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Research, with a capital 'R', is a subject of considerable concern within South African ruling circles. There's not enough of it, and it's not the right kind, or so the argument runs. Recognising the importance of the material conditions of the researchers and the need for a bottom-up approach to developing research priorities, this paper focuses on the state of sociology research in South Africa today. It demonstrates that, over the past twelve years, a marked increase in the output of masters and doctoral graduates has been accompanied by a decline in the level of completed research by qualified sociologists. In terms of publications, there has been a significant increase in the proportion produced by women, but a negligible change in the number by black scholars. The paper rejects pessimistic assessments of the state of South African sociology. It concludes by arguing that the discipline should place itself at the centre of an integrated and engaged social science by drawing diverse strands together at a local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today one of the most contentious issues within the emerging field of Science and Technology Studies in South Africa relates to the position and participation of women scientists in academia. This paper presents the results of a secondary analysis of data contained in a national database of journal publications and their authors. The objective is to describe the nature and extent of gender differences in journal publication productivity among South African academics during the period 1990-2001. The paper also makes a methodological contribution by highlighting issues and making recommendations for further analyses of South African bibliometric databases. The data show that, on average during the period studied, men published almost twice as many articles in accredited journals as women, and that gender differences in both extremes of publication productivity determined this gap. Possible explanations for the observed differences are put forward in the form of a summary of the most important theoretical explanations for gender differences in publication productivity. An assessment is made of their potential relevance in the South African context, in order to identify priorities for future research on the issue of gender differences in publication productivity among South African academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented, in which the authors detail the changes made to the journal and tackle reports published within the issue including one by Karl von Holdt on the nature of post-apartheid South Africa and another one by Monique Marks and Debby Bonnin on community policing in South Africa.