Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST)
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- ItemAcademics at three African universities on the perceived utilisation of their research(HESA, 2018) Boshoff, N.; Esterhuyse, H.; Wachira-Mbui, D. N.; Owoaje, E. T.; Nyandwi, T.; Mutarindwa, S.This article contributes to emerging knowledge on the utilisation of university research in sub-Saharan Africa. A survey was conducted comprising 463 academics at three African universities: the University of Ibadan (Nigeria), the University of Nairobi (Kenya) and the University of Rwanda. The study investigated the agreement between two measures of research utilisation and highlighted the types of research interactions associated with instances of perceived research utilisation, whilst taking into account the different categories of intended beneficiaries. The first measure, a single question, required the respondents to indicate to what extent the stated intended beneficiaries had utilised the research as planned. The second measure operationalised a stage model of research utilisation. Responses at the ‘upper end’ of both measures were labelled ‘true’ research utilisation. A percentage reduction in utilisation was observed when cross-tabulating the two measures – from 48 per cent who believed that research utilisation occurred to some extent (upper end of first measure), to 35 per cent who held the same opinion and who obtained above-average scores on the stage model of utilisation (upper end of second measure). For the subgroup at the upper end of both measures, the larger share of cases (54%) exemplified the instrumental utilisation of research. This subgroup was found to be involved in traditional academic research practices and participated in a number of outreach activities targeting non-academic audiences.
- ItemBeyond funding : acknowledgement patterns in biomedical, natural and social sciences(Public Library of Science, 2017) Paul-Hus, Adele; Diaz-Faes, Adrian A.; Sainte-Marie, Maxime; Desrochers, Nadine; Costas, Rodrigo; Lariviere, VincentFor the past 50 years, acknowledgments have been studied as important paratextual traces of research practices, collaboration, and infrastructure in science. Since 2008, funding acknowledgments have been indexed by Web of Science, supporting large-scale analyses of research funding. Applying advanced linguistic methods as well as Correspondence Analysis to more than one million acknowledgments from research articles and reviews published in 2015, this paper aims to go beyond funding disclosure and study the main types of contributions found in acknowledgments on a large scale and through disciplinary comparisons. Our analysis shows that technical support is more frequently acknowledged by scholars in Chemistry, Physics and Engineering. Earth and Space, Professional Fields, and Social Sciences are more likely to acknowledge contributions from colleagues, editors, and reviewers, while Biology acknowledgments put more emphasis on logistics and fieldworkrelated tasks. Conflicts of interest disclosures (or lack of thereof) are more frequently found in acknowledgments from Clinical Medicine, Health and, to a lesser extent, Psychology. These results demonstrate that acknowledgment practices truly do vary across disciplines and that this can lead to important further research beyond the sole interest in funding.
- ItemCountry-specific factors that compel South African scientists to engage with public audiences(SISSA Medialab, 2018) Joubert, MarinaA study in South Africa shed light on a set of factors, specific to this country, that compel South African scientists towards public engagement. It highlights the importance of history, politics, culture and socio-economic conditions in influencing scientists' willingness to engage with lay audiences. These factors have largely been overlooked in studies of scientists' public communication behaviours.
- ItemCultural differences and confidence in institutions : comparing Africa and the USA(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2018) Falade, BankoleA comparison was undertaken of confidence in 17 institutions in Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and the USA using data from the World Values Survey to find shared valuations and distinguishing characteristics as markers of cultural categories. Frequencies and rankings were examined and exploratory factor analysis was used to find plausible meanings of groups of institutions. The findings show that, although African respondents score institutions higher than their US counterparts, the rankings vary. With frequencies, the meaning is manifest. The analysis shows that 10 institutions load similarly on one latent variable and their combinations with the others indicate culture-specific characteristics. The latent variables were named ‘not-for-profit’, ‘for-profit’, ‘political’, ‘watchdog or fourth estate’ and ‘social order’ and they show Ghana is closer to the USA than to Nigeria, which is closer to Zimbabwe. The ‘not-for-profit’ variable is more important in the USA and Ghana and ‘political’ is more important in Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Institutional-specific loadings show that whereas the police and courts are grouped as ‘political’ in Nigeria, in other countries they belong to ‘social order’; and while universities are perceived as ‘for-profit’ in Africa, they are ‘not-for-profit’ in the USA. Comparing frequencies and rankings or dividing along the lines of individualistic versus collective or private and public sectors, masks the dynamic distribution of the systems of meaning in the local cultures; the latent variables approach therefore offers a more conceptually sound categorisation informed by shared and distinguishing institutions.
- ItemThe decline of the humanities and social sciences in South Africa(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2011-09-27) Cherry, Michael I.Two reports on the humanities and social sciences in South Africa have appeared within a month of each other, pointing to an increasing awareness of a sector of higher education that has declined – at least in terms of student enrolment – since the advent of our democracy in 1994. What can be done to arrest this decline?
- ItemDevelopment of research excellence : insights from modes of work of high-achieving early-career researchers(HESA, 2021) Albertyn, C. H.; Prozesky, H.When early-career researchers show promise to become the next generation of leading researchers, it is in the best interest of their employers to nurture their careers. This objective requires adequate understanding and support, at both institutional and policy level, of the modes of work of these early-career achievers. Our in-depth, qualitative investigation constructs a rich account of the creative ideation, writing and communication strategies of several high-performing early-career researchers. These researchers, who have already produced a high volume of quality research, are shown to employ modes of work that maintain this output, sometimes in spite of, and not because of, performance-based research-funding incentives and other managerial tools aimed at encouraging quality research output. Our interpretation of these results against the background of relevant empirical and theoretical literature leads us to present findings that we anticipate would be of significant interest to other early-career researchers, as well as to research managers and policymakers.
- ItemDo open access journal articles experience a citation advantage? Results and methodological refections of an application of multiple measures to an analysis by WoS subject areas(Springer, 2021) Basson, Isabel; Blanckenberg, Jaco P.; Prozesky, H. E. (Heidi Eileen)This study is one of the first that uses the recently introduced open access (OA) labels in the Web of Science (WoS) metadata to investigate whether OA articles published in Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) listed journals experience a citation advantage in comparison to subscription journal articles, specifically those of which no self-archived versions are available. Bibliometric data on all articles and reviews indexed in WoS, and published from 2013 to 2015, were analysed. In addition to normalised citation score (NCS), we used two additional measures of citation advantage: whether an article was cited at all; and whether an article is among the most frequently cited percentile of articles within its respective subject area (pptopX %). For each WoS subject area, the strength of the relationship between access status (whether an article was published in an OA journal) and each of these three measures was calculated. We found that OA journal articles experience a citation advantage in very few subject areas and, in most of these subject areas, the citation advantage was found on only a single measure of citation advantage, namely whether the article was cited at all. Our results lead us to conclude that access status accounts for little of the variability in the number of citations an article accumulates. The methodology and the calculations that were used in this study are described in detail and we believe that the lessons we learnt, and the recommendations we make, will be of much use to future researchers interested in using the WoS OA labels, and to the field of citation advantage in general.
- ItemThe early history of research funding in South Africa : from the Research Grant Board to the FRD(Academy of Science of South Africa, 201612) Luruli, Ndivhuwo M.; Mouton, JohannThe South African government has a long tradition of supporting research at public higher education institutions. Such support commenced in the early 20th century, although the exact nature of the support at that time is poorly documented. The oldest research funding model in the country was agency funding, which started as early as 1911 through the Royal Society of South Africa. A few years later, in 1918, a more coordinated funding body called the Research Grant Board (RGB) was established in the Union of South Africa. The RGB offered competitive funding to individual academics in the natural and physical sciences. The human sciences were only supported much later with the establishment of the Council for Educational and Social Research in 1929. Here we review the history of research funding in South Africa, with a special focus on the work of the RGB between 1918 and 1938.
- ItemEvaluation education in South Africa : characteristics and challenges in a changing world(AOSIS, 2020) Wildschut, Lauren; Silubonde, Tikwiza R.Background: South Africa and other developing countries are facing an ever-increasing demand for competent evaluators. In addition, increasing demands are being placed on those who become evaluators. What does this mean for evaluation education in its current form and state in South Africa? In addition, what possible responses can be there to the diverse drivers of change within the dynamic social context in which evaluators operate? Objectives: This article aims to address some of the questions related to the supply and demand profile of evaluation in South Africa, which may be useful for other developing countries. Method: A literature review and key informant interviews were carried out to answer the key research questions. Results: The article describes the provision of formal evaluation education and the challenges currently facing university-based offerings. The study provides a framework for considering the interaction between the supply and demand elements in the field of evaluation. Strategies are proposed for strengthening the supply of evaluators and ensuring that these evaluators can respond to the growing demands being placed on them. Conclusion: This article is valuable for all evaluation stakeholders as it provides insight into the academic landscape of evaluation in a developing context and explores practical ways to support and strengthen capacity building efforts in similar contexts.
- ItemThe extent of South African authored articles in predatory journals(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2017-04) Mouton, Johann; Valentine, AstridWe present a first estimate of the extent of predatory publishing amongst South African academics. This estimate is based on an analysis of all South African authored papers that qualified for subsidy over the period 2005 to 2014. The analysis shows that 4246 South African papers were published in 48 journals which we re-classified (refining Beall’s classification) as either being probably or possibly predatory. A breakdown of these papers by year shows that the greatest increase in predatory publishing has occurred since 2011. Results are also presented of the distribution of these papers by individual university and scientific field. We conclude with some suggestions about predatory publishing and its pervasive consequence for our trust in science and how this should be addressed by the major stakeholders in the South African higher education system.
- ItemFact-checking role performances and problematic covid-19 vaccine content in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa(Cogitatio Press, 2024-10-14) Riedlinger, Michelle; Montana‐Nino, Silvia; Watt, Ned; Garcia‐Perdomo, Victor; Joubert, MarinaThe move from political fact-checking to a “public health” or debunking model of fact-checking, sustained by policies and funding from platforms, highlights important tensions in the case of Covid-19. Building on findings from studies focused on journalistic role performance, we investigated how professional fact-checkers in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa conceived of and performed their professional roles when addressing Covid-19 vaccination topics. Interviews with fact-checkers from six well-established, Meta-affiliated, International Fact-Checking Network-accredited organizations operating in these regions indicated that fact-checkers recognized the diversification of tasks and new roles associated with addressing problematic content from social media users. However, fact-checkers expressed unanimous commitment to prioritizing political and media watchdog activities in response to problematic Covid-19 vaccine information spreading from elite sources. To compare these role conceptions with role performance, we conducted a content analysis of Covid-19 vaccine content posted in 2021 to these fact-checkers’ Facebook accounts. We found that content was mostly associated with explainers or debunking content (addressing hoaxes or rumors about Covid-19 vaccines from non-elite social media users). In particular, the abundance of explainers, compared with other genres of fact-checking content, aligns fact-checkers with professional roles as civic service providers, educators, and “interpreters” of health information. Only a small proportion of the Covid-19 vaccine-related posts from each fact-checker contained verifications of claims from authoritative (elite “top-down”) sources (i.e., politicians, media, and health/science professionals). This study offers insights into a particularly tumultuous time of political activity in these regions and considers implications for practice innovation.
- ItemFor sustainable funding and fees, the undergraduate system in South Africa must be restructured(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2016) Cloete, NicoSouth Africa has the most diverse and differentiated higher education system in Africa – despite some persistent attempts at academic drift and mimetic normative isomorphism. Globally, in the 2008 country system ranking by the Shanghai JiaoTong Academic Ranking of World Universities, the South African higher education system was placed in the range between 27 and 33 along with the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Ireland. It is well known that South Africa consistently has four of the five African universities that appear in the Shanghai top 500.
- ItemFrom top scientist to science media star during COVID-19 – South Africa's Salim Abdool Karim(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2020) Joubert, MarinaAround the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has turned a handful of leading scientists into highly visible public figures. Anthony Fauci is the media star in the USA; Roberto Burioni in Italy; and in Sweden, it is Anders Tegnell. In Germany, Christian Drosten has become a household name, while Hugo Lopez-Gatell is highly visible in Mexico. In South Africa, we witnessed a remarkable surge in the public prominence of Professor Salim Abdool Karim following his appointment, in mid-April 2020, to lead a Ministerial Advisory Committee advising government on combating COVID-19. Data from Pear Africa, a South African media monitoring company, show that Abdool Karim featured in 545 print, broadcast and online media items during April 2020, compared with 20 in April 2019. Tracing Abdool Karim’s journey towards becoming a trusted public voice of science on COVID-19 reveals meaningful insights into the relationships between scientists, policymakers and the South African public. It also illustrates how Abdool Karim follows an international cultural trend whereby charismatic scientists approach celebrity status under certain conditions, giving them unique power in shaping public trust in science.1 For this case study, I explored the characteristics of Abdool Karim’s engagement with the South African public during the COVID-19 pandemic in the light of two key dimensions of quality in science communication, namely ‘visibility’ (including accessibility) and ‘credibility’ (encompassing expertise, trust and relevance). Both are needed for people to make decisions about costs, risks, benefits and ethics.2 Furthermore, I considered the effect of his communication skill (efficacy) and his willingness to engage (attitude).
- ItemA gender perspective on career challenges experienced by African scientists(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2019) Prozesky, Heidi Eileen; Mouton, JohannEmpirical knowledge of the career challenges that confront African scientists, and women scientists in particular, holds an important key to achieving future success in the science systems of the continent. In this article, we address a lack of evidence generally on the careers of scientists in Africa, by providing the first continent-wide description of the challenges they face, and how these challenges differ between women and men. Our analysis of questionnaire-survey data on approximately 5000 African scientists from 30 countries shows that women are not more challenged than men by a variety of career-related issues, with the exception of balancing work and family, which the majority of women, regardless of age and region, experience. Contrary to expectations, women are not only less likely than men to report a lack of funding as having impacted negatively on their careers, but have been more successful at raising research funding in the health sciences, social sciences and humanities. These results, as well as those from a comparison of women according to age and region, are linked to existing scholarship, which leads us to recommend priorities for future interventions aimed at effectively ensuring the equal and productive participation of women in the science systems of Africa. These priorities are addressing women’s work–family role conflict; job security among younger women scientists; and women in North African and Western African countries.
- ItemGeneral discussion of data quality challenges in social media metrics: Extensive comparison of four major altmetric data aggregators(Public Library of Science, 2018) Zahedi, Zohreh; Costas, RodrigoThe data collection and reporting approaches of four major altmetric data aggregators are studied. The main aim of this study is to understand how differences in social media tracking and data collection methodologies can have effects on the analytical use of altmetric data. For this purpose, discrepancies in the metrics across aggregators have been studied in order to understand how the methodological choices adopted by these aggregators can explain the discrepancies found. Our results show that different forms of accessing the data from diverse social media platforms, together with different approaches of collecting, processing, summarizing, and updating social media metrics cause substantial differences in the data and metrics offered by these aggregators. These results highlight the importance that methodological choices in the tracking, collecting, and reporting of altmetric data can have in the analytical value of the data. Some recommendations for altmetric users and data aggregators are proposed and discussed.
- ItemThe Humanities and Social Sciences in SA : crisis or cause for concern?(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2011-12) Mouton, JohannThe publication of two high-level reports on the state of the Humanities in South Africa in recent months1,2 is in itself a historic event. If scholars in the Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) had been concerned about the lack of appreciation and recognition by the government and senior decision-makers in the science system for their fields and disciplines, just the fact that these reports have been commissioned and published should go some way to allaying any fears of their imminent ‘demise’. But of course the rationale behind these two studies is to be found in more serious concerns by scholars in these fields: that there are systematic biases in the national science and higher education system which explicitly (and sometimes not so explicitly) constrain, weaken and disadvantage the HSS. These concerns relate to matters of funding, publication support, expenditure on R&D, reward systems and many other key components of these systems.
- ItemIn the footsteps of Einstein, Sagan and Barnard : identifying South Africa’s most visible scientists(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2017) Joubert, Marina; Guenther, LarsHighly visible scientists are increasingly recognised as influential leaders with a special role to play in making science part of mainstream society. Through consultation with a panel of 45 experts working at the science–media interface, we sought to identify the most visible scientists currently living and working in South Africa. In total, 211 scientists – less than 1% of the scientific workforce of the country – were identified as visible in the public sphere. The demographic profile and institutional spread of South Africa’s visible scientists suggest that more should be done to increase the diversity of scientists who are publicly visible. Although only 8% of South Africans are white, 78% of the group of visible scientists were white, and 63% of the visible scientists were men. Only 17 black women were identified as publicly visible scientists. While visible scientists were identified at 42 different research institutions, more than half of the visible scientists were associated with just four universities. Recent controversies surrounding the two most visible South African scientists identified via this study, and the potential implications for fellow scientists’ involvement in public engagement, are briefly discussed.
- ItemLeveraging media informatics for the surveillance and understanding of disease outbreaks(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2019) Falade, BankoleENGLISH ABSTRACT: Syndromic disease surveillance mechanisms can be enhanced by incorporating mass media informatics for disease discourse and aberration detection and social psychology for understanding risk perceptions and the drivers of uptake and resistance. Using computerised text analysis, the coverage of the outbreak of Zika virus in Brazil in 2017/2018 in four newspapers – O Estado, O Globo, the Times of London and the New York Times – was examined and patterns were compared with Google Trends. Quantitative indicators showed waves of attention to Zika peaked in the same period but local newspapers, O Estado and O Globo, indicated lower levels of anxiety in the run up to the Olympics when compared with foreign media. The unusual surge in attention to dengue in early 2015 was an early indication to sound the alarm for extensive clinical investigations. This, together with the flagging of Zika by O Globo almost a year before the global alarm, indicates the suitability of this method for surveillance and detection of aberrations. Media attention waves are also significantly associated with Google Trends, indicating empirical equivalence. Qualitative indicators show the extra motivation over Google, World Wide Web or Twitter searches by highlighting public perceptions. Findings show the absence of a stable body of scientific knowledge at the outbreak and an ensuing crisis of understanding. Local concerns were about the economic crisis, religious beliefs, poverty and crime – all inhibitors to containment – while the global alarm was amplified by risk to tourists and athletes, and political disputes mixed with religious beliefs.
- ItemMobility, gender and career development in higher education : results of a multi-country survey of African academic scientists(MDPI, 2019-06-14) Prozesky, Heidi Eileen; Beaudry, CatherineEmpirical knowledge of the mobility of African scientists, and women scientists in particular, holds an important key to achieving future success in the science systems of the continent. In this article, we report on an analysis of a subset of data from a multi-country survey, in order to address a lack of evidence on the geographic mobility of academic scientists in Africa, and how it relates to gender and career development. First, we compared women and men from 41 African countries in terms of their educational and work-related mobility, as well as their intention to be mobile. We further investigated these gendered patterns of mobility in terms domestic responsibilities, as well as the career-related variables of research output, international collaboration, and receipt of funding. Our focus then narrowed to only those women scientists who had recently been mobile, to provide insights on the benefits mobility offered them. The results are interpreted within a theoretical framework centered on patriarchy. Our findings lead us to challenge some conventional wisdoms, as well as recommend priorities for future research aimed at understanding, both theoretically and empirically, the mobility of women in the science systems of Africa, and the role it may play in their development as academic leaders in African higher education institutions.
- ItemNurturing doctoral growth : towards the NDP’s 5000?(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2015-12) Cloete, NicoNo abstract available.