Scholarly Publishing Programme

The Scholarly Publishing Programme (SPP) is regarded as a major intervention within the National System of Innovation (NSI) in South Africa. The strategic goal of the SPP is to enhance the national capacity to produce and publish research, on the one hand, and to increase the quality and visibility of South African research publications, on the other. The SPP is overseen by the Academy’s Standing Committee on Scholarly Publishing in South Africa (CSPiSA), chaired by Prof Keyan Tomaselli.

After publication of the 2006 Academy report on A Strategic Approach to Research Publishing in South Africa, the Scholarly Publishing Unit (SPU) was established within ASSAf to implement the ten recommendations contained in the report. Multi-year funding was received from the DST to undertake this task. The main thrusts were to:

  • promote/enhance the standing and effectiveness of South Africa’s research journals, nationally and internationally;
  • improve the productivity/efficacy of publication through different modalities (e.g. electronic publication);
  • establish the South African Journal of Science (SAJS) as a “national asset” of high quality; and
  • ensure that discoveries and insights gained through research published in South African journals were made known to a wider public than the research community itself

Summary: Strategic Approach to Research Publishing in South Africa:Recommendations at a Glance

Relevant links

Khulisa Journals: http://journals.assaf.org.za/

Scholarly Publishing Resources: https://sites.google.com/view/assaf-scholarly-pub-resources/home

SciELO SA Journals: http://www.scielo.org.za/  

South African Journal of Science: https://sajs.co.za


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