About this journal
Aims and scope
The South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition (SAJCN) accepts articles from all basic and applied areas of dietetics and human nutrition, including clinical nutrition, public health nutrition, food science, food policy, food service management and nutrition policy.
The Journal has a broad interpretation of the field of nutrition. The Journal recognizes that there are many factors that determine nutritional status which need to be the subject of scientific investigation and reported in the Journal.
The Journal seeks to serve a broad readership and to provide information that will be useful to the scientific community, the academic community, government and non-government stakeholders in the nutrition field, policy makers and industry.
The Journal encourages articles from all investigators in the field of dietetics, food, nutrition and related areas. In particular, young researchers will be encouraged and supported to submit their research work for publication.
Although the Journal is based in South Africa and actively encourages articles from other African countries to act as a forum for the discussion of African nutritional issues.
The Journal is committed to high scientific, professional and ethical standards.
The Journal will accept letters for publication, which are relevant to the Journal.
The Journal provides a forum for publication of congress abstracts, supplements, short communications and policy statements with their technical support papers.
The views expressed in the Journal are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Editorial Board.
The Journal is managed by an Editor and Editorial Board with the following responsibilities:
- Maintenance of scientific standards of the articles published and appointment of a review Panel of experts for the peer review process
- Maintenance of ethical standards of the articles published
- Encouragement and support of authors
- Promotion of the readership
- Ensuring the dissemination of articles published
Peer Review Process
All manuscripts will be subject to double anonymized peer-review by two independent, anonymous expert referees and the decision of the Editor will be final. Articles submitted for consideration by the Editor should not have been published before, either in total or in part, nor be currently submitted to any other publisher. The Editor retains the right to stylise and shorten any material accepted for publication. Accepted manuscripts will be copy edited and galley proofs will be sent to the author for approval. Find out more about what to expect during peer review and read guidance on publishing ethics.
Opinions expressed in the Journal should not be taken to represent the policies of the SAJCN, the Association of Dietetics in South Africa, the Nutrition Society of South Africa, the South African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition or NISC (Pty) Ltd.
Article Publishing Charges
To support full Open Access publishing, the SAJCN applies an article publishing charge (APC) to articles accepted for publication.
The standard APC for South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition is:
Authors from Sub-Saharan Africa: ZAR 12,000
Authors from the rest of the world: USD 1,590
VAT is added where applicable.
The APC is levied upon acceptance of the article and will need to be paid before publication.
Authors who do not benefit from institutional or other research support and, as a consequence, are unable to pay the APC may apply to the Editor-in-Chief for a waiver of part or all of the APC.
Journal metrics
Usage
- 115K annual downloads/views
Citation metrics
- 0.8 (2023) Impact Factor
- 1.3 (2023) 5 year IF
- 2.5 (2023) CiteScore (Scopus)
- Q2 CiteScore Best Quartile
- 0.551 (2023) SNIP
- 0.275 (2023) SJR
Speed/acceptance
- 39 days avg. from submission to first decision
- 63 days avg. from submission to first post-review decision
- 31% acceptance rate
Understanding and using journal metrics
Journal metrics can be a useful tool for readers, as well as for authors who are deciding where to submit their next manuscript for publication. However, any one metric only tells a part of the story of a journal’s quality and impact. Each metric has its limitations which means that it should never be considered in isolation, and metrics should be used to support and not replace qualitative review.
We strongly recommend that you always use a number of metrics, alongside other qualitative factors such as a journal’s aims & scope, its readership, and a review of past content published in the journal. In addition, a single article should always be assessed on its own merits and never based on the metrics of the journal it was published in.
For more details, please read the Author Services guide to understanding journal metrics.
Journal metrics in brief
Usage and acceptance rate data above are for the last full calendar year and are updated annually in February. Speed data is updated every six months, based on the prior six months. Citation metrics are updated annually mid-year. Please note that some journals do not display all of the following metrics (find out why).
- Usage: the total number of times articles in the journal were viewed by users of Taylor & Francis Online in the previous calendar year, rounded to the nearest thousand.
Citation Metrics
- Impact Factor*: the average number of citations received by articles published in the journal within a two-year window. Only journals in the Clarivate Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI) and the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) have an Impact Factor.
- Impact Factor Best Quartile*: the journal’s highest subject category ranking in the Journal Citation Reports. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest Impact Factors.
- 5 Year Impact Factor*: the average number of citations received by articles in the journal within a five-year window.
- CiteScore (Scopus)†: the average number of citations received by articles in the journal over a four-year period.
- CiteScore Best Quartile†: the journal’s highest CiteScore ranking in a Scopus subject category. Q1 = 25% of journals with the highest CiteScores.
- SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper): the number of citations per paper in the journal, divided by citation potential in the field.
- SJR (Scimago Journal Rank): Average number of (weighted) citations in one year, divided by the number of articles published in the journal in the previous three years.
Speed/acceptance
- From submission to first decision: the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the journal to receive a first decision. Based on manuscripts receiving a first decision in the last six months.
- From submission to first post-review decision: the average (median) number of days for a manuscript submitted to the journal to receive a first decision if it is sent out for peer review. Based on manuscripts receiving a post-review first decision in the last six months.
- From acceptance to online publication: the average (median) number of days from acceptance of a manuscript to online publication of the Version of Record. Based on articles published in the last six months.
- Acceptance rate: articles accepted for publication by the journal in the previous calendar year as percentage of all papers receiving a final decision.
For more details on the data above, please read the Author Services guide to understanding journal metrics.
*Copyright: Journal Citation Reports®, Clarivate Analytics
†Copyright: CiteScore™, Scopus
Editorial board
Editor-in-Chief
Prof Demetre Labadarios, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Chief Operating Officer
Dr Janicke Visser, Division of Human Nutrition, Department of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Case Study Editors
Ms Anna-Lena Du Toit, The South African Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, South Africa
Dr Janicke Visser, Division of Human Nutrition, Department of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Members:
Deputy Editor (Clinical): Prof Renee Blaauw, Division of Human Nutrition, Department of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Deputy Editor (Public Health): Prof Mieke Faber, South African Medical Research Council, South Africa
Deputy Editor (Paediatrics): Prof Ali Dhansay, South African Medical Research Council and Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Management Board
Maria van der Merwe, Association for Dietetics in South Africa, South Africa
Mrs Jessica Byrne, Association for Dietetics in South Africa, South Africa
Prof Ali Dhansay, The Nutrition Society of South Africa, South Africa
Prof Corina Walsh, The Nutrition Society of South Africa, South Africa
Ms Vanessa Kotze, The South African Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, South Africa
Ms Anna-Lena du Toit, The South African Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, South Africa
Abstracting and indexing
The South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition is abstracted/indexed in:
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
- Embase
- Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI)
Open access
South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition is an open access journal and only publishes open access articles. Publishing open access means that your article will be free to access online immediately on publication, increasing the visibility, readership, and impact of your research.
Why choose open access?
- Increase the discoverability and readership of your article
- Make an impact and reach new readers, not just those with easy access to a research library
- Freely share your work with anyone, anywhere
- Comply with funding mandates and meet the requirements of your institution, employer or funder
- Rigorous peer review for every open access article
Article Publishing Charges (APC)
To publish open access in this journal you may be asked to pay an Article Publishing Charge (APC). You may be able to publish your article at no cost to yourself or with a reduced APC if your institution or research funder has an open access agreement or membership with Taylor & Francis. Discounts and waivers may also be available for researchers in selected countries when publishing in open access journals.
Use our APC finder to calculate your article publishing charge
Society information
The South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition (SAJCN) is the official joint publication of the Association for Dietetics in South Africa, the Nutrition Society of South Africa and the South African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.
4 issues per year
Association for Dietetics in South Africa, Nutrition Society of South Africa, South African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition and our publisher Taylor & Francis make every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the "Content") contained in our publications. However, Association for Dietetics in South Africa, Nutrition Society of South Africa, South African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition and our publisher Taylor & Francis, our agents (including the editor, any member of the editorial team or editorial board, and any guest editors), and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Association for Dietetics in South Africa, Nutrition Society of South Africa, South African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition and our publisher Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Association for Dietetics in South Africa, Nutrition Society of South Africa, South African Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition and our publisher Taylor & Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to, or arising out of the use of the Content. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions .
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