Abstract
It was during the height of preparations for the International Congress of Psychology (ICP 2012) to be hosted in Cape Town by the Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA), that I was informed of my appointment as Editor-in-Chief of the South African Journal of Psychology (SAJP). I was to assume the editorship from January 2013, taking over from Professor Kobus Maree, who had provided sterling leadership in maintaining the Journal’s excellent reputation. It was in the midst of the ICP 2012 that interviews were conducted with potential publishers, which included established international brands. The contract was eventually awarded to SAGE Publishing, with whom I began engaging on procedural matters, later that year.
The brief was for me to serve as Editor for a 5-year term which, though daunting in some respects, was also an exciting prospect that culminated with a further 5-year term being added. During the latter part of 2012, it was time to begin assembling a team of Associate Editors, which grew over the years to come. In the first few weeks at the helm, the editorial process was still largely managed on an email submission and review system, but early in 2013 the SAJP went online for the first time, using the ScholarOne platform. It didn’t take long to get to grips with the digital platform that was to become the Journal’s new home. The system worked well, and authors and reviewers also embraced the new technology and the benefits that it brought. Speedier and efficient processing were among those benefits. A few reviewers still preferred to email their reports for us to upload, but that was not a problem.
The faster processing time for manuscripts was an advantage, especially for authors. Also, with the SAGE OnlineFirst facility on the SAJP website, the time from acceptance to online publication (with DOI number) was just a few weeks. This improved further in subsequent years with the online proofing portal. The manuscript acceptance rate hovered around 30% for most of the past 10 years, which we considered acceptable in the context of the standards that we set. The journal’s allocated page budget of 600 per year meant that about 12–13 full articles could be published in each issue, with space for a few brief editorials or commentaries. The SAJP continued its publication of four issues per year. Citations, full-text downloads, and other performance metrics showed improvement over the years, with the impact factor currently at 1.236, which is encouraging for a journal that is not a fully open-access publication.
The SAJP published a few special issues and special sections over the past 10 years, electing mainly to focus on matters of critical importance in the field of psychology. These included community psychology, racism, psychology and decolonisation, COVID-19, research methods, depression in university students, African psychology, and psychology and the climate emergency. The introduction of the State of the Science series in 2013 has been one of the Journal’s highlights, and we were fortunate to publish a number of articles from global leaders in the field, including Elizabeth Loftus, John Berry, Isaac Prilleltensky, Alan Kazdin, and others. Regarding challenges, it is fair to say that there have not been many insurmountable ones. However, securing reviewers has been a significant challenge because, unfortunately, not all academics are keen to assist in the peer-review process.
Special thanks
There have been many gains for the SAJP over the past 10 years, and these are due to the cumulative efforts of a number of individuals. In particular, the Associate and Consulting Editors have worked diligently, and sometimes at the expense of their academic and family duties, to ensure both the scholarly standard and the timely processing of manuscripts. I am deeply grateful and indebted to Professor Sumaya Laher, Professor Brendon Barnes, Professor Tyrone Pretorius, Anne Kramers-Olen, Professor Bronwyn Myers, Professor Solomon Mashegoane, and Umesh Bawa for their wisdom and dedication. Similarly, the reviewers are an indispensable, though unseen, workforce in any academic journal, and we have had many colleagues who generously gave their time to the peer-review process – we appreciate their efforts. Generally, our authors have been mostly cooperative and patient, and made good contributions to the field. The team at SAGE has been really professional, and it has been a pleasure to work with them. The PsySSA office staff have also given significant support to our efforts at producing a journal of high esteem.
Although challenging at times, the Editorship of the SAJP has been a wonderful experience that taught me a great deal. It has been an honour to serve the discipline in this way, and I am grateful to PsySSA for the privilege to make this contribution to psychology in South Africa, the continent and beyond. In handing over the reins, it is reassuring to know that the SAJP moves to very safe hands under the Editorship of Professor Norman Duncan who has substantial experience in the area, having been one of its eminent Past Editors. I wish him great success in taking the SAJP to new heights in the years ahead.