The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) has initiated a project that will enhance excellence of the South African Journal of Science, a no-fee open access journal that has just celebrated continuous publishing for 120 years.

The South African Journal of Science is a peer reviewed multidisciplinary journal that aims to promote the visibility and impact of South African and African research. It publishes high-quality original research from Africa on African-relevant issues for the benefit of scholars, educators, the general public and policymakers. It also provides a forum for discussion of news and developments in research and higher education.

Through the project, ASSAf aims to tackle three challenges: securing timely peer review reports;  copyediting of articles submitted by non-English speakers, and lack of capacity in writing and peer reviewing among emerging researchers. Knowledge and experience gained from the project will be shared with other journals hosted by the Academy of Science of South Africa.

The project is one of 17 that have received grant support through a three-year project to strengthen no-fee open access publishing in Africa, implemented by EIFL, AJOL (African Journals Online) and WACREN (the West and Central African Research and Education Network), with funding from Wellcome.

Timeline

October 2024 - September 2025

Activities

• Extending the use of the ReviewerCredits tool, for which there is a plugin in Open Journal Systems (OJS) , to help find, engage, retain, recognize and reward reviewers;
• Training emerging researchers in writing and peer reviewing;
• Providing copyediting assistance for publishing staff;

Further information about the South African Journal of Science.