Accreditation of academic journals

In the 1980s South Africa's Department of Education (DOE) (later called the Department of Higher Education and Training or DHET) introduced a unique rewards system for research outputs, as part of its tertiary funding formula. This was aimed at encouraging academic research and publication, and through the scheme institutions are payed a specific amount per output unit produced by their academic staff. (Output units are classified in 5 categories and are only awarded for publication in journals accredited by the DOE.) Since many institutions pass (part of) the money on to the particular department or individual researcher, this becomes a source of considerable additional research funds for prolific writers.

However, such payment is only made if the research is published in an accredited journal, or a formally published book (which has been peer reviewed). Thus all accredited journals are part of a list kept by the department. Since 2005 the DOE has actually been pushing for the international listings to be used, and by 2014 this seems imminent, even though a parallel system is still in place.

Currently the following international lists are regarded as accredited journals by the DHET, alongside their own list:

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS)

Science Citation Index (Thomson Reuters ISI)

Social Sciences Citation Index (Thomson Reuters ISI)

Arts and Humanities Citation Index (Thomson Reuters ISI)