DEPT OF HIGHER EDUCATION & TRAININGPUBLICATION SUBSIDIES

FAQs

Articles in accredited journals

Articles in DoHETaccredited journals (SA, ISI, IBSS) are audited annually by Ernst & Young. Journal articles earn 1 unit (or a portion thereof in the case of multiple authors): for 2010 this unit amounts toapproximately R102 000.25% is paid to the researcher and 20% to the faculty or unit where the researcher was working when the research was done. This is generally paid by the DoHET to CPUT in March of the following year. Once the money has been received, the research funds will be allocated to each researcher’s subsidy credit account. Amelia Rorwana will create a cost code for new researchers. This money may only be used for research activities (e.g. conference attendance, special equipment, laptops, etc.). Money may not be encashed. Contact Amelia Rorwana(see Research Directorate website for contact details) for information about individual research account balances. The latest lists of accredited journals (SA, ISI and IBSS) are on the Research Directorate website, under publications.

Where journals require page fees from authors, this is paid from the faculty or unit’s fund.

NB.The author’s CPUT affiliation must appear on the article.If this does not appear, a letter from the Dean of the Faculty stating the author’s affiliation for the year of the claim should accompany the submission.

Conference proceedings

Conference papers which have been published in conference proceedings which meet the DoHET criteria (see DoHET submissions 2009 document) generate 0.5 units (if all authors are from CPUT). These are not audited by Ernst & Young, and the DoHET does not furnish details of which papers have been accepted and which rejected. This is why the Research Directorate has a stringent internal vetting process. The DoHET simply allocates a sum to CPUT, which is then divided among the authors who submitted conference proceedings and which were forwarded to the DoHET. It is therefore very important that conference papers which do not qualify are not forwarded to the DoHET. Proceedings must conform to the guidelines (see DoHET submissions document 2009). Conference proceedings must have clear evidence of papers(not abstracts) having been peer reviewed, the peer-review process must be explained, and there should be a list of the reviewers and their affiliations. The review process should be unambiguous, i.e. editors of conference proceedings cannot be also authors or reviewers. Similarly, reviewers cannot also be authors, unless there is clear evidence that the review process was above board. Conference proceedings published by commercial publishers generally meet the required criteria. Submissions to the Research Directorate should be either the actual copy of the published proceedings, or, in the case of a CD-Rom, the CD should be submitted, together with printouts of the paper, the title page, the ISBN page, the imprint page (publisher, place and date of publication),peer review evidence and list of reviewers and their affiliations (generally in the Introduction or Preface). It is important that electronic versions of proceedings (e.g. on CD-Rom) are facsimiles of printed proceedings with regard to page numbers, and not authors’ MSWord documents.

NB.The author’s CPUT affiliation must appear on the paper. If it doesn’t, a letter from the Dean, stating the author’s affiliation, should accompany the submission.

Books/chapters in books

These must be scholarly books disseminating research (not textbooks or technical reports), with evidence of the peer review processin the preface or in a letter from the publisher (not the editor). A letter from the publisher, outlining its editorial policy, is required.

Co-authorship by students

Where postgraduate students have co-authored a conference paper or journal article emanating from a thesis, the student’s name appears first, followed by the name of the supervisor. It is very important, in order for CPUT to receive the full subsidy, that the CPUT affiliation appears beneath the name of the student (otherwise CPUT will not receive the full subsidy credit), as well as the name and affiliation of the supervisor. The auditors check that the student was in fact registered (in the case of journal articles). Therefore, don’t put the student’s place of work as affiliation; CPUT will not receive the full subsidy in that case. Conference papers are not audited; however the DoHETpanel scrutinises each paper closely for academic rigour, and will look at institutional affiliation. Short papers and work-in-progress papers are not acceptable.

The subsidy is paid to the lecturer’s research cost centre, who may, at his or her discretion, allocate the student’s portion to the student for, amongst others, conference attendance. The money is not paid to students, only to staff members of CPUT.

Authorship by contract lecturers

Where contract lecturers are affiliated to institutions other than CPUT, it is important that they do not indicate other institutional affiliations on articles/papers if the research was done under the auspices of CPUT. Otherwise the subsidy will be “diluted” in respect of the proportion paid by the DoHET to CPUT.

Inclusion of journal titles

Institutions are responsible for proposing the inclusion of journal titles onto the ISI and IBSS indices. However, the DoHET undertakes to support the inclusion of South African journals onto these indices at the request of institutions. The DoHET thus does not administer the process for inclusion of journals onto the ISI and IBSS indices.

ISI (SCI and SSCI)

The processes and procedures for inclusion of journals are outlined by the ISI and available on the website

IBSS

The processes and procedures for inclusion of journals are outlined by the ISI and available on the website

Approved SA journals

South African journals, which in the opinion of the institution comply with the criteria for inclusion, may be proposed. A minimum of three consecutive issues must be published 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 DoHET by 15 June for a journal to be considered for inclusion, effective the following calendar year:

  • Title, including translations in not published in English.
  • ISSN.
  • Publishers and publisher’s address and contact details.
  • Frequency of publication.
  • 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.
  • Editorial policy, including evidence of the peer review process.
  • Editorial board: the status of the members of the editorial board must be stated together with their institutional affiliations.
  • In the case of electronic journals, the journal’s Internet URL.
  • Indication of library holdings should be provided.

NB. THE RESEARCH DIRECTORATE DOES NOT MAKE THE ABOVE SUBMISSIONS. THEY SHOULD BE DONE BY ACADEMICS/FACULTIES WHO ARE BETTER ABLE TO SUBSTANTIATE WHY A JOURNAL IN A PARTICULAR DISCIPLINE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED FOR INCLUSION.

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