Editorial

In the autumn of 1984 the newly established Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) published the first issue of its journal, Development Southern Africa (DSA). Dr Simon Brand, the DBSA's first Chief Executive Officer, writes in the introduction of Volume 1 Issue 1 that while the DBSA was still working out how to function, it had already decided to ‘stimulate development research, and specifically applied development research relevant to southern Africa’. One way he envisaged doing this was ‘to provide the development research fraternity with a vehicle for the communication of research results and for the exchange of views on development’ (Brand, 1984). That these goals have been achieved is clear from the 2008 readership figures: over 30 000 full text downloads of DSA articles via several web platforms.

The current issue is the 118th since 1984, and with only one exception the journal has appeared either quarterly or, since Volume 18 in 2001, five times a year. It has kept up this sterling performance despite having had no less than 11 editors over the course of its 25 years. Professor Nick Vink, by far the longest serving editor, was responsible for 41 issues, from Volume 5 Issue 3 to Volume 14 Issue 2. Taylor & Francis became the publishers in 2000 (Volume 17), taking over from the DBSA. This change placed the journal in the international domain, culminating 8 years later in its being awarded Thomson Scientific accreditation.

Not surprisingly, DSA has changed its ‘look’ and ‘feel’ four times during these 25 years and, what is more, adjusted its ‘personality’ several times to ensure that the articles reflect the current southern Africa development discourse. Research first published in DSA has regularly led the policy debate. The journal started out in 1984 as the mouthpiece of the Development Society of South Africa, with members receiving a copy with their society subscription. In DSA Volume 10 Issue 4 in 1993, editor Nick Vink noted that the journal's subscription list stood at 1500. Agriculture and rural development articles dominated at that time, and he calculated that of the 293 articles published during the first 10 years, 25 per cent were on agriculture and 28 per cent on a wider range of topics in economics (Vink, 1993). The editorial in DSA Volume 14 Issue 3 in 1999 observed that the journal had ‘purposefully widened the scope of articles’ and gained recognition as a forum for debate on ‘integrated development beyond the confines of the DBSA's mandate’ (Heymans, 1999).

By the end of Volume 25 a total of 888 articles had been published. The broadening of scope has continued, although development has remained at the core of every article published. DSA now attracts articles from an increasingly diversified range of disciplines. These include, in order of popularity based on citations received during 2008 of articles published since 2000, tourism, rural livelihoods, unemployment, small business development, corporate social responsibility, economic infrastructure, land reform, HIV/AIDS, agribusiness and migration (Taylor & Francis [Routledge], 2009). A 2004 DSA Board meeting ruled that DSA should ‘strengthen its role in Africa and refine and broaden its content and topics to include initiatives currently underway in the region’ (DBSA, 2004). This has been achieved, with DSA increasing both its readership and authorship in the rest of Africa. In Volumes 24 and 25, 25 per cent of the articles were by authors in Africa beyond South Africa, and 60 Africa-based institutions received copies of the journal. DSA will receive its first impact factor report from the publishers in 2010. Meanwhile we continue to attract significant interest from authors locally, in the region and increasingly internationally. The pipeline of articles never seems to get shorter, and the 2009 Publishing Report (Taylor & Francis [Routledge], 2009) confirms that DSA has experienced significant growth in both contributions and citations from outside South Africa, mainly from South America, Europe and the rest of Africa.

In March 2009 the journal hosted an Advisory Board meeting at the Cradle of Humankind world heritage site in Gauteng. The Board's opinion was that DSA should continue to broaden the development debate on the continent by providing opportunities for well-established and new scholars and development practitioners outside academia to publish their work. Improving the impact and visibility of the journal is another key goal. The Board are keen to see DSA become a platform where its readers and authors can engage. They recommend that the current inclusive, multi-disciplinary approach of the journal be reinforced by encouraging debate articles, rejoinders and viewpoints. We continue to aspire to all five objectives of our vision, which are to

• promote scholarship in the field of development,

• consolidate our position as a well-respected and accredited journal,

• influence the agenda on development discourses,

• provide scope for authors from across southern Africa, and

• involve grassroots efforts of development practitioners and planners.

Our thanks go out to our authors, who continue to add value to the journal, and to our readers, who make the effort worthwhile.