A. ASSAf Consensus Study Reports
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In order for ASSAf to fulfil its science advisory role regarding key challenges facing the nation, a variety of consensus and assessment studies are undertaken. Activities are aligned closely with government’s strategic goals. The in-depth Consensus Study Reports are either commissioned by an external funder or generated by a Standing Committee on a specific topic. ASSAf has Standing Committees on Health; Scholarly Publishing in South Africa; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Education; Biosafety and Biosecurity; Humanities; and Science for the Reduction of Poverty and Inequality.
Peer-Review Status: Peer-Reviewed
Enquiries: Susan Veldsman
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Item Twelve Years Later: Second ASSAf Report on Research Publishing In and From South Africa(Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2019) Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) released its second major Consensus Report on a commissioned study of Research Publishing in South Africa in 2006, with detailed data analysis and a 360-degree view of the topic, including the impact of new technologies on the dissemination of research results and the world-wide open access movement. A second Consensus Report on scholarly books followed in 2009. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) endorsed the two reports and requested the Academy itself to oversee the implementation of the recommendations, and has funded the Academy’s Scholarly Publishing Programme (SPP) ever since. The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) has supported the projects of the SPP in various relevant areas. Much has been achieved even though much remains to be done. In 2016, the Academy commissioned Professor Johann Mouton and his colleagues of the Centre for Research on Evaluation of Science and Technology (CREST) at Stellenbosch University to do a thorough, largely bibliometric study of scholarly publishing in and from South Africa (SA) in the period 2005 – 2014, with all forms of peer-reviewed scholarly publications included, whether in journals, books or conference proceedings. The group has become extremely well versed in the appropriate methodologies, using reliably indexed databases and cooperating with partners who have developed special techniques for sharpening the focus of standard parameters such as citation counts and rates over time, demographic shifts in authorships and indicators of collaboration. The study was completed in 2017, and submitted to the Academy. Amongst a large number of interesting and relevant findings were disturbing indications of predatory publishing and questionable editorial practices. As the period studied by the CREST team coincided almost exactly with the period that has elapsed since the data-gathering for ASSAf’s above-mentioned first report, the Academy has decided to publish a second report on scholarly publishing in SA, to include concise but essential summaries of the two earlier ASSAf reports (Chapters 1 and 2); a review of the work of the SPP in the research publishing system over the past 12 years (Chapter 3); an analysis of the problems of access on the part of South African researchers to the problematic international commercial research literature (Chapter 4); the concise version of the new CREST report (Chapter 5); a consideration of the threat posed by predatory publishing and questionable editorial and authorship practices (Chapter 6); a discussion of the main issues and unresolved problems still remaining in the system despite its generally good progress (Chapter 7); and a set of headline recommendations for the future (Chapter 8). The Academy believes that the formation of public policy should involve a longitudinal understanding of how systems behave over time periods that are sufficiently long to reveal both the trends and the underlying causes. We see no reason in this new analysis to depart from our original conclusion, that the highest possible quality of scholarly publishing within a country is important, but that only open access publishing of local journals will ensure the wide dissemination of their important content, with all the benefits that that will bring. This standpoint is not at variance with the other conclusion that South African researchers should also actively contribute to the international literature and participate as fully as possible in the world’s knowledge system.Item Report on Grouped Peer Review of Scholarly Journals in Architecture, Built Environment and Engineering(Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), 2018) Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)The peer review report entitled Report on Grouped Peer Review of Scholarly Journals in Architecture, Built Environment and Engineering is the seventh in a series of discipline-grouped evaluations of South African scholarly journals. This is part of a scholarly assurance process initiated by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf). The process is centered on multi-perspective, discipline-based evaluation panels appointed by the Academy Council on the recommendation of the Academy’s Committee on Scholarly Publishing in South Africa (CSPiSA). This detailed report presents the peer review panel’s consolidated consensus reports on each journal and provides the panel’s recommendations in respect of DHET accreditation, inclusion on the SciELO SA platform and suggestions for improvement in general. The main purpose of the ASSAf review process for journals is to improve the scholarly publication in the country that is consonant with traditional scholarly practices.Item Diversity in Human Sexuality: Implications for Policy in Africa(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2015) Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)ASSAf, in collaboration with the Uganda National Academy of Sciences, undertook a consensus study on Diversity in Human Sexuality: Implications for Policy in Africa in 2015. The topic of sexual and gender diversity has elicited very different reactions in African countries and amongst scholars in Africa. Same-sex activities are becoming more visible in African populations, yet the subject is consistently avoided or the practice denied or criminalised. Although it has been regularly and widely claimed that homosexuality is “un- African”, reputable studies by historians and anthropologists have found same-sex relationships to have been prevalent since the pre-colonial period in Africa. Thirty-eight of fifty-three African nations criminalise homosexuality, thereby imposing varying degrees of legislative restrictions on sexual preference and practices, and on the fulfillment of human rights of individuals and affected groups. Furthermore, the stigmatisation and criminalisation of homosexuality has made public health interventions, particularly with respect to HIV prevention and treatment, difficult to effectively implement.