1. INTERNATIONALISATION OF SOUTH AFRICAN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Roseanne Diab
Executive Officer: ASSAf
4 April 2012
HESA Biennial Conference
Applying scientific thinking
in the service of society

2. Strategy for Internationalisation of Research and Innovation
Need for a baseline study that can inform policy and focuses on, inter alia:
Scientific publishing
Mobility – researchers & graduate students
Research funding
Networks and co-operation
Need for development of a set of indicators to monitor internationalisation
Need for regular review of progress towards internationalisation
Internationalisation is not a value in itself but a means to achieve higher standard of research and innovation
“Internationalisation of Finnish Scientific
Research” – Academy of Finland, 2009.

3. Science Research How are we doing as a continent?

4. Number of Journals in WoS
Region # Journals %
Europe %
North America %
Asia-Pacific %
Latin America %
Middle East/Africa %

5. Global Science
Publishing in scientific journals - most common and powerful way to disseminate research findings
Visibility and credibility, requires publishing in journals indexed in global indexing databases (WoS, Scopus)
Journals indexed in WoS considered to be scientifically important
System assumes that 20% journals (biggest, best established, high impact and most respected) contain 80% of real value of scientific knowledge
Most scientists in developing countries remain at the periphery of this critical communication process—exacerbating the low international recognition and impact of their accomplishments
For science to become influential and productive in developing countries, this needs to change

6. IPCC Fifth Assessment Authorship

7. IPCC Fifth Assessment Authorship (cont)

8. IPCC Fifth Assessment Authorship (cont)

9. IPCC Fifth Assessment Authorship
SA has some international leaders in the Climate Change Adaptation and Impacts fields

10. IPCC Fifth Assessment Authorship
SA lacks depth wrt numbers of internationally recognised scientists in the field of climate change

11. IPCC Fifth Assessment Authorship
SA has poor international standing at this level

12. ASSAf’s Contribution to Internationalisation of Research
2006 report on “A Strategic Approach to Research Publishing” → 10 recommendations
Established Scholarly Publishing Unit (SPU) in Academy to implement recommendations
Strategic goals of SPU:
To enhance quality and quantity of SA research
To enhance visibility of SA indigenous knowledge

13. Improving quality and quantity of research
Systematic external peer reviewing of SA journals
Aim: To establish their quality and their role in the nation’s knowledge capital –emerging researchers?
Divided +/- 296 journals into broad subject (discipline) groups
Appointed panels and reviewers
Formulated process guidelines and editor questionnaires
Published 2 reports: Social Sciences; Agriculture (32 journals)
Finalising 4 reports: Theology; Health; Humanities – Classics, Literature & Language; Law (150 journals)
Rolling out next 4 groups
Review of all new journal applications for accreditation for DHET

14. Improving quality and quantity of research
Establishment of stakeholder forums
National Scholarly Editors Forum → improving quality of editorship
Established in 2007 – meets annually
Terms of reference established
Code of best practice for editors
National Scholarly Book Publishers Forum → improving and stimulating scholarly book publishing
Established in 2011 – meets annually
Proposal for a National Book Fund

15. Increasing visibility of SA scholarly research
Total output in ISI-indexed journals nearly doubled over period 1995 to 2007 (3 711 to 6 245)
HE sector accounts for >80% but differential performance across universities and discipline fields
11 universities account for 92% output ( ); 5 universities account for about 75% output
ISI-journal output dominated by natural & agricultural sciences (53%) and health sciences (26%). HSS comprise 11%.

16. Increasing visibility of SA scholarly research
Large proportion of SA research published in local journals, many of which are non-ISI
Proportion varies across universities and by discipline
ASSAf 2006 report on Scholarly Publishing revealed that papers published in 60 SA journals did not receive a single citation in any of ISI journals over a 15-yr period
Local high-quality journals not necessarily available to the rest of the world
Global recognition—research must be accessible to global world
Promotion of indigenous knowledge systems very important

17. Impact of ASSAf Scholarly Publishing Programme
Concerted intervention into SA’s National Innovation System
Open access, fully indexed SciELO-SA platform → increasing visibility
Only quality journals selected for platform
Usage, downloads, visits can be monitored daily by the editor, author and users on the system!
Inclusion of SciELO journals in WoK portal
Oversight responsibility by ASSAf Committee on Scholarly Publishing