This is the seventh in a series of discipline-grouped reviews of South African scientific journals. Finally, I acknowledge the contribution of the many individual reviewers who have each contributed to strengthening the quality of South African scientific journals.
1 Periodic Peer Review of South African Scholarly Journals: Approved Process Guidelines and Criteria
- Background
- ASSAf Peer Review Panels (PRPs)
- Initial Criteria
- Editorial process-related criteria: Generally based on the National Code of Best Practice in Editorial Discretion and Peer Review developed by ASSAf
- Business-related Criteria
- Bibliometric Assessments
- Process Guidelines for Setting up the Panels, Peer Reviewers, Panel Meetings and Reports for the Subject Peer Review of Journals
- Background to ASSAf Peer Review Panels
- Role of the Scholarly Publishing Unit
- Setting up Panels
- Selecting Panel Members
- Criteria for Membership
- Conflict of Interest
- Organising the Panels
- Selection of Peer Reviewers (See above)
- Panel Meetings and Procedures Preparations
- Post-meeting Procedures and Panel Reports
The organization of the panel is led by its chairman, supported by the designated project manager. Consensus on each of the criteria should be agreed serially according to a convener's oral summary and noted by the project manager present.
2 Special Considerations Concerning South African Architecture, Built Environment and Engineering
The convener should identify any editor's comments that could materially change the recommendations in the minutes and submit them to the panel for review and decision. Related to this is the need to reflect changing demographics in relevant academic departments and professions versus contributions to scientific journals in relevant fields.
3 Panel Members
4 Consensus Reviews of Journals in the Group
Architecture and Built Environment .1 Acta Structilia
The inclusion of a greater variety of scholarly elements could improve the journal's readership. The journal's editorial process is managed using an online management system, mostly via e-mail.
The journal should continue to be listed on the DHET list of accredited journals
- Architecture SA
The magazine contains a good example of the best work done in the country in this field - a lot of very high quality architecture is produced. In practice, this means that the magazine is a good showcase for the work in South Africa. The owner of the magazine is the SAIA and is published by Picasso Headline.
The Publisher/Editor should not be invited to join the SciELO SA platform at this stage
It is recommended that at least 50% on average of the journals’ content be scholarly or research-oriented to justify the DHET status
The Editor should seriously consider implementing the above recommendations
In 2000, the then owner of the journal (South African Planning Institute) issued a tender to all universities in South Africa to bid for the editorship of the journal. The board provides specific topical expertise and also oversees and ensures that the standard of the journal is maintained as the official publication of SACPLAN. An agreement was made with the Namibia Institute of Town and Regional Planners that all their members could become subscribers to the journal.
The journal should continue to be listed on the DHET accredited list
There is a need to expand the readership and authorship beyond the borders of South Africa and develop a strategy to this end, which may involve recruiting non-South African members to the editorial board. The editor should seriously consider opening the newsroom and the editorial board to wider participation, e.g. However, these must be clearly separated from peer-assessed work (a minimum of 50% of peer-assessed work is recommended).
The Panel advises that strict timelines be put in place for achieving these recommendations
The journal should seriously consider opening up the editorship and Editorial Board to a wider participation e.g. across universities and the professions
- Chemical Engineering
- South African Journal of Chemical Engineering
Formal errors and layout that does not conform to journal guidelines are checked by the Editor-in-Chief of the Institute of Chemical Engineers (IChemE-UK). The journal does not publish value-added content such as critical editorials and reviews. 100% of the pages in each issue are peer-reviewed original material. The move to the Elsevier platform is expected to encourage more established researchers, both local and international, to publish in the journal.
The Editor should be invited to join the SciELO SA platform however it is currently under publishing license with Elsevier
It is very suitable as a general ongoing stimulus for local postgraduate students and young staff. This compares very favorably with the CiteScore of 2.79 for the research journal of the British Institute of Chemical Engineers, Chemical Engineering Research and Design. The Editor should be invited to join the SciELO SA platform, but it is currently under publishing license with Elsevier.
The Editor should seriously consider limiting the number of papers published by members of the Editorial Board. Articles sourced via national and international
SAJCE is owned by the South African Institute of Chemical Engineers and is now published by Elsevier as part of IChemE's open access journals. All content on or accessed from the Website is owned by SAIChE and is protected by copyright. Consensus review: An editor should seriously consider limiting the number of articles published by editorial board members.
In addition, the Panel believes the journal covers a wide of range topics relevant to the South African industry
- Civil Engineering .1 Concrete Beton
The journal is in the process of being aligned with the ASSAf Code of Best Practice. The regular circulation of the magazine is 1,200 copies per issue, and production and distribution is carried out by an external contractor. Every paid member of the Concrete Society of Southern Africa receives a copy of the magazine.
The journal should only continue to be listed on the DHET accredited list if the Editorial Board addresses the focus of the publication as a scholarly journal
The policy of the journal must be redefined and decisions must be made on important aspects such as intended target audience, number of articles included and percentage of commercial advertising. For a publication to be seen as a journal and not a journal, the majority of the content of each volume (at least 50%) of the journal must be peer-reviewed original content. In general, the policy of the magazine must be redefined and decisions must be made about important aspects such as: target audience, number of articles included and percentage of commercial advertising.
The Publisher/Editor should not be invited to join the SciELO SA platform
In its current form, the journal is more informative for the local community of engineers and scholars, rather than a reference point for the international peer community. Payment for access to a specific issue (or research article) should be an option, instead of only giving access to the members of the Concrete Association of Southern Africa. The journal must only continue to be listed on the DHET accredited list if the Editorial Board addresses the focus of the publication as a subject journal.
The Editor should seriously consider strengthening the limited additional scholarly features
To increase the interest of authors (after indexing), an online management system for the editorial workflow is necessary. Finally, the editors should consider the possibility of publishing a purely scientific journal in addition to the one under review.
In addition, the Panel believes that the journal may fall somewhat short in terms of original, technical papers
- IMIESA
All material in IMIESA magazine is copyright protected and may not be reproduced without prior permission from the publisher. The purpose of the journal must be to disseminate research results and the content must support learning, teaching and research at a high level within the relevant subject area". The journal must have an editorial board with more than two-thirds of the editorial board members from a single institution." (Criterion 5.10f).
The journal should not continue to be listed on the DHET accredited list
IMIESA is a business/sectoral magazine rather than a scholarly journal
- Journal of Construction
The journal must have an editorial board with more than two-thirds of the editorial members in addition to a single institution.". The journal is not indexed in any major index, and it does not have an impact factor. While the free and open access to the journal is commendable, the limited circulation and reach is noteworthy.
The Editor should seriously consider the suggested recommendations
In addition, the journal should consider better balance in the Editorial Board
- Journal of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering
The article will then appear in the next available print and online edition of the magazine. New Editorial Panel members would attract international scholars to publish in the journal. This would eventually raise the position of SAICE magazine in the international market.
The journal is already on the SciELO SA platform
Currently the editorial workflow is managed manually, but the journal is in the process of developing an online submission system. The magazine has had offers to buy from multinational publishers, but is not for sale. The journal has not been independently peer-reviewed before, but is accredited by ISI and on the SciELO SA platform.
The journal should seriously consider the recommendations in this report
- Energy and Electrical Engineering .1 Journal of Energy in Southern Africa
The journal was previously independently peer-reviewed by ASSAf in 2014 (commissioned by the Department of Science and Technology). JESA can approach the university to ask for help in publishing the magazine. The journal is a periodical listed in Scopus/ISI and is therefore on one of the accredited lists of DHET.
The Editor should seriously consider the recommended improvements listed in this review
- SAIEE Africa Research Journal
Consensus review: The journal is also a suitable stimulus for local graduate students and new researchers in the specific discipline. The quality of the published articles is of a high standard, which ensures that the journal is internationally accepted. The journal is listed in the Scopus database, but other lists can be examined to improve visibility.
The Publisher/Editor should be invited to join the SciELO SA platform
For each article it might consider including information on dates of first receipt, revisions and final version, etc. Because it publishes in all areas of electrical and electronic engineering, the journal might consider introducing special issues or articles in categorize disciplines.
The Panel believes that this journal is of high importance for the South African community of electrical, electronics, computer, information and communication
- Industrial Engineering
- South African Journal of Industrial Engineering
The members of the Editorial Advisory Board have held their positions since the journal was founded in 1987. The journal aims to cover most relevant and relevant topics in the broad field of industrial engineering. There is no direct financial sponsorship, the magazine is helped in the form of "personal hours".
The Editor and the SAIIE should seriously consider implementing these recommendations
- Mechanical Engineering .1 R&D Journal
Consensus assessment: The Southern African Institute for Industrial Engineering may consider increasing the online availability of the journal to improve citations and impact. Consensus assessment: The articles published by the journal are of a high standard and generally have excellent archival value. The journal should seriously consider increasing the number of publications to increase the publication's visibility by online search engines.
The Editor should seriously consider the recommended improvements listed in this review
- Mining and Geology
- Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
Although there were no errors reported in the issues that were reviewed, the journal has an erroneous policy of publishing errors in a later copy of the journal. Each year there is a one-day Student Colloquium and the best papers are published in a special Student Edition of the journal. The regular print run was 3,675 in the review period, but is currently 2,750 as an increasing number of members choose to receive an electronic copy of the journal.
The Editor should seriously consider the recommended improvements listed in this review
- South African Journal of Geology
However, you will be charged for the cost of color illustrations in the printed version of the magazine. Consensus overview: The focus of the journal could be sharpened to provide more empirical data on the geology of South Africa, southern Africa and Africa as a whole. The journal could look to publish more articles on the nature of some of the many ore deposits in South Africa, Southern Africa and Africa.
The journal is an ISI-listed periodical and hence is on one of the recognised lists of the DHET. It should be retained as a DHET recognised journal
It is distributed to individual and institutional members of the Geological Society of South Africa within South Africa, Africa and the rest of the world; the statistics are South Africa 2 043, Africa 40 and internationally 247. SAJG is published on Geoscienceworld.org and access with a password requires membership of the parent society. The journal is an ISI-listed periodical and is therefore on one of the recognized lists of DHET.
The Publisher/Editor should be invited to join the SciELO SA platform once the SciELO- related criteria have been met
The journal is indexed on CAB international, Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts, Geo Abstracts, IBZ, Mineralogical Abstracts, Current Contents, Research Alert and SciSearch. Some of the best papers ever published in the long history of SAJG are those documenting basic geological data, and this should be maintained, even if it does not necessarily lead to an immediate high readership or impact, but will still be read for years to come decades. The journal could publish more articles on formal stratigraphic subdivisions of South Africa as well as new age data as they become available.
Furthermore the Panel believes that this journal is of great importance for the South African geological community, and an essential space for students and young
- Multidisciplinary
- Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology
The journal has a very wide reach through its international authors and editorial advisory board, and institutional subscribers worldwide. EAB occasionally provides subject-specific expertise, but generally they are experts covering the scope of the journal. Consensus Review: The discipline-specific representation of editorial members should ideally reflect the journal's goals, intended coverage, and core audience.
The Publisher/Editor should be invited to join the SciELO SA platform should the business relationship between the journal and Emerald Group changes
The publisher/editor must be invited to join the SciELO SA platform if the business relationship between the journal and Emerald Group changes.
The journal should consider opening up the editorship and Editorial Board to wider participation
Appendix A
Questionnaire Sent to Each Editor of Journals being Peer-Reviewed
Purpose of journal, positioning, focus, scope, readership, etc
Editorial process-related criteria
Business-related criteria
Bibliometric assessments
General
Appendix B
Requests to Independent Peer Reviewers
