Academic publishing in pandemic times
Date
2020-09-21
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ASSAf
Abstract
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Even though it tends to feel like ages, it has not been that long since the final days of 2019, when cases of severe
respiratory illness (now known as COVID-19), caused by a previously unknown coronavirus (since named SARSCoV-
2), were reported from China. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented disruption to almost
every area of our daily and professional lives.
Science has not been spared, nor has scientific publishing. Most researchers have been unable to continue with
their work, and many had to all but re-invent their teaching. Quite a few have re-invented themselves as coronavirus
researchers.1 As biomedical researchers, we are astonished to see how much interest the public is taking in
our findings. For no other disease do members of the public so fervently seek out reports in traditional and social
media about the latest research findings. These reports often trigger controversial discussions, mostly on social
media platforms, about rather complicated aspects of epidemiology, diagnostics, pathogenesis or therapy. Many
of these issues are matters outside the realm of everyday life and normally left to experts to assess the evidence
and translate it into practice.
Description
CITATION: Preiser, W. & Preiser, R. 2020. Academic publishing in pandemic times. South African Journal of Science, 116(9/10):8803, doi:10.17159/sajs.2020/8803.
The original publication is available at https://sajs.co.za
The original publication is available at https://sajs.co.za
Keywords
Scientific discourse, Epidemics, COVID-19 (Disease), Academic publishing
Citation
Preiser, W. & Preiser, R. 2020. Academic publishing in pandemic times. South African Journal of Science, 116(9/10):8803, doi:10.17159/sajs.2020/8803.