Academic literature on the topic 'African Scientific Journal'

South Africa's academic publishing history has been profoundly influenced by its colonial heritage. This is reflected in the publication of Transactions of the South African Philosophical Society (later, the Royal Society of South Africa) from 1878. Although the Society and journal sought to promote original research about South Africa, it was modelled after the Royal Society in London and formed part of an imperial scientific community. As the local higher education institutions grew more independent and research-focused, local scholarly publishing developed as well, with university presses playing an increasingly important role. The University of South Africa (Unisa) Press started publishing departmental journals in the 1950s, with a focus on journals that ‘speak to the student’, and it is today the only South African university press with an active journals publishing programme. As external funding declined and the country became intellectually isolated in the high apartheid period, the Press managed to attract journals that could no longer be subsidized by learned societies and other universities. More recently, new co-publishing arrangements have brought South African journals back into an international intellectual community. Although some argue that this constitutes a re-colonization of South African knowledge production, it is also an innovative strategy for positioning local research in a global context.

Objectıve: Medical education and health have been accelerated in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the years, however scientific contrubition of SSA is not adequate. The aim of this study is to document the studies published by scientists from SSA.Method: This study was conducted via searching the database of PubMed by using the words “Sub-Saharan Africa AND Surgery”, between 01.01.2016 and 31.12.2016.Results and dıscussıon: A total of 582 articles were found and reviewed. Irrelevant 305 (52%) articles were excluded. There were 277 (48%) surgical articles and 82 (30%) of the studies were conducted in the field of general surgery which were reviewed for this study. Fourty-two (51%) articles were published by local scientists from 15 SSA countries; 15 (18%) articles by the researhers outside of Africa and 25 (30%) articles were collaboration studies between African and western countries. Twenty (24%) articles were published in African based journals whereas 62 (76%) were published in international journals. The most common topics among articles were gastrointestinal system diseases, trauma and breast cancer, respectively.Conclusıons: In conclusion the number and subjects of publications held by local scientists is inadequate, and therefore, scientific researhers should be supported.International Journal of Human and Health Sciences Vol. 03 No. 02 April’19. Page: 101-104

Background This paper maps scientific publications to identify areas of CRC screening that are currently receiving greatest emphasis in South African research, as means, to identify the inequality in CRC screening research. Reviewing the publications can assist to identify research funding and research capacity gaps. It can also identify potential for collaboration of authors and institutions to reduce the inequalities. Methods We used bibliometrics to identify and map the scientific publications on CRC screening related to South Africa (SA).The search utilised three databases, namely: Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed to identify articles published between January 2000 to August 2020. We identified the document by type, research areas, journal type, affiliated countries and research organisations, authors with most publications, and funding sources. Results Forty-eight of the 368 publications were included for bibliometric analysis. Of these, there were 88% original articles; 6% were reviews; 4% were books and 2% were abstracts of meetings. The top CRC screening research areas were oncology (21%); gastroenterology and hepatology (13%), public, environmental, occupational health (13%) and genetics and heredity (13%).The top four journals that have published the CRC screening related to South Africa were the South African Medical J. Surgery (10%); South African Medical Journal (7%); Clinical Genetics (5%) and Colorectal Diseases (5%). 19% of articles were published in 2019. There were 28 (58%) articles with first authors from South Africa. There were ten publications without funding declared (21%). The top five research organisations from South Africa that published the most CRC screening research were University of Witwatersrand (36%); University of Western Cape (18%); University of Pretoria (14%); University of Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal (11%). Conclusion Research and development of novel CRC screening technologies cannot be overemphasised, as catalyst for diverse screening alternatives that are less invasive, affordable and accessible to all those in need to expand access, coverage and increase uptake at local level. Keywords: Colorectal cancer; Bibliometric; Screening; Colonoscopy; Scientific landscape; Inequalities; Cancer; South Africa.

It gives me great pleasure to present this brief introduction to our 2023 issue of JOVACET, now in its sixth year of publication and seeking to increase its footprint with each passing year. To illustrate these endeavours, this year saw JOVACET being accepted on two more platforms: the first is the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and, more recently, our journal has joined the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), an open-access searchable database that is managed in South Africa by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf ), is funded by the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST), and has the endorsement of the South African Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET; see https://www.scielo.org.za for more information about the broader SciELO initiative). As part of the conditions of the SciELO listing, journals are required to publish individual articles on the platform for online access in advance of the completed journal being published. This was a new challenge for JOVACET, as we had not experimented with this requirement previously, and it meant putting some pressure on our time frames for reviewing and editing (so ably managed by Dr Catherine Robertson) so that at least one article could be published as a stand-alone that would also be included in the full journal for this year. MORE > DOWNLOAD THE FULL EDITORIAL HERE

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore issues around access and use of subscription electronic journals by African researchers and seeks to bring to the fore the issues academics and researchers face in accessing electronic databases. Design/methodology/approach Donor-funded electronic resources have greatly improved access to essential scientific scholarly information by researchers in developing countries. Yet in Sub-Saharan Africa, researchers and libraries still complain about lack of access to scientific information, and libraries are reported to be struggling to maintain up-to-date scientific information resources. An online survey of academics at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zimbabwe was carried out. Findings Results indicated that academics rely on approaches other than library facilities to locate electronic information. Google was the most common approach used in locating subscription electronic journals. Furthermore, there was a need for increased awareness of subscription and donated resources. Programmes such as Research4Life, journal schemes by Education Information for Libraries and the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications have made an impact on academics’ access to electronic journals. The study established that there was no direct link between access to electronic journals and increased publications. Originality/value Work of this kind has not been done in Africa before. The exploration of the complexities inherent in providing access to electronic journals in a developing country presents an opportunity for both librarians and developmental partners to reflect on the challenges as well as the opportunities that exist in current electronic journal access schemes.

The South African Dental Journal (SADJ) keeps you abreast of the latest developments in dentistry, and is the only Department of Higher Education and Training accredited scientific dental journal in South Africa for publication of scientific papers, clinical articles, current dento-political information and opinion, and trade information. Members are also able to attain their CDP points by completing the online questionnaires.
 All SADJ online CPD Questionnaires are valid for a two-year period from the date of online publication. If you are not able to load the questionnaire to your courses it may be as a result of expiry.

Kgothatso Shai is a Full Professor of Political Science and the immediate past Head of the Department of Cultural & Political Studies at the University of Limpopo in South Africa. He previously served as President of the South African Association of Political Studies (SAAPS). He is also the incumbent President of the South African Association of Public Administration and Management (SAAPAM), where he is also serving as the founding Editor in Chief of the association’s flagship Book Series. He is a National Research Foundation (NRF)-rated researcher and the author of three academic books. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed and Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET)-accredited journal articles and book chapters. His research interests interweave between African politics, international relations, and the politics of knowledge. In his interview, Professor Kgothatso Shai talks about Afrocentricity as a central theoretical framework and analytical lens that should be applied in African social sciences. He describes his personal way of implementing Afrocentric approaches and discusses the main scholars of Afrocentricity, representing both the continent and those living outside it. He also talks about his experience of presiding over the South African Association of Political Studies (SAAPS) and the South African Association of Public Administration and Management (SAAPAM), the challenges and prospects of these organizations. The interview also touches on the problem of the knowledge hierarchies in Africa, structured by scientific journals, many of which are published in South Africa.

In a time of severe environmental problems and growing public and private expenditure to promote a sustainable society, studies on the impact of Research and Development (R&D) on environmental sustainability hardly ever exist. This study looked at how R&D promotes the attainment of environmentally sustainable goals, globally. Data at the country level was compiled from the United Nations-Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDG) database and the World Bank, then processed and analysed using spatial techniques such as spatial merge, autofill, autocorrelation, and geographic weighted regression. Expenditure on R&D and publications in scientific journals had a positive impact on SDGs 8 and 11 for all nations. R&D expenditure on SDG 8 was higher for Southern African countries. The impact of scientific and technical journal articles was greater for Middle East countries. Also, scientific and technical journal articles had greater effects on attainment of SDG 11 in Africa. Exports of high technology from South America and Europe were important for achieving SDG 15. However, the effect of patent and trademark applications had minimal effect on achieving environmentally sustainable goals. The study recommends boosting R&D expenditure by governments and international organisations, particularly in Africa because the multiplier impact extends beyond economic development to environmental sustainability which is necessary for the continent to abate the challenges of climate change.

Since the Ethiopian Journal of Reproductive Health (EJRH) was launched in 2007, it has undergone a series of changes. For the first 10 years after its inception, our journal used to be published only once a year, which was even at times difficult to sustain.With the goal of improving both the quality and quantity of the research we publish every year, in 2017, in collaboration with the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and a financial support from the Center for Reproductive Health Training (CIRHT) we conducted a landscape study to find out the major challenges of the Journal.Following the findings and recommendations of this study, we have been able to make major changes to the scientific publication. Among these changes are the numbers of volumes we publish per year- which grew to four times, the launching of its own automated manuscript processing and publishing website- https://ejrh.org/, the training of staff and editorial board members, the adoption of a comprehensive editorial policy, inclusion in Scopus and African Journals Online and recognition by the Ministry of Education.As you go through our July, 2023, volume, one of the articles you find is entitled - Evaluation of the Quality of Ethiopian Journal of Reproductive Health. This manuscript is compiled based on the landscape study conducted back in 2017.As our readers go through the conclusions and recommendations of this study, it might appear inconsistent with the current status of our publication. We decided to publish this article, even though it contrasts to the current reality of EJRH, because it would help other upcoming new scientific journals in their struggle to become a better platform for the scientific community they serve. We hope this study will inspire the same change in other scientific journals as it did to our Journal. I invite you to enjoy reading this and other articles with important findings to our practice. Professor Delayehu Bekele Editor-in-Chief

The peer review process is widely used to evaluate manuscripts for publication in scientific journals. Yet the reliability of recommendations about the suitability of manuscripts has been found to be quite low: the weighted mean of the single-reviewer reliability for a variety of journals is only 0,29. This paper describes a study of the evaluation of manuscripts submitted to the South African Journal of Psychology (SAJP) from 1988 to 1990. Single-reviewer reliability was found to be 0,34, slightly (but not significantly) above the mean for high status overseas journals. An investigation of other aspects of the review process indicates that peer review is useful to both authors and editors despite its shortcomings. Most of the recommended improvements of peer review suggested recently were incorporated into the SAJP's review process several years ago.