As Pouris and Pouris explain in their 2015 article that assesses South African research journals: "Journals are the main vehicle for scholarly communication within the academic community." They also point out that many stakeholders are interested in journals "from scientists and librarians to research administrators, editors, policy analysts and policymakers and for a variety of reasons".

Needless to say, that managing a journal effectively online is critical to the publication's success and, obviously, the correlating success of its articles.

To this end, as leading The Southern African Journal of Accountability and Accounting Research (SAJAAR) recently signed up for Sabinet's Online Publishing Platform. After two incidents of manuscripts submitted via the email submission process not being received by the editor, SAJAAR approached various service providers for an online publishing solution before selecting Sabinet. "It was essential for us to maintain the copyright on our journal," says SAJAAR editor Prof. Lourens Erasmus.

"Sabinet was able to accommodate this need and our other requirements with flexible terms. This, and the fact that we already had an established relationship with Sabinet, were the deciding factors in joining the Online Publishing Platform."

SAJAAR, the official scientific research journal of the Southern African Institute of Government Auditors, wanted a reliable and practical solution. The Online Publishing Platform's electronic submission and review system negates any risk of submissions not being recorded and, coupled with electronic notifications, ensures that every submission is appropriately handled. In addition, an audit trail of all activity is kept, enabling good governance and accountability.

Prof. Erasmus believes that using such a platform not only lines a journal up for success, it prevents it from becoming antiquated. "South African academic journals that are not actively pursuing the adoption of best practice in review processes risk becoming obsolete," he says.

Local academic journals are being evaluated against the level of international interest they attract in terms of reviewers, authors and readers. "They are competing against a massive number of international publications who are already well established on online publishing platforms that support their success," explains Prof. Erasmus. "Our local journals need to start taking more advantage of the benefits these platforms have to offer."

What is the online publishing platform solution for African publishers?

Sabinet's Online Publishing Platform provides the perfect solution for African publishers through an online peer review system, publishing system and article processing charge (APC) management system. Individually or in combination, these online systems improve the effectiveness of publishing journals – at the highest international standards.

Brimming with benefits, Sabinet's Online Publication Platform is fully customisable, saves time, saves money and is fully integrated with services like CrossRef, ORCID, Similarity Check, and PubMed. Since this is a South African based service offering, Sabinet assist the local South African smaller publishers by offering them an affordable option which includes local currency payments as well as local support and training.

For more information about this service, contact info@sabinet.co.za