Editor’s note
Twenty-one years of excellence

On its 21st birthday, this new issue of the South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition (SAJCN)   celebrates the 21st volume of the SAJCN, which is now published by Medpharm. The change in publishers is the outcome of discussions within the Management and Editorial Board of the SAJCN and aims to improve the service the SAJCN provides to nutrition professionals in South Africa, the rest of the African continent as well as worldwide. 

This “new” start makes the SAJCN a fully fledged electronic journal with a web-based editorial office, which was implemented with the aim of shortening the time from submission of a manuscript to its publication date. All peer reviews are also performed online and the journal archives will enjoy, for now at least, open access on the World Wide Web, powered by the Google Scholar search engine. Please visit us at www.sajcn.co.za to read and submit articles. One also hopes that these improvements will increase the number of manuscripts that will be submitted for publication.  

Over the past 21 years, the SAJCN has established itself as a reference journal in nutrition in the country, has gained and maintained accreditation by the Department of Education and continues to be an accredited provider of continuing professional development activities for its readership. Furthermore, the SAJCN has been invited to be listed by EBSCO Publishing in the near future, which will increase the SAJCN’s exposure internationally once the current negotiations are formalised.   

SAJCN’s transformation to a fully fledged electronic journal brings with it added responsibilities on all those professionals who over the years have supported the journal. Authors will be expected to submit their manuscripts on-line, although non-electronic submissions will be kept active for those authors who do not have access to the electronic media. Reviewers will also be expected to complete their reviews of manuscripts on-line, a measure that is expected to shorten the duration of the peer review process. In order to further facilitate the peer review process the relevant user guides for authors and reviewers have been uploaded on-line together with a contact email address in case any difficulties are encountered.   

Of course, these aims cannot be achieved without the continued support and priority afforded to the SAJCN by the authors and reviewers alike. Our readers are also requested to continue sending us appropriate nutrition related photographs electronically for the cover page of the SAJCN as well as news items for the news page of the journal. The correspondence columns of the current SAJCN issue is populated by interesting letters to the Editor, and our readers are encouraged to continue submitting their views/experiences for publishing in the correspondence columns of the SAJCN.         

Advertising revenue is indispensable to afford ADSA, NSSA and SASPEN the financial means to continue publishing the SAJCN. Such revenue helps meet the publishing costs primarily, and any profits are invested back to improve the journal and develop its editorial content. Advertising in the SAJCN can therefore be considered to be a true investment in South Africa’s nutritional scientific intellectual property now and in the future. One is therefore very grateful for the support afforded to the SAJCN by all advertisers over many years, and hopes that their support will continue in the future. The SAJCN’s advertising policy is of course accessible at the journal’s website. Advertisers can contact Mrs Nicole Harrison at nicole@medpharm.co.za, 083 325 6476 or 012 664 7460 for advertising enquiries.

I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank the SAJCN’s Management and Editorial Board, our readers/members, our reviewers, our authors, our previous publishers and all the role players who over many years helped establish and maintain the world-class quality of our journal. In particular, I would also like to welcome our new publishers, Medpharm Publications, who are committed to invest in the SAJCN and to develop the journal to its fullest potential. Lastly, I would like to thank you, our reader, for your continued interest in the SAJCN. We welcome your feedback and suggestions to keep SAJCN an invigorating publication.

Prof D Labadarios
Editor-in-Chief: SAJCN

Last updated: 28-Feb-2008