submissions from a wide range of ICT-related disciplines, including: Computer science research articles such as Algorithms, data structures, software engineering, artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer networks, and distributed systems. We welcome Information systems research such as Information management, decision support systems, knowledge management, ICT policy and e-commerce. We also welcome Telecommunications research such as Communication networks, wireless technologies, optical communications, and multimedia systems. Lastly but not least we invite papers on Human computer interaction, i.e. user interface design, usability testing, and virtual reality as well as ICT applications: healthcare, agriculture, mining, education, business, and government. 
FEE 
The journal does not charge or pay authors to publish their work. 
PEER REVIEW PROCESS 
Internal Peer Review Process 
Upon submission, all articles undergo an initial review by the Editorial Committee. The committee evaluates each submission to determine its suitability for the journal, considering factors such as relevance to the journal’s scope, originality, and the quality of the research. Articles may be rejected at this stage if they do not meet the journal's standards or are similar to recently published work. External Double Blind Peer Review Process Selected articles are then subjected to a rigorous double-blind peer review, where the reviewers and authors remain anonymous. The peer review team, consisting of experts in the relevant fields, will carefully assess each manuscript's scientific validity, methodology, and contribution to the field. Reviewers are chosen based on their expertise and previous contributions to the 
journal. Authors receive feedback with the following decisions: accepted as is; requires minor corrections; requires moderate revision; requires major revision; submit to another publication such as; or rejected. This thorough review ensures that the POTRAZ ICT Research Journal maintains high academic and research standards. 
OPEN ACCESS POLICY 
This journal offers immediate, open access to its content. This approach is based on the belief that freely sharing research findings helps foster greater global knowledge exchange and collaboration. 
PLAGIARISM CHECK 
All articles are verified by an anti-plagiarism software, Turnitin, before being submitted to the peer review process, and only those that do not exceed 15% of information taken from other sources are accepted. 
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION 
For authors: When your article is accepted for publication, you will be requested to assign the copyright of your article i.e. granting exclusive dissemination and publication rights to the POTRAZ ICT Research Journal  
For readers: As a reader, you generally have the following rights, to read and study the article, make personal copies for your own use and quote from the article, provided you give proper attribution. You are also supposed to observe the following limitations on commercial use and distribution. You cannot use the article for commercial purposes without obtaining permission from the copyright holder and you cannot distribute copies of the article to others without permission. You cannot create derivative works based on the article without permission. Copyright information may be found at the bottom of each article and in the journal website.  If you accessed the article through an online database, the database may provide copyright information. If you need to reproduce or distribute the article beyond personal use, you must obtain permission from the copyright holder. This typically involves contacting the journal's publisher or the author directly.