📢 Special Issue: Call for papers The human diversity dilemma: Navigating the intersection of microbiomes, ethics and society in Africa Abstracts due: 16 Feb 2026 For more information visit: www.sajs.co.za/call-human-d...

Parle reviews ‘A Widening Idea of Health and Health Research’: A subtly insightful analysis of the intertwined fates of the modern South African state, medical science research, the hard realities of paying for it, and contests over health policy. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

McKenna reviews ‘Audit Culture’: A compelling argument for an addendum to Goodhart’s Law: when a measure becomes a target, unintended consequences antithetical to what was being measured in the first place will always emerge. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Gevers reviews ‘On Discovery’: A very readable and significant book for all who are willing to widen their view, consiliently, to discover the world and its inhabitants and constituents in all their glory and complexity. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Bekker reviews ‘Artificial Intelligence’: A book on harnessing artificial intelligence for the development of the Global South could hardly be more relevant. The book attempts to serve as both a primer on AI applications and a development manifesto. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Yeni reviews ‘No Last Place to Rest’: In the context of South Africa’s dominant land debates, Skosana expands the terrain of the land question in ways that are as urgent as they are overdue. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Röntsch reviews ‘Life Writing and the Southern Hemisphere’: This edited volume provides interesting and thoughtful additions to the growing discourse on Southern epistemologies and ways of being. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Nyamnjoh reviews ‘The Work of Repair’: An essential text for scholars and for anyone interested in how people survive, care and imagine alternative possibilities in the face of systemic injustice. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Slabbert pays tribute to Bob Pullen (1939–2025): His passing leaves a legacy of institutional leadership, technical excellence and dedicated service to the built environment and the communities it supports. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Ancient stone tools offer clues to how early humans shared ideas, learned together, and built the roots of today’s societies. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Wingfield & Wingfield underscore the urgency of rethinking how artificial intelligence systems and publishing models intersect and call attention to structural inequities that shape who is visible in the scholarly record. #SDG10 doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Ralphs proposes a directionality-sensitive innovation indicator framework for the cultural and creative industries that can be used and adapted for future policy monitoring efforts. #SDG1 #SDG3 #SDG4 #SDG8 #SDG9 #SDG13 doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Yende-Zuma & Reddy present key considerations for study designs, data requirements and statistical modelling suitable for vaccine effectiveness studies in a resource-limited setting. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Connell et al. highlight the need for site-specific, multi-species environmental monitoring, emphasising the important relationships between organism size and exposure level and physiological stress. #SDG3 #SDG6 #SDG13 #SDG14 #SDG15 doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Nitrogen isotopes in tooth enamel indicate that Australopithecus in C3 (savanna woodland) habitats at Sterkfontein did not consume meat, but carnivory may have occurred in C4 savanna grassland. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Early bow-hunting in southern Africa, fossil skull morphology and Homo sapiens specific gene variants provide clues to the evolution of human thinking more than 60 000 years ago. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Atmospheric conditions on Mars vary significantly more than on Earth. Nevertheless, typical values given for temperature, pressure and air density should be consistent with the ideal gas law. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Azeez et al. use a hybrid random forest Bayesian ARIMA model that integrates the benefits of both models to improve prediction accuracy and quantify uncertainty in forecasting TB cases among children in SA. #SDG3 doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Saner offers guidance on using generative AI tools responsibly, balancing efficiency and trust in research. Ethical principles can minimise potential harms to scholarly integrity. @paula-saner.bsky.social doi.org/10.17159/saj...

New insights into the brown hyena’s (Parahyaena brunnea) spatial and temporal ecology in the Fish River Canyon reveal the key role of topography and highlight the species’ adaptability within a reduced carnivore guild. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

The Cape Colony experienced severe income and wealth concentration in the 17th, 18th & early 19th centuries, suggesting that severe inequality is not a modern phenomenon but has historical foundations. #SDG10 doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Hargrove et al. describe an AI algorithm for measuring the shape of tsetse wings, aimed at better understanding the flies’ population dynamics and biology – and optimising methods of vector and disease control. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Research software is everywhere in science, but almost nowhere in policy and funding. Understanding this gap is essential for strengthening science in South Africa. #SDG2 #SDG3 #SDG7 #SDG9 #SDG14 #SDG15 doi.org/10.17159/saj...

The status of rooibos in the wild is promising, with a population of at least 15 million plants and more than a quarter occurring in protected areas. Climate change is deemed the largest threat to the species. doi.org/10.17159/saj... #SDG2 #SDG15

In a global political context in which right-wing populism has become associated with anti-science views, we ask how we can take the lessons of S20 into the future, in a rigorous and inclusive way? doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Don’t miss the last issue of 2025…What can ancient stone tools tell us about past knowledge sharing? Is harvesting of wild rooibos sustainable? Machine-learning forecasting of TB in children, new insights into brown hyena, and more… sajs.co.za/issue/view/1...

A friendly reminder of our session at Science Forum South Africa 2025 on ‘Science communication in the age of AI: Bridging scholarship and society’. 🗓️ 27 November | ⏰ 11:10-12:40 | 📍 CSIR ICC (Jade room) For more information and how to register visit sajs.co.za/libraryFiles... #SFSA2025

We invite you to a session hosted by the SAJS at #SFSA2025 on ‘Science communication in the age of AI: Bridging scholarship and society’. Hope to see you there! 🗓️ 27 November | ⏰ 11:10-12:40 | 📍 CSIR ICC More info at sajs.co.za/libraryFiles...

As a Diamond open access journal, the South African Journal of Science is committed to the principles of #OpenAccess and best practice in open access publishing. #OAweek

Celebrating #OAweek 2025, themed “Who owns our knowledge?”. View global events here: www.openaccessweek.org/events, including two locally organised events, one on regional perspectives on Diamond OA and the other on publishing Diamond OA on the African Platform for Open Scholarship.

“Owning our knowledge” webinar will showcase non-commercial, open-access platforms that empower researchers and communities to share knowledge equitably and sustainably. Hosted by ISC. Date: October 20, 2025 Time: 12:00 - 13:30 UTC Register here: council.science/events/ownin...

Join us to BUST some open peer review MYTHS this International Open Access Week! 🔻 🥳 Sign-up here 👉 zoom.us/webinar/regi... 🌚 #PeerReview #Publishing #ResearchSkill #PublishingIntegrity #ResearchIntegrity

Goliath reviews ‘Roadmap of the Professoriate’: A user-friendly, nuts-and-bolts introduction to planning an academic career. Its clear layout and straightforward exercises make the material easy to digest. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Visagie reviews ‘A New History of Formal Schooling in South Africa’: The careful treatment and engagement with existing work make the book well suited as an academic read to introduce students to the history of formal schooling in SA. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Carruthers reviews ‘Dockside Reading’: Hofmeyr has used a truly impressive range and variety of sources to reveal the many lives, cultures and travels in which books were enmeshed in the colonial era. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Long reviews ‘Frantz Fanon: Combat Breathing’: This book is for anyone needing an entry point into Fanon’s challenging corpus, and for activists and intellectuals troubled in these genocidal times by the cravenness of the powers that be. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Webster reviews ‘Segregated Species’: Skotnes-Brown has done an exceptional job revealing the interconnections between settler colonial science and animal conservation and management. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Mall reviews ‘The Meaning of a Life’: Gevers’ love for the acquisition of knowledge and the sharing of it is obvious. A must read.

Soodyall and colleagues pay tribute to Trefor Jenkins (1932–2025) – a pioneer of human genetics in southern Africa. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

This Structured Conversation explores a range of views on how evidence is defined and deployed from four diverse disciplinary perspectives. #SDG10 #SDG13 #SDG16 doi.org/10.17159/saj...

The sustainable use of medicinal plants by smallholder farmers in the Amatole District Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, plays a vital role in rural livelihoods. #SDG1 #SDG2 #SDG3 #SDG8 #SDG15 doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Coutinho highlights the significant threat posed by quarantine bacterial fruit tree pathogens to South Africa’s agricultural biosecurity. #SDG2 #SDG1 #SDG5 doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Publishing is tough, but understanding why papers are rejected and how to avoid common mistakes can boost your chances of success. doi.org/10.17159/saj...

In response to Neves et al. (2024), a new study of fossil teeth supports the view that Sahelanthropus from Chad, about 7 million years old, is a hominin (a distant human relative). doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Sewry and colleagues used a Scientific Numeracy Smart Worksheet to explore the numeracy proficiency of first-year chemistry students at Rhodes University. Students performed well at solving equations, but struggled with graphs. #SDG4 doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Nworah and colleagues present a simple, green approach using cashew leaves to make zinc oxide nanoparticles that have powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, thus showing promise as new natural therapies. #SDG3 doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Harris & @sebnemer describe the development of a non-destructive pineapple fruit size determination approach using Mask R-CNN based on images of pineapples passing through conveyor belts. #SDG9 doi.org/10.17159/saj...

A geoscience perspective on gully erosion across the southern African interior advances our understanding of human-landscape interactions, with practical benefits for improved erosion control. #SDG2 #SDG6 #SDG13 #SDG15 doi.org/10.17159/saj... @aberuni.bsky.social

Using cutting-edge X-ray techniques, Cloete et al. show how molecular-scale changes in zinc chemistry determine its ocean-scale distribution and availability to support the marine food web. #SDG13 #SDG14 doi.org/10.17159/saj...

Use of marijuana and cocaine in 17th-century England and Italy is discussed in relation to a hypothesis that William Shakespeare smoked cannabis in moderation to promote creativity, but not cocaine. doi.org/10.17159/saj...