Focus and Scope

The South African Journal of Science is an English, multidisciplinary science journal published bimonthly. We invite original research articles and provide a forum for discussion of news and developments in science and research. Since the Journal serves a multidisciplinary readership, original articles should serve multidisciplinary or multi-institutional areas of interest, and authors are requested to write their papers and reports in a manner and style that is intelligible to specialists and nonspecialists alike.

Section Policies

Book Reviews

The Journal has space for the publication of relatively few book reviews, but will always try to find room for opinions on books with particular reference to Africa or else works which are exceptional accounts of their subject. In addition, the Journal lists newly published books which appear to be worth drawing to the attention of librarians and select readers. Readers are invited to recommend titles that have particularly taken their fancy.

Advice to Reviewers: Reviewers should bear in mind that the objectives of the book-review section are:

1. to provide a scholarly assessment of newly published books;
2. to interest a general readership in this part of the literature of a subject; and
3. to help scientists and librarians to decide which books to buy.

The article, however short, should be more than an abstract of the contents. Attempt to write around the subject, personalities or ideas involved, at the same time conveying the flavour of the book and including a critical evaluation of how well the author or editors have succeeded in their task.

Please include the following information with the review: Name of book; author(s)/editor(s); number of pages; publisher; city of publication; year of publication; ISBN number; price. Ensure to upload a copy of the front cover image in step 4 of the online submission process.

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

News and Views

News and views articles opine on important recent developments either in the published literature or at conferences.

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Correspondence

Readers are welcome to submit letters to the editor for publication relating to articles published recently in the journal. The editor reserves the right to edit such correspondence to shorten it.

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Commentary

Opinion pieces about current issues that affect the practice of science and its role in society.

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Research Articles

Articles should serve multidisciplinary or multi-institutional areas of interest. They should be the original work of the authors named and be written in a manner which is intelligible to specialists in other fields and be of more than specialist interest. Authors should aim at an upper limit of 6 000 words and try to restrict themselves to no more than six display items (tables and figures). They do not generally have more than 50 references.

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Research Letters

These are shorter reports on original research and ideally are no longer than 2 000 words of text. They should be up-to-date accounts, usually preliminary, of scientific findings worth reporting in a multidisciplinary (rather than a specialist) journal. Although these reports may be concerned with very particular advances, they should be written in a manner which is intelligible to readers in other fields. They do not generally have more than 25 references.

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Review Articles

These should be either up-to-date surveys of unfamiliar topics, or else relatively novel interpretations of familiar subjects. The criteria of novelty and comprehensive review of the literature are firmly applied. The subject-matter should ideally be of particular relevance to researchers in Africa. Authors should aim at an upper limit of 6 000 words.

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Conference Announcement

Open Submissions

Indexed

Peer Reviewed

Peer Review Process

Peer reviewers are asked to make every reasonable effort to ensure the following criteria are taken into account for submitted manuscripts they have agreed to peer review:

• All manuscripts submitted for review will undergo a double-blind review process.
• Unbiased consideration should be given to each manuscript, judging each on its merits without regard to the race, religion, nationality, sex, seniority or institutional affiliation of the author.
• Manuscripts should be dealt with and processed according to the timeframes set out by OJP.
• The quality of the manuscript, and its experimental and theoretical work, its interpretations, and its exposition will be judged objectively.
• The peer review process will be kept confidential.
• Conflicts of interest must be declared.
• Referees' judgements must be explained and supported. Any statement that an observation, derivation or argument has been previously reported must be accompanied by the relevant citation, and unsupported assertions must be avoided.
• Whilst the review of a manuscript may justify criticism, even severe criticism, under no circumstances is personal or malicious criticism of the author appropriate or acceptable.
• Reviewers may be asked to re-appraise a manuscript that was referred back to the authors after a first-round review.
• In cases where reviewers provide substantively different ratings, a manuscript will be sent to an arbitrator for a final verdict.
• Reviewers respect the confidentiality of the review process and the proprietary rights of those who have submitted manuscripts.
• Reviewers must decline a request to review others’ manuscripts if they are aware of a conflict of interest, or they should disclose the nature of the conflict of interest to the Editor.
• Reviewers may decline the request to review the work of others if they believe the process may be biased or if they have questions about the authenticity or integrity of the reported research.

If you would like to become a reviewer, please visit the following link for a reference video on how to conduct a review online through the OJS software. This will serve as guidance on how to complete your review online.

Following the review the Editor will evaluate the review reports and make a final decision.

The outcome will be categorised as one of the following:

• Acceptable as is (apart from editorial changes)
• Acceptable, but requires minor revision (to the satisfaction of the Editor)
• Requires major revision and reconsideration (Requires re-review)
• Reject, not acceptable for publication in th South African Journal of Science

 

Publication Frequency

South African Journal of Science publishes six issues yearly, the intervals are Jan/Feb. Mar/Apr, May/June, July/Aug, Sep/Oct, Nov/Dec.

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its online journal content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Print issues are available on order, at a cost.

Archiving

This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. More..

Document Availability:
British Library Document Supply Centre (8340.000000)
C I S T I
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (C N R S), Institut de l'Information Scientifique et Technique (INIST)
Chemical Abstracts Service Document Detective Service
German National Library of Medicine
Information Express
Infotrieve
IngentaConnect
Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology, Document Delivery Services
Thomson Reuters

Abstracting & Indexing Sources (active, electronic):
Abstracts in Anthropology
Abstracts on Hygiene and Communicable Diseases
AgBiotech News and Information
Agricultural Engineering Abstracts
Agroforestry Abstracts (Online)
Animal Behavior Abstracts
Animal Breeding Abstracts
Anthropological Index Online
Anthropological Literature (coverage dropped)
Aquatic Sciences & Fisheries Abstracts
BIOBASE (vol.92, 1996-)
Biocontrol News and Information
Biofuels Abstracts
Biological Abstracts
BIOSIS Previews
Botanical Pesticides Abstracts
C A B Abstracts (Online)
C S A Human Population & Natural Resource Management
C S A Sustainability Science Abstracts (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts)
Chemical Abstracts
Chemistry Citation Index (coverage dropped)
Crop Physiology Abstracts
Current Abstracts (Jan.2000-)
Current Awareness in Biological Sciences
Current Contents: Agriculture, Biology & Environmental Sciences
Dairy Science Abstracts
EBSCOhost
+  Academic Search Alumni Edition (2/1/1995-)
+  Academic Search Complete (2/1/1995-)
+  Academic Search Elite (2/1/1995-)
+  Academic Search Premier (2/1/1995-)
+  Environment Complete (2/1/1995-)
+  Environment Index (2/1/1995-)
+  GeoRef
+  Science and Technology (2/1/1995-)
+  TOC Premier (Table of Contents) (2/1/1995-)
Ecology Abstracts (Bethesda)
Entomology Abstracts
Environmental Engineering Abstracts (Online Edition)
Excerpta Medica. Abstract Journals (coverage dropped)
Elsevier BV
+  GEOBASE
+  Scopus (1973-)
Field Crop Abstracts
FLUIDEX (coverage dropped)
Food Science and Technology Abstracts (coverage dropped)
Forest Products Abstracts
Forestry Abstracts
Global Health
Grasslands and Forage Abstracts
H.W. Wilson
+  Library Literature & Information Science Retrospective (1941/01-1941/01)
Helminthological Abstracts
Horticultural Science Abstracts
I B Z - Internationale Bibliographie der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Zeitschriftenliteratur
I N I S Atomindex (Online Edition) (International Nuclear Information System)
Index to South African Periodicals
Index Veterinarius
International Index to Black Periodicals (2001-2006)
Internationale Bibliographie der Rezensionen Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlicher Literatur
Irrigation and Drainage Abstracts
Leisure, Recreation and Tourism Abstracts
Leisure Tourism Database
Maize Abstracts (Online)
Meteorological and Geoastrophysical Abstracts
Microbiology Abstracts
Nematological Abstracts
Nutrition Abstracts and Reviews
National Library of Medicine
+  PubMed
OCLC
+  ArticleFirst (vol.86, no.1, 1990-vol.105, no.5, 2009)
+  Arts and Humanities Search (vol.76, no.1, 1980-vol.105, no.9-10, 2009)
+  Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management
+  GEOBASE
+  GeoRef
Organic Research Database
Ornamental Horticulture
Ovid
+  GeoRef
+  Inspec (pre-1969-Sep.1977, dropped)
Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes News (coverage dropped)
Pig News & Information
Plant Breeding Abstracts
Plant Genetic Resources Abstracts
Plant Growth Regulator Abstracts
Pollution Abstracts
Postharvest News and Information
Potato Abstracts
Poultry Abstracts
Protozoological Abstracts
Reactions Weekly (coverage dropped)
Research into Higher Education Abstracts (coverage dropped)
Review of Agricultural Entomology & Review of Medical and Veterinary Entomology
Review of Aromatic and Medicinal Plants
Review of Medical and Veterinary Mycology
Review of Plant Pathology
Rice Abstracts (coverage dropped)
Rural Development Abstracts
Scopus
Seed Abstracts
Soils and Fertilizers
Soybean Abstracts (Online)
Speleological Abstracts
Sugar Industry Abstracts
Toxicology Abstracts (coverage dropped)
TropAg & Rural
Tropical Diseases Bulletin
Thomson Reuters
+  Arts & Humanities Citation Index (coverage dropped)
+  Science Citation Index Expanded
+  Web of Science
Veterinary Bulletin
Veterinary Science Database
Virology and AIDS Abstracts
Vitis - Viticulture and Oenology Abstracts (Online)
Water Resources Abstracts (Online, Bethesda)
Weed Abstracts
Wheat, Barley and Triticale Abstracts
World Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology Abstracts
World Banking Abstracts (Feb.1995-)
Zoological RecordAbstracting & Indexing

Sources(active, print-only):
Abstracts of Mycology

Abstracting & Indexing Sources(active, other):
Index to Scientific Reviews

 

Editorial Board

Roseanne Diab (Chair), School of Environmental Sciences, University of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa.

Jonathan Jansen, Rector: University of the Free State, South Africa.

Christopher McQuaid, Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, South Africa.

Albert Modi, Department of Crop Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Gansen Pillay, National Research Foundation, Pretoria, South Africa.

History of the Journal

The South African Journal of Science was established in 1903 as the proceedings of the annual meetings of the SA Association for the Advancement of Science. The annual volume became a monthly publication in August 1947. Since 1973, the Journal has in turn had a close association with Macmillan Journals in London (the then publisher of Nature), the Associated Scientific and Technical Societies of SA (AS&TS), the Foundation for Education, Science and Technology, and the National Research Foundation of South Africa. The Journal title is now owned by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) since 2002, and published by OpenJournals Publishing, a division of AOSIS (Pty) Ltd since 2010.