Higher Education Act, 1997 (Act No. 101 of 1997)NoticesPolicy and Procedures for Measurement of Research Output of Public Higher Education Institutions8. Procedures for Journal Research Output |
Institution must submit to the Department of Education, on or before 15 May of each reporting year, audited subsidy claims for research output appearing in journals listed in the following indices:
| (a) | The Sciences Citation Index of the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) |
| (b) | The Social Sciences Citation Index of the ISI |
| (c) | The Arts and Humanities Citation Index of the ISI |
| (d) | The International Bibliography of Social Sciences (IBSS) |
| (e) | The Department of Education (DOE) List of Approved South African Journals |
The Department of Education issues on its web site, http://www.education.gov.za on or before 31 January of each calendar year, an official list of journals for each of the above indices, for each reporting year (n). The list for approved South African journals for the output year 2004 (n-1) reported in 2005 (n) is included in this policy document as appendix 4.
The auditors’ report must contain the following information:
| (a) | Name of the institution |
| (b) | The reporting year (n) |
| (c) | The number of units being claimed for journal output, listed separately for each of the above indices, for the preceding year (n-1). |
| (d) | The total number of units being claimed for the year (n-1), and |
| (e) | if applicable, the number of units being claimed for journal output for the year (n-2), listed separately for each of the above indices, together with a motivation for the late submission. The auditor must also certify that such outputs have not previously been claimed. |
Guidelines for the Auditors
| (a) | Institutions may only utilise their registered external auditors to audit their research output. |
| (b) | The auditors’ report must be issued on the auditors’ official letterhead and addressed to the Director General of Education. |
| (c) | The auditor must express his or her opinion on the institution’s subsidy claim for the research output. |
| (d) | The allocation of units is calculated according to the stipulations of the policy. |
| (e) | Fractions of units are expressed in decimal form and ate rounded off to the first decimal place, for example 12,4. |
Inclusion of Journal Titles
Institutions are responsible for proposing the inclusion of journal titles onto the IS1 and IBSS indices. However, the Department undertakes to support the inclusion of South African journals onto these indices at the request of institutions. The Department thus does not administer the process for inclusion of journals onto the IS1 and IBSS indices.
ISI
The processes and procedures for inclusion of journals onto the ISI indices are outlined by the ISI and available on the web site
http://www.isinet.com/isi/iournals/index.html.The site also includes an updated list of journals recognised by ISI.
IBSS
The processes and procedures for inclusion of journals onto the IBSS indices are outlined by the IBSS and available on the web site
http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/IBSS/access/Default.htm. The site also includes an updated list of journals recognised by IBSS.
Approved South African Journals
South African journals which in the opinion of the-institution comply with the criteria for inclusion may be proposed for inclusion. A minimum of three consecutive issues must be pubIished for journals with a quarterly or higher publication frequency and one issue for annual publications. The following information accompanied by a physical copy of the journal must be submitted to the Department of Education by 15 June for the journal to be considered for inclusion, effective the following calendar year;
| (a) | Title, including translations if not published in English |
| (b) | The ISSN of the journal |
| (c) | Publisher and the publisher’s address and contact details |
| (d) | Frequency of publication |
| (e) | Evidence that the journal has been published for the minimum prescribed cycle (the most recent 3 copies of 3 consecutive issues for a journal with a quarterly or higher publication frequency, 2 copies, for a journal published semi-annually, and 1 copy for a journal published annually) |
| (f) | Editorial policy, including evidence of the peer review process |
| (g) | Editorial board, the status of the members of the editorial board must be stated together with their institutional affiliations |
| (h) | In the case of electronic journals, the journal’s internet Uniform Resource Locator (URL) |
| (i) | Indication of library holdings should be provided. |
Removal of Journals from Approved List of South African Journals
South African journals not fulfilling the criteria for approval will be removed from the approved list of South African journals. The Department of Education will periodically sample journals to assess if they continue to meet the criteria, However, institutions and individuals may submit a proposal for the removal of a journal.
Proposals must be accompanied by a detailed motivation for the removal of such journals, in particular stating which criteria the journal ceases to fulfill. Such proposals must be submitted to the Department not later than 15 June every year. Removed journals may be re-submitted after a minimum of three consecutive issues have been published for the journals with a quarterly or higher publication frequency, two issues for semi-annual and one issue for annual journal publications, using the above procedure.
For purposes of transparency the reasons for removal of journals will be made public.
Amendment of Journal Information
Institutions and editors are encouraged to inform the Department of Education of any change in the information about an approved South African journal. There is no deadline for submission of such information.