Author: kathleen diga

By Nduta Mbarathi

Publishing is essential, especially when a person decides to pursue or advance an academic career. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend a one-day peer review workshop organized by the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Extended Learning programme on 10^th November 2015. Prof. Sarojini Nadar facilitated the workshop and freely shared her experience as an author during the seminar. The workshop attendees included Professors and PhD students from various academic departments in UKZN. The participants shared their experiences on the challenges and opportunities they faced from peer reviewers when attempting to get their articles published. As an aspiring researcher, the exercise was an eye-opener because, on one hand, it gave me an opportunity to examine written work using a peer reviewer’s lens. On the other hand, the session made me aware of the do’s and don’ts of publishing. Peer reviewing is not only limited to publishing a journal article, but it is also a process that happens when a prospective graduate student or professor applies for academic grants. Having submitted a manuscript for publishing last year, this seminar prepared me on what to expect from the peer review process.

Nuts and Bolts of Peer Review

To begin with, the facilitator defined peer review as a process where written works undergo evaluation before publication. It is important to note that, prior to submitting a manuscript, one should familiarize themselves with the journal template and apply manuscript according to the specific standards. Initially, I was of the opinion that the peer reviewer’s role was to assess a manuscript and then provide an approval for its publication. However, this is not the case. A peer reviewer’s role is to recommend manuscripts to the Editorial panel who then make the final decision on whether to reject or approve it for publication.

Why is Peer Review Important?

As I mentioned earlier, peer reviewing happens throughout our academic journey. For example, once a candidate submits his or her dissertation it undergoes a peer review process to assess the quality of work. In this context, the candidate is awarded a mark after the peer review process. In contrast, a manuscript submitted for publication undergoes a peer review process where an Editor either accepts or rejects the manuscript.

That said, in both contexts, a peer review is essential because, it ensures that the work presented is of good quality, original, and scholarly. First, quality work should be printable science, and hence, the information emanating from the publication should be relevant to the particular discipline. Secondly, the work presented should be original and hence, the author should think about what scholarly contribution(s) the article is making to knowledge. Thirdly, I learnt the content should be articulated creatively and clearly.

How to Respond once your Manuscript is Rejected or Accepted

I did gain a wealth of information and courage during this part of the training (Remember that I earlier pointed out that I had submitted my manuscript to a particular journal for publishing). This part of the seminar touched on how to cope once a manuscript was accepted or rejected. The facilitator affirmed that receiving a rejected manuscript could be devastating! And yes, indeed, the participants affirmed this. Having an article rejected can make an author despair, especially after exerting all the time and effort on it!  I can affirm this because earlier this year I finally received feedback from the Editors expressing that my article was rejected! Thanks to the peer review seminar, I was able to handle the feedback imperturbably. I remembered that the facilitator advised us not to overreact. It was comforting to know that even Professors who have been in academia for years also get their articles rejected. It was also reassuring that, once this happens, an author can opt to publish in another journal. In my case, I requested for the reviewers’ comments to use their comments to improve my article.

Conversely, if a manuscript is accepted, the author has two options: first, the author can accept and work on the reviewer’s comments as is. Secondly, if an author is in disagreement with a reviewer’s highlighted comment or correction, it is acceptable to engage with the reviewer and discuss on the author’s stance in the comments. By all means, an author can decline to apply a reviewer’s comment if it differs with the author’s opinion. In such instances, authors should justify their viewpoint.

Points to Note before you Publish

Key facts that I learned towards the conclusion of the seminar are: it is imperative that authors avoid sending the same manuscript to over three different journals, lest you are accused of self-plagiarism! In addition, it is advisable to send to one journal at a time. Also, be aware of predatory journals! Such journals require payment from the author to get published. To avert this, authors should acquaint themselves with a list of approved publishers accredited by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DoHET). The link can be found in the University KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) website here.

Another point that authors should consider is that there is a limit to the number of publications that can come from one institution. Lastly, when planning to publish prospective authors should be aware that neoliberal politics do exist within the publishing sphere. These include, inter alia, politics of publishing and politics of citation where some authors are more likely to be published and cited more than others. For example, academics from Western countries are often published and cited compared to academics from developing and middle-income countries. One way this can be overcome, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa is by citing the work of local authors. In a nutshell, the facilitator emphasized that authors must follow the rules and make sure that the scholarly work presented has an impact in the various disciplines.

In conclusion, as an aspiring academic, I have learned that to get published it is important to strive towards producing quality work that is under the requirements of the themes and structure of a specified journal. Furthermore, ensuring that once a quality manuscript is submitted, it will help gain the confidence of peer reviewers that may then lead towards getting the article published.

 

Bio

Nduta Mbarathi is an aspiring researcher and development practitioner who holds a Masters Degree in Development Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.  Her areas of research interest are poverty alleviation, agriculture, rural development and Information Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D). Her other interests include, volunteering for worthy causes, philanthropy, farming, exotic cuisines and mountaineering.

Dr Andrew Okem, a Senior Researcher with the South African Research Chair Initiative in Applied Poverty Reduction Assessment in the School of Built Environment and Development Studies (BEDS), recently presented his research that explored stakeholder’s perspectives on the social acceptability of effluent in agriculture at the eThekwini University Research Symposium. The symposium is an annual event that “aims to provide a common platform for city practitioners and its academic partners to network and identify opportunities for strategic and collaborative research outputs that advance municipal service delivery”. This year’s event revolved around the theme of “Durban, A City in Transformation: Towards an Effective, Inclusive and Sustainable Socioeconomic Outcome”.

Dr Okem’s presentation at the conference is part of a large interdisciplinary research titled “Integrating Agriculture in Designing Low-Cost Sanitation Technologies in Social Housing Schemes” led by Dr Alfred Odindo. The study was informed by the need to simultaneously address the challenges of sanitation backlog, food security, lack of access to safe water, and environmental pollution. In his presentation, Okem noted that “increasing population density in the urban and peri-urban areas of eThekwini Municipality, coupled water constraints has necessitated the need to explore innovative ways to manage the provision of water and sanitation services. One of the innovative options being explored is closing the water-sanitation-food security loop by integrating sanitation systems in social housing schemes with agriculture”. Okem pointed out that “despite the potential of this approach in addressing challenges of water, sanitation, food security and pollution, questions around the social acceptability of food grown using domestic effluent remains unanswered”. The study was grounded on the qualitative paradigm with samples drawn from local communities, municipal officials and academics. The study finds that although literature identifies culture, religion, odour and health concerns as barriers to reusing human excreta in agriculture, finding from the focus groups demonstrate openness towards growing and consuming food using domestic effluent. Importantly, the study demonstrates that there is potential in simultaneously addressing issues of food insecurity and sanitation that characterise many peri-urban and rural areas in South Africa. Critically, we recommend that existing government policies restricting the use of human excreta in agriculture be revisited in order to permit the exploitation of a potentially valuable resource.

 

Okem noted that  although there are mixed responses with regard to whether food grown using domestic effluent should be labelled, the prevalent finding is that participants have no problem purchasing labelled food. Conversely, interviews with technocrats and academics show that food grown with effluent can be labelled as organic. Given the above findings, Okem recommended further research to explore the ethical and policy implications of labelling food grown using effluent.

Former SARChI post-doctoral fellow and current Housing Lecturer within the School of Built Environment and Development Studies, Dr Sithembiso Myeni, published an article in the Journal of Public Administration (SA) based on a conference paper he had presented at South African Association of Public Administration and Management (SAAPAM) in April 2015.

Myeni, S. L., & Mvuyana, B. Y. (2015). Rethinking administrative accountability and the rule of law in housing development in South Africa.Journal of Public Administration, 50(4), 788-800

Below is the abstract to the article:

Abstract

South Africa is facing a backlog with regard to housing provision in both rural and urban areas, even though, over the last two dec­ades, the housing programme has produced large numbers of housing units, which have changed the country’s landscape. This arti­cle is an ongoing effort to make sense of the continued increase in social protests around service delivery and access to free houses. It focuses on the role and impor­tance of private sector players in housing development under the neo-liberal rational­ity of rule, and seeks to interrogate how the growing privatisation of the public sector is causing serious problems for administrative accountability. The article further develops an interpretation of how the implementation of the New Public Management (NPM) approach, evident in housing development, contributes to problems of unethical gov­ernance and despotism. It is argued that the analytical perspective of institutional assemblage is a useful way of understand­ing the role of private sector players and un(ethical) governance in housing devel­opment. This perspective illuminates two paradoxes that characterise governance arrangements of housing development: while we have a clear rule of law for tradi­tional administration, we have information asymmetries that make it hard to enforce that law; and while we have a rule of law for much administration, problems in enforc­ing it undermine accountability. The article draws on two main sources. First, it draws on official discourses on governance and housing development, complemented by secondary literature on housing policy and local governance. Second, interviews with informants (housing beneficiaries, state administration and private sector repre­sentatives) in housing development were conducted in KwaZulu-Natal. The issue of understanding how to build effective new layers of accountability, supported by an effective rule of law, is discussed.

In the UKZN Ndaba (26 April 2016, vol 4, issue 20), our SARChI senior researcher is highlighted in the news article written by Melissa Mungroo titled ‘Study on Relationship Between Co-Operatives and Privately Owned Businesses in uMgungundlovu.

[Photo credit: Ms S Durgiah]

An Excerpt from UKZN Ndaba:

“A UKZN researcher recently presented his work investigating the networking activities or the lack of them between co-operatives and privately owned businesses in the uMgungundlovu District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.

He is Dr Andrew Okem, a Senior Researcher with the South African Research Chair Initiative in Applied Poverty Reduction Assessment in the School of Built Environment and Development Studies (BEDS).

Okem’s study found that most participant co-operatives operated in rural, underdeveloped locations and were hindered by several challenges including lack of finance, access to inputs, land, transport, market, income, knowledge, and skills. Of the 26 co-operatives interviewed, only three reported networking with private business.

‘Access to market and inputs were the two benefits that accrued to co-operatives from networks with privately owned businesses,’ said Okem. ‘Those interviewed identified a number of barriers to networking with private businesses including lack of benefits for co-operatives, lack of interests in networking with co-operatives, lack of experience on the part of co-operatives and a general absence of trust between co-operatives and private businesses.’

According to Okem, the identified challenges, coupled with the absence of networks with private business, have precluded these cooperatives from producing positive outcomes for members in light of existing government institutional support to cooperatives in South Africa.

‘Such support should be geared towards capacitating cooperatives to engaging in productive networking activities with privately owned businesses. However, the support should enhance rather than undermine the independence of cooperatives,’ concluded Okem.”

 

SARCHI PhD student, Mr Danford Chibvongodze recently published is article titled, “Ubuntu is Not Only about the Human! An Analysis of the Role of African Philosophy and Ethics in Environment Management“. The journal article is based on a conference paper he presented at the International Conference on Indigenous Knowledge Systems Environmental Ethics: Implications for Peacebuilding and Sustainable Development held at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.

Citation:  Chibvongodze, D T. “Ubuntu is Not Only about the Human! An Analysis of the Role of African Philosophy and Ethics in Environment Management“  J Hum Ecol, 53(2): 157-166 (2016)

“ABSTRACT: A Marxist discourse on metabolic rift is used to examine the alienation of Africans from their environment and religious connections by capitalism and urbanisation. The paper emphasises the understanding of Ubuntu as an intimate relationship between humans and the natural environment. Indeed, the epitomisation of
Ubuntu centres on the consolidation of the human, natural and spiritual tripartite. The paper shows that such a tripartite relationship allows Africans to transpose their Ubuntuness (humanness) and moral obligations not only to their fellow human beings, but also to the surrounding natural environment, including wildlife. Despite the usefulness of Ubuntu in the conservation of natural environments, the paper questions its effectiveness particularly in a capitalist and urbanised society where Africans are continually alienated from the natural environment.”

Sarah recently presented (20 April 2016) on the content of her upcoming book at the School of Built Environment and Development Studies (SoBEDS) seminar under the title, “Financialisation of Power:  what are the political consequences of an offshore illicit economy?”

The Routledge (2016) published book will be launched 23 May 2016 as “Financialisation of Power:  how financiers rule Africa”.

 

SARChI PhD Student, Ms Ayanda Tshabalala was recently in the news for her Master’s dissertation research after her work was mentioned in the UKZN Ndaba (12 April 2016, Vol 4, Issue 10).

(Photo Credit:  UKZN – M Mungroo)

Her work was also mentioned in Isolezwe newspaper (IOL) in isiZulu, the Times online, SAFM (radio) and Power FM (radio). To understand more about her research, here is a blog post she wrote when she presented her research at the University of Leeds in 2015.  Congratulations also to our SARChI staff (current and former) who also graduated from their UKZN Master’s or PhD programme on Monday 14 April 2016:  Dr A Okem, Ms N Mbarathi, Miss M Mthembu, and M P Shezi.

SARChI’s PhD student Mr F Mazwi will be presenting his PhD proposal to the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s School of Built Environment and Development Studies on Monday, 25 April 2016.  The title of his presentation is:

“Changing patterns of Agricultural Financing following the Fast Track Land Resettlement Programme: An interrogation of Contract Farming in Sugar and Tobacco; Zimbabwe”

 

SARChI’s resident post-doctoral fellow, Dr Celestin Mayombe, presents his PhD research at the African Academic Research Forum (AARF) 28-29 April 2016 in Pretoria, South Africa. Under the theme, “Transforming adult and continuing education practices”, his topic title is “Adult non-formal education and training for employment: what can be learnt from practice in South Africa”?

ABSTRACT

Adult Non-formal Education and Training (NFET) in South Africa was adopted in 1990 to address the problem of unemployment of non-educated and unskilled adults. The concern that informed this paper is that adults who face long-term unemployment due to a lack of marketable skills, remain unemployed after completing NFET programmes. The paper reports on a study conducted to investigate what constitutes NFET enabling environments for employment. The paper focuses on assessing the effectiveness of the internal delivery environments of NFET centres fostering skills utilisation in the wage- or self-employment of the graduates. The findings show that there is a relationship between the types of the centre (whether public or private), trainees’ courses and employability. Based on the effectiveness on overall employment which is 52.37% of the graduates after graduation, the author concludes that if the NFET  aims at  self-employment by linking the training programme to income-generating activities in micro-enterprises or co-operatives, NFET presents as a relevant tool to foster employment, and hence reduce poverty in south Africa.

Various SARChI team members presented on 5-6 April 2016 at the eThekwini University Research Symposium (EURS 2016) under the theme: “Durban: a city in Transformation”.

From the Durban Firm Survey analysis research project, Myriam Velia presented on behalf of her team and the presentation was titled, “Skills constraints in medium and large manufacturing establishments in the eThekwini Metro: evidence from a firm survey.”

Audrey Moyo and Jana Rogoll presented “Industrial estates in Durban:  challenges and opportunities” under the symposium sub-theme of “the transformation challenge:  addressing economic, finance, anti-corruption, poverty & inequality”.

 

 

Andrew Okem, Senior Researcher at SARChI had a presentation titled, “A stakeholder analysis of the social acceptability of domestic effluent in agriculture, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.”

 

Glen Robbins also presented on behalf of their authors (the other author being a former SARChI scholar) ‘highlighted findings from the 2014 WIEGO Informal Economy Budget Analysis (IEBA) of eThekwini Municipality’