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South African Journal of Geology
H-index 13

South African Journal of Geology

1012-0750

Published by: GSSA Publications

https://gssa.pub/sajg/about.html

Ranking & Metrics

Discipline name Position Best Scientists Publications D-Index
Earth Science 278 90 112 13

Additional Metrics

Number of Best Scientists*: 99
Documents by Best Scientists*: 118
Top 100 Ranked Scientists*: 9
SCIMAGO H-index: 59
SCIMAGO SJR: 0.502
Impact Factor: 1.2

Overview

Top Research Topics at South African Journal of Geology?

The scientific interests tackled in the journal are Geochemistry, Paleontology, Mineralogy, Geomorphology and Sedimentary rock. The study on Geochemistry presented is investigated in conjunction with research in Craton. The journal focuses on different Paleontology studies like Structural basin, Supergroup, Group (stratigraphy), Sedimentary depositional environment and Tectonics.

South African Journal of Geology is mostly focused on Sedimentary rock, specifically Clastic rock. The journal focuses on Igneous rock research which is adjacent to topics in Precambrian. South African Journal of Geology links adjacent topics like Metamorphic rock with Metamorphism.

  • Geochemistry (49.97%)
  • Paleontology (26.26%)
  • Mineralogy (9.75%)

What are the most cited papers published in the journal?

  • Geomorphic evolution of Southern Africa since the Mesozoic (539 citations)
  • 27th Du Toit Memorial LectureRe-uniting lost continents – Fossil reptiles from the ancient Karoo and their wanderlust (239 citations)
  • The fractionation of platinum-group elements in magmatic systems, with the suggestion of a novel causal mechanism (181 citations)

Research areas of the most cited articles at South African Journal of Geology:

The most cited papers mostly deal with topics like Geochemistry, Paleontology, Craton, Zircon and Igneous rock. In addition to Geochemistry research, the published papers aim to explore topics under Mineralogy and Petrology. The most cited papers facilitate discussions on Craton that incorporate concepts from other fields like Crust, Sedimentary rock, Shear zone, Limpopo Belt and Mantle (geology).

What topics the last edition of the journal is best known for?

  • Sedimentary rock
  • Paleontology
  • Ecology

The previous edition focused in particular on these issues:

The journal mainly tackles studies in Geochemistry, Paleontology, Craton, Quaternary and Stratigraphy. Most of the Geochemistry studies addressed also intersect with Suite. While work presented in South African Journal of Geology provided substantial information on Paleontology, it also covered topics in Spatial analysis, Coastal dunes and Surface (mathematics).

The Craton works featured in South African Journal of Geology incorporate elements from Structural basin, Geological evolution, Mineral and Archean. It holds forums on Quaternary that merges themes from other disciplines such as Proxy (statistics), Sediment, Landform and Interpretation (philosophy). While it focused on Stratigraphy, it was also able to explore topics like Reinterpretation, Colluvium, Cenozoic and Current (fluid).

The most cited articles from the last journal are:

  • A reinterpretation of the Archaean stratigraphy south of Nkandla, southern Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa: Geophysical and stratigraphic constraints on a sheared granitoid-greenstone remnant (2 citations)
  • Petrogenesis of Archaean granites in the Barberton region of South Africa as a guide to early crustal evolution (2 citations)
  • Syndepositional hydrothermalism selectively preserves records of one of the earliest benthic ecosystems, Moodies Group (3.22 Ga), Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa (2 citations)

Papers citation over time

A key indicator for each journal is its effectiveness in reaching other researchers with the papers published at that venue.

The chart below presents the interquartile range (first quartile 25%, median 50% and third quartile 75%) of the number of citations of articles over time.

The top authors publishing in South African Journal of Geology (based on the number of publications) are:

  • Richard Armstrong (34 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • M.J. de Wit (27 papers) published 2 papers at the last edition, 1 more than at the previous edition,
  • Bruce M. Eglington (20 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Emese M. Bordy (19 papers) published 1 paper at the last edition, 1 less than at the previous edition,
  • Chris Harris (19 papers) absent at the last edition.

The overall trend for top authors publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top authors.

Only papers with recognized affiliations are considered

The top affiliations publishing in South African Journal of Geology (based on the number of publications) are:

  • University of the Witwatersrand (189 papers) published 13 papers at the last edition, 1 more than at the previous edition,
  • University of Cape Town (167 papers) published 4 papers at the last edition, 2 more than at the previous edition,
  • University of Pretoria (97 papers) absent at the last edition,
  • Stellenbosch University (77 papers) published 5 papers at the last edition the same number as at the previous edition,
  • University of Johannesburg (74 papers) published 6 papers at the last edition, 5 less than at the previous edition.

The overall trend for top affiliations publishing in this journal is outlined below. The chart shows the number of publications at each edition of the journal for top affiliations.

Publication chance based on affiliation

The publication chance index shows the ratio of articles published by the best research institutions in the journal edition to all articles published within that journal. The best research institutions were selected based on the largest number of articles published during all editions of the journal.

The chart below presents the percentage ratio of articles from top institutions (based on their ranking of total papers).Top affiliations were grouped by their rank into the following tiers: top 1-10, top 11-20, top 21-50, and top 51+. Only articles with a recognized affiliation are considered.

During the most recent 2021 edition, 13.21% of publications had an unrecognized affiliation. Out of the publications with recognized affiliations, 69.57% were posted by at least one author from the top 10 institutions publishing in the journal. Another 4.35% included authors affiliated with research institutions from the top 11-20 affiliations. Institutions from the 21-50 range included 6.52% of all publications and 19.57% were from other institutions.

Returning Authors Index

A very common phenomenon observed among researchers publishing scientific articles is the intentional selection of journals they have already attended in the past. In particular, it is worth analyzing the case when the authors participate in the same journal from year to year.

The Returning Authors Index presented below illustrates the ratio of authors who participated in both a given as well as the previous edition of the journal in relation to all participants in a given year.

Returning Institution Index

The graph below shows the Returning Institution Index, illustrating the ratio of institutions that participated in both a given and the previous edition of the conference in relation to all affiliations present in a given year.

The experience to innovation index

Our experience to innovation index was created to show a cross-section of the experience level of authors publishing in a journal. The index includes the authors publishing at the last edition of a journal, grouped by total number of publications throughout their academic career (P) and the total number of citations of these publications ever received (C).

The group intervals were selected empirically to best show the diversity of the authors' experiences, their labels were selected as a convenience, not as judgment. The authors were divided into the following groups:

  • Novice - P < 5 or C < 25 (the number of publications less than 5 or the number of citations less than 25),
  • Competent - P < 10 or C < 100 (the number of publications less than 10 or the number of citations less than 100),
  • Experienced - P < 25 or C < 625 (the number of publications less than 25 or the number of citations less than 625),
  • Master - P < 50 or C < 2500 (the number of publications less than 50 or the number of citations less than 2500),
  • Star - P ≥ 50 and C ≥ 2500 (both the number of publications greater than 50 and the number of citations greater than 2500).

The chart below illustrates experience levels of first authors in cases of publications with multiple authors.

Top Publications

  • Introduction to the tetrapod biozonation of the Karoo Supergroup

    R.M.H. Smith;B.S. Rubidge;M.O. Day;J. Botha

    (2020)
    68 Citations
  • Biostratigraphy of the Cynognathus Assemblage Zone (Beaufort Group, Karoo Supergroup), South Africa

    P.J. Hancox;J. Neveling;B.S. Rubidge

    (2020)
    41 Citations
  • Biostratigraphy of the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone (Beaufort Group, Karoo Supergroup), South Africa

    M.O. Day;B.S. Rubidge

    (2020)
    32 Citations
  • Biostratigraphy of the Massospondylus Assemblage Zone (Stormberg Group, Karoo Supergroup), South Africa

    P.A. Viglietti;B.W. McPhee;E.M. Bordy;L. Sciscio

    (2020)
    29 Citations
  • Precambrian tectonic evolution of Earth: an outline

    J. F. Dewey;Ekaterina S. Kiseeva;J. A. Pearce;L. J. Robb;L. J. Robb

    (2021)
    22 Citations
  • Biostratigraphy of the Scalenodontoides Assemblage Zone (Stormberg Group, Karoo Supergroup), South Africa

    P.A. Viglietti;B.W. McPhee;E.M. Bordy;L. Sciscio

    (2020)
    21 Citations
  • Exploring our current understanding of the geological evolution and mineral endowment of the Zimbabwe Craton

    (2021)
    17 Citations
  • Biostratigraphy of the <i>Eodicynodon</i> Assemblage Zone (Beaufort Group, Karoo Supergroup), South Africa

    (2020)
    16 Citations
  • Constraining the timescales of mafic magmatism of the Central Karoo Large Igneous Province using high precision U-Pb zircon geochronology

    (2022)
    16 Citations
  • Manganese carbonate-bearing mudstone of the Witwatersrand-Mozaan succession in southern Africa as evidence for bacterial manganese respiration and availability of free molecular oxygen in Mesoarchaean oceans

    (2023)
    14 Citations

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