Research Articles (Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST))
Recent Submissions
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Reflections from emerging evaluators in shaping Voluntary Organizations for Professional Evaluation capacity-building initiatives
(AOSIS, 2020)Voluntary Organizations for Professional Evaluation (VOPEs) are increasingly realising the importance of ‘mainstreaming’ emerging evaluators (EEs) in capacity-building initiatives for sustaining the evaluation profession. ... -
Evaluation education in South Africa : characteristics and challenges in a changing world
(AOSIS, 2020)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 ... -
Public engagement with science : origins, motives and impact in academic literature and science policy
(Public Library of Science, 2021-07-07)‘Public engagement with science’ has become a ‘buzzword’ reflecting a concern about the widening gap between science and society and efforts to bridge this gap. This study is a comprehensive analysis of the development of ... -
Towards a second generation of social media metrics : characterizing Twitter communities of attention around science
(Public Library of Science, 2019)'Social media metrics’ are bursting into science studies as emerging new measures of impact related to scholarly activities. However, their meaning and scope as scholarly metrics is still far from being grasped. This ... -
Remembering Rein Arndt, 1929–2020
(ASSAf, 2020-05-27)Reinhard Richard Arndt died on 1 January 2020 at the age of 90, and 23 years after his retirement from his presidency of the Foundation for Research Development in 1996. A detailed account of Arndt’s professional career ... -
Rolf Stumpf (1945–2020) : tough, decisive and compassionate technocratic-intellectual
(ASSAf, 2021-05-28)Reflecting on the career of Rolf Stumpf, who passed during late October 2020 from cancer, reminded me of a meeting I had around 1992 with the famous Hungarian sociologist Ivan Szelenyi, who had started working on his ... -
Mobility, gender and career development in higher education : results of a multi-country survey of African academic scientists
(MDPI, 2019-06-14)Empirical 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 ... -
Development of research excellence : insights from modes of work of high-achieving early-career researchers
(HESA, 2021)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 ... -
Leveraging media informatics for the surveillance and understanding of disease outbreaks
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2019)ENGLISH 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 ... -
A gender perspective on career challenges experienced by African scientists
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2019)Empirical 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, ... -
From top scientist to science media star during COVID-19 – South Africa's Salim Abdool Karim
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2020)Around 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 ... -
Tracking the Twitter attention around the research efforts on the COVID-19 pandemic
(Cornell University, 2020)The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by a bulk of scientific research and related Twitter discussions. To unravel the public concerns about the COVID-19 crisis reflected in the science-based Twitter ... -
Research by academic librarians at public universities in Ghana : a realistic expectation?
(Library and Information Association of South Africa, 2020)Academic librarians at public universities in Ghana are expected to perform and publish research. This study asked whether the expectation is realistic, given that the main duties of academic librarians are library related. ... -
General discussion of data quality challenges in social media metrics: Extensive comparison of four major altmetric data aggregators
(Public Library of Science, 2018)The 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 ... -
Cultural differences and confidence in institutions : comparing Africa and the USA
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2018)A 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 ... -
In the footsteps of Einstein, Sagan and Barnard : identifying South Africa’s most visible scientists
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2017)Highly 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 ... -
Public science communication in Africa : views and practices of academics at the National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe
(SISSA Medialab, 2016)This study of the science communication views and practices of African researchers — academics at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Zimbabwe — reveals a bleak picture of the low status of public ... -
Country-specific factors that compel South African scientists to engage with public audiences
(SISSA Medialab, 2018)A 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 ... -
Women’s representation in national science academies : an unsettling narrative
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2017-12)Science academies are well placed to contribute towards strengthening of national systems of innovation through advocating for an increased participation of girls and women in science. To successfully do so, academies would ... -
The extent of South African authored articles in predatory journals
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2017-04)We 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 ...