Periodic Peer Review of South African Scholarly Journals: Approved Process Guidelines and
Background
At the launch of the ASSAf-led National Scholarly Editors' Forum (NSEF) held on 25 July 2007, 112 participants supported ASSAf and its Committee on Scholarly Publishing in South Africa (CSPiSA) taking the lead in implementing Recommendation 5 of ASSAf 2006 Report on A Strategic Approach to Research Publishing in South Africa.
ASSAf Peer-Review Panels (PRPs)
Initial Criteria
- Editorial Process-related Criteria: Generally Based on the Code of Best Practice
- Business-related Criteria
- Bibliometric Assessments
Report on a group peer review of scientific journals in the field of health sciences and related medical fields. The number of original peer-reviewed papers published per year in the last five years, plus the number of submitted manuscripts, plus the number rejected out of hand or after peer review. The number and nature of peer reviewers used per manuscript and the total number per year, including institutional and national/international spread, plus quality (according to the Code of Best Practice) and average length of peer review reports.
Process Guidelines
- Setting up Panels
- Setting up and Organising the Panels
Consensus Review: The journal is not compatible with leading international journals in the field.
Special Considerations Concerning South African Health Sciences and Related Medical Journals
Panel Members
Consensus Reviews of Journals in the Group
Multi-disciplinary
- South African Medical Journal
- Southern African Journal of Critical Care
- Medical Technology SA
Questionnaire: The journal has been published for 26 years (since 1985), without significant interruptions in publication. The journal's editorial and policy guidelines are in line with the ASSAf National Code of Best Practice in Editorial Discretion and Peer Review. Although the number of published articles is low, the journal has a reasonable spread and is well edited.
Primary Health Care/Nursing
- Health SA Gesondheid
- South African Family Practice
- Africa Journal of Nursing and Midwifery
- Curationis
- African Journal of Primary Health Care and Family Medicine
The journal is not indexed in Thomson Reuters WoS or the ProQuest International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS). The name is unappealing to the wider national and international audience and says little about the focus of the magazine. The magazine is also published on the series of Sabinet SA ePublications databases, a commercial e-publication platform.
Consensus Overview: The magazine is well rounded and appears to provide a place for opinions and discussions relevant to its readership. The aim of the magazine is to provide a forum for South African GPs, and it appears to be doing this very well. The journal is aware of the need for capacity building in scholarly writing and publishing among aspiring writers.
It can also benefit the journal to strengthen the expertise of the editorial staff. The policy on the publication of errata is not clear, but no errata have been observed in the journal. In addition, the Panel believes that the journal is a valuable addition to the health journals of South Africa.
Infection Medicine
- African Journal of AIDS Research
- Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine
- The Southern African Journal of Epidemiology and Infection
The journal is also published online for free (open access) and also as part of a commercial (pay-to-view and/or pay-to-subscribe) e-publication.
Sport Medicine
- International Sportmed Journal
- South African Journal for Research in Sport, Physical Education and Recreation
- The South African Journal of Sport Medicine
- African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and Dance (AJPHERD)
Surgery/Gynaecology/Obstetrics/Radiology
- South African Journal of Surgery (SAJS)
- SA Bone and Joint Surgery
- Southern African Journal of Anesthesia and Analgesia
- South African Orthopedic Journal
- South African Journal of Obstretics and Gynaecology
- South African Journal of Radiology
Consensus review: The journal contains useful additional scholarly features such as editorials, book reviews and letters to the editor. In the period under review, the journal published 31 peer-reviewed original articles, 11 letter-type articles and 31 reviews. The magazine contains value-adding features such as editorials, topical reviews, book reviews and correspondence on published articles.
Consensus review: The journal contains other scientific features such as peer reviews and occasional correspondence. Consensus review: The journal is comparable to the leading international journals in the field, albeit on a smaller scale. The regular print run of the magazine is 1,200 copies per issue; is published by Medpharm Publications (Pty) Ltd.
Consensus review: The journal is suitable as a general ongoing stimulus for local graduate students and junior staff in the discipline. In the period examined, the journal has published 21 peer-reviewed original articles, 14 letter-type articles and four reviews. The general circulation of the journal is 4,876 per number; it is published by HMPG.
The regular circulation of the magazine is 1000 copies per issue; it is published by HMPG.
Psychology (Mental Health)
- Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health
- African Journal of Psychiatry
- South African Journal of Communication Disorders
- South African Journal of Psychiatry
The magazine appears online as part of a commercial (pay-to-view and/or pay-to-subscribe) e-publication service. Consensus review: The journal is very suitable as a general ongoing stimulus for local postgraduate students and junior staff in the discipline, and is comparable to leading international journals in the field. The journal must continue to be listed on the DHET list of accredited journals (over and above its right to this, in terms of policy as a Thomson Reuters WoS indexed journal).
Consensus review: The journal is highly suitable as a general ongoing stimulus for local graduate students and junior staff in the relevant discipline. The normal print run of the magazine is approximately 1,000 copies per issue; it is published by HMPG. To the editor-in-chief's knowledge, the journal has never been independently peer-reviewed before.
The editor-in-chief is not interested in the journal being included in ASSAf's open access platform SciELO-South Africa. Consensus Review: The journal includes editorials and letters to the editor as useful supplementary scholarly articles. The magazine is suitable as a general, ongoing stimulus for local students and junior staff in the field.
The journal must continue to be listed on the DHET's List of Accredited Journals (in addition to its right to do so in terms of policy as a periodical indexed by Thomson Reuters WoS).
Nutrition/Dietetics/Endocrinology/Metabolism
- South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition
- Current Allergy and Clinical Immunology
- Journal of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes of South Africa
Most of the articles are by established researchers; young researchers should also be encouraged to publish in the journal. Questionnaire: The magazine has been published for 22 years, without major interruptions. During the considered period, one original scientific thesis and 77 review articles were published in the journal.
Consensus review: The journal contains mostly reviews and case reports, with very few original research articles. Consensus Review: The journal contains useful additional scientific features such as editorials, thematic reviews and book reviews. Consensus review: The journal is suitable as an ongoing general stimulus for local graduate students and new staff in the discipline in order to present an up-to-date overview of the research discipline.
The journal has previously been independently peer-reviewed; however, the application to MEDLINE was not accepted. Questionnaire: The journal has been published for 14 years, without significant interruptions in publication. Consensus review: The journal is still relatively new, but local researchers in the field should be pre-.
The circulation of the magazine is 2,000 copies per issue; it is published by Medpharm Publications (Pty) Ltd.
Occupational Health/Physiotherapy/Optometry
- Occupational Health Southern Africa
- South African Journal of Occupational Therapy
- South African Journal of Physiotherapy
- The South African Optometrist
- African Safety Promotion
The panel is very concerned about the journal's limited research content; the editorial staff should try to increase this. The journal is part of a commercial (pay-per-view and/or pay-per-subscription) e-publishing service, although at least one article per issue is open access. However, consideration should be given to the need to increase the research content of the journal as noted under Suggested Improvements.
Questionnaire: The magazine is in its 39th year of publication without any significant interruption since the introduction of the current format in the 1960s. The publication frequency of the magazine is three issues per year, and these appear in a given month as pre-scheduled. The journal is included in the EBSCO database and is therefore accessible through university libraries.
The general circulation of the journal is 2,000 copies per year. number, three times a year. During the period under review, the journal published 60 peer-reviewed original articles and six book reviews. During the period under review, the journal published 67 peer-reviewed original articles and 30 book reviews.
The journal is available open access and included in the Sabinet SA-ePublications database.
Cardiology
- SA Heart
- Cardiovascular Journal of South Africa (now called Cardiovascular Journal of Africa)
The journal must not continue to be listed in the list of DHET accredited journals. Consensus review: The editor-in-chief of the journal is of high national and international disciplinary standing and is assisted by an assistant editor and three regional editors. Questionnaire: The journal has been published for 25 years without significant interruptions in publication.
During the period studied, the journal published 213 peer-reviewed original articles (30% case reports), 15 letter-type articles and 50 reviews. The publication frequency of the journal is six issues per year, and issues are published on predetermined given dates. The editor-in-chief had edited the journal as acting editor-in-chief for a year.
The journal contains value-adding scholarly features such as editorials, news and views (occasional), topical reviews, book reviews and correspondence on published articles. The magazine publishes some of the best work done in this field in SA. Consensus Review: The journal contains useful additional scientific features such as editorials, thematic reviews, book reviews and scientific correspondence.
The magazine's circulation is 1,500 copies per issue and is published by Clinics Cardive Publishing.
Dentistry
- South African Dental Journal
The journal should continue to attract more and more contributions from other African countries, which requires participation in the editorial and peer review processes, and lead to a situation where the journal can in effect be a very powerful medium for cardiology progress in Africa. become as a whole. The journal appears online for free via PubMed Central and is hosted on Sabinet SA ePublications database. In the period, the number of published peer-reviewed original articles was 84, of which 38 were letter-type articles and 15 were review articles.
The editor has edited the journal for eight years and was non-competitively appointed after advertisement and a selection process. The magazine contains value-adding features such as news and views, and the member society is allocated one page per issue for such articles. The magazine focuses on local and regional problems and issues, but there is actually very little in the field of dentistry that can be classified as local or regional.
Consensus review: Additional features are adequate (with the exception of thematic reviews, which need to be increased) and the journal is comparable to other top international dental journals affiliated with their dental associations. The publication is suitable as a general ongoing stimulus for local postgraduate students and junior staff in the discipline, particularly for CPD. Consensus review: An editor should be discouraged from authoring or co-authoring journal articles (although this has only happened once).
Rapport om Grouped Peer Review of Scholarly Journals in the Health Sciences and Related Medical Fields Report on Grouped Peer Review of Scholarly Journals in the Health Sciences and Related Medical Fields.
