[IRTalk] REQUEST FOR CONSULTANT QUOTATIONS: SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING SUPPORT TO AJIC

Thu Apr 17 11:06:04 SAST 2025

Deadline: 28 April 2025
Introduction
The LINK Centre invites quotations from qualified South African consultants for provision, on a fixed-term contract basis, of five months of scholarly publishing support to LINK’s open access, accredited, peer-reviewed academic journal, The African Journal of Information and Communication (AJIC)<https://ajic.wits.ac.za/>.
Download PDF version<https://www.wits.ac.za/media/wits-university/faculties-and-schools/humanities/research-entities/link/documents/requests-for-proposals/Wits%20LINK%20Centre%20-%20Request%20for%20Quotations%20(due%2028%20April%202025)%20-%20Scholarly%20Publishing%20Support%20to%20AJIC.pdf> of this Request for Consultant Quotations.
TERMS OF REFERENCE
Period of contract: 1 June to 31 October 2025 (five months)
Reporting to: AJIC Publishing Editor, Wits LINK Centre
Deliverables
With guidance and oversight from the AJIC Publishing Editor, the consultant will provide the following deliverables:
1. Increase discoverability and visibility of AJIC articles and authors

  *   1.1 References metadata completion: Populate “References” field, on AJIC’s Khulisa Journals Platform site, https://ajic.wits.ac.za<https://ajic.wits.ac.za/>, for all articles in Issues 1 to 26 (published between 2000 and 2020).
     *   Note: For Issues 1 to 9 (2000 to 2008), AJIC was The Southern African Journal of Information and Communication (SAJIC).
     *   Note: The Khulisa Journals Platform, managed by the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), runs on the PKP Open Journal Systems software, https://pkp.sfu.ca/software/ojs.
  *   1.2 ORCID metadata completion: Add missing author ORCID metadata to article DOI registrations with Crossref, to article metadata on AJIC’s Khulisa Journals site, and to article metadata in the AJIC and SAJIC collections in the Wits WIReDSpace institutional repository: https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/19251
https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/28051
  *   1.3 Management of translation of article titles and abstracts: Manage provision of professional, high-quality translations, into French and Portuguese, of titles and abstracts of 39 articles published in Issues 29 to 34 (2022 to 2024) (a total of 78 translations, each approx. 200 words in length)
     *   Note: The translators will be contracted and paid by the Wits LINK Centre, and thus the consultant quotation should not include translation costs.
  *   4 Publication of translated article titles and abstracts: Using the OJS plug-in for translated content, publish the translated article titles and abstracts on AJIC’s Khulisa Journals site

2. Deepen subject matter expertise on AJIC Editorial Advisory Board

  *   2.1 Journal subject matter audit: Perform audit of the most prevalent subject matter areas addressed by submissions to, and published content in, AJIC, with identification of most prominent subject matter areas of the past five years, from April 2021 to April 2025.
  *   2.2 Board subject matter expertise audit: Perform audit of the subject matter expertise of existing Editorial Advisory Board members, https://ajic.wits.ac.za/about/editorialTeam, and the degree to which the journal’s most prevalent subject matter areas of the past five years are matched by Board expertise; and identify subject matter areas where additional expertise needs to be added to the Board.
  *   2.3 Identification of potential new Board members: Identify individuals to be considered for invitation to serve on the Board in add the necessary additional expertise identified in deliverable 2.2

3. Enhance recognition of peer reviewers

  *   3.1 Implementation of ReviewerCredits system: Enroll AJIC in the free version of ReviewerCredits, https://www.reviewercredits.com/recognise-and-reward-your-peer-reviewers, and provide ReviewerCredits to all AJIC peer reviewers listed in Issues 10 to 34 (published from 2010 to 2024)
  *   3.2 Facilitation of reviewer adoption of ReviewerCredits system: Liaise with all AJIC peer reviewers who have been provided with AJIC credits in the ReviewerCredits system (as per deliverable 3.1), to make them aware of AJIC’s use of the system and to advise them to consider signing up to the platform and integrating it with their ORCID profiles: https://www.reviewercredits.com/what-we-offer-to-peer-reviewers

 SUBMISSION OF QUOTATIONS
Qualified South African consultants are asked to please submit the following:

  1.  a cover letter that includes details of the consultant’s previous work on scholarly publishing matters
  2.  the consultant’s up-to-date CV, including SA ID number, SARS tax reference number, and names and contact details of two referees familiar with the consultant’s previous work on scholarly publishing matters
  3.  a quotation for the consultant’s provision of the above-listed deliverables between 1 June and 31 October 2025

The three documents listed above must please be submitted via email to:
Dr. Chris Armstrong, Wits LINK Centre, chris.armstrong at wits.ac.za<mailto:chris.armstrong at wits.ac.za>
cc: Nokhanyo Yolwa, Wits LINK Centre, nokhanyo.yolwa at wits.ac.za<mailto:nokhanyo.yolwa at wits.ac.za>
Deadline for submission of quotations:
28 April 2025

Ina Smith (her/she)

SciELO SA Planning Manager | Scholarly Publishing Programme
Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf)
<http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9710-3668>

[cid:dcf00016-3ebd-436a-a24a-9d00e2ff534e]

Senior Ambassador for Africa
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

[https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4xbjCrv5gVyyl84VvHNx8ocgrBYSBjggNNyva45_YzaCvj6fTvWD7f3cVI7JDH06vkvS21npNmjTLlc]
DOAJ & Diamond: 22 years<https://blog.doaj.org/2025/04/15/doaj-and-diamond-our-focus-for-2025/>
ASSAf Switchboard: +27 12 349 6600
Whatsapp: +27(0)82 818 0117
Email: ina at assaf.org.za<mailto:ina at assaf.org.za> and ina at doaj.org<mailto:ina at doaj.org>

25A De Havilland Crescent, Persequor Park
Meiring Naudé Road, Lynnwood 0020, Pretoria, South Africa
PO Box 72135, Lynnwood Ridge 0040, Pretoria, South Africa

ASSAf Website: https://www.assaf.org.za/
DOAJ Website: https://doaj.org/

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