Journal profile · Surgery
South African Journal of Surgery
ISSN 0038-2361 · eISSN 2078-5151 · South African Medical Association · SOUTH AFRICA · Quarterly · Founded 1963
South African Journal of Surgery: CAS Zone 4 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 0.49; fully open access; APC about USD 1,050; review over 12 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: easy; 63 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
South African Journal of Surgery is published by South African Medical Association and is in Zone 4 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Trauma and Emergency Care Studies, Abdominal Trauma and Injuries and Appendicitis Diagnosis and Management, together about 23.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Surgery. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
The South African Journal of Surgery (SAJS) is a quarterly, general surgical journal. It carries research articles and letters, editorials, clinical practice and other surgical articles and personal opinion, South African health-related news, obituaries and general correspondence. While the emphasis is placed on the South African perspective and relevance to surgery in a developing world setting, we strive to maintain an international audience. SAJS is indexed as follows: AIM, AJOL, DHET, EBSCO, Embase, Index Medicus, Medline, Sabinet, SciELO SA and WoS.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Surgery
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Trauma and Emergency Care StudiesMedicine8.9%
- Abdominal Trauma and InjuriesMedicine7.8%
- Appendicitis Diagnosis and ManagementMedicine6.6%
- Trauma Management and DiagnosisMedicine5.9%
- Esophageal and GI PathologyMedicine5.7%
- Hernia repair and managementMedicine4.8%
- Global Health and SurgeryMedicine4.8%
- Gallbladder and Bile Duct DisordersMedicine4.1%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Surgery | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Surgery | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 4
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 4 |
| Minor | Surgery | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusDOAJLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 0.49LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 0.6LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 0.18LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 0.29LetPub ·
- h-index
- 19LetPub ·
- h-index
- 18OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 60OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 0.41OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 16.7%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 93.42%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 51LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 853 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 58 | 58 | 1 |
| 2025 | 63 | 63 | 26 |
| 2024 | 64 | 64 | 49 |
| 2023 | 45 | 45 | 87 |
| 2022 | 65 | 65 | 155 |
| 2021 | 67 | 67 | 174 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
- Average review time (community reports)
- over 12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- EasyLetPub ·
- Submission to publication (journal-reported)
- about 24 weeksDOAJ ·
- Peer review
- Double anonymous peer reviewDOAJ
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Fully open accessDOAJ
Every article is open access; authors usually pay an article processing charge (APC).
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DOAJ | USD 1,050 | Yes | CC BY-NC | |
| Publisher website | USD 1,200 / USD 500 | — | — |
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteLicense & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Plagiarism
- License & copyright Copyright
South African Journal of Surgery (SAJS) Copyright is held by Association of Surgeons of South Africa (ASSA). Copyright of the articles is held by the authors. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial Works 4.0 South Africa License (CC BY NC). Material submitted for publication in the SAJS is accepted provided it has not been published elsewhere. SAJS does not hold i…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open Access Policy
All articles published by the SAJS are made freely and permanently openly accessible online immediately upon publication, without subscription charges or registration barriers. The journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer Review Process
Original Research Articles, Case Reports and Review Articles are subject to peer review. The peer review process involves the following:
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Plagiarism Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined as the use of another's work, words or ideas without attribution or permission, and representation of them as one’s own original work. Plagiarism may take many forms, ranging from major plagiarism (the copy-and-paste of large amounts of text), to minor plagiarism without dishonest intent (e.g. when an author uses parts of an introduction from an earlier paper) and even self-p…
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- South African Medical Association
- Country or region
- SOUTH AFRICA
- Language
- Multi-Language
- Frequency
- Quarterly
- Founded
- 1963
- ISSN
- 0038-2361
- Electronic ISSN
- 2078-5151
- Official links
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about South African Journal of Surgery
What CAS zone is South African Journal of Surgery in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, South African Journal of Surgery is in Zone 4 of Medicine, and in Zone 4 of the minor category Surgery. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 4 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of South African Journal of Surgery?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 0.49; CiteScore 0.6, h-index 18.
How long does peer review take at South African Journal of Surgery?
Authors report an average review time of over 12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Easy”. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
Which databases index South African Journal of Surgery?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, South African Journal of Surgery is indexed in SCIE, Scopus and DOAJ.
Is South African Journal of Surgery open access, and what is the APC?
South African Journal of Surgery is a fully open-access journal. APC about USD 1,050.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, DOAJ, Publisher website, OpenAlex; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-25). Last updated: .