Key finding: South African universities were awarded 23 777,63 publication subsidy units for the 2023 publication year — a 2,56% decrease on the previous year — with journal articles accounting for 82,6% of the total, according to the Department of Higher Education and Training’s Report on the Evaluation of the 2023 Universities’ Research Output (January 2025).
What the policy actually counts
The governing instrument is the Research Outputs Policy (2015), published as Government Notice 188 in Government Gazette No. 38552 on 11 March 2015 and implemented from 1 January 2016, replacing the 2003 measurement policy. It remains the operative policy in 2026 — there is no amendment.
Its scope is narrower than most postgraduates assume. The policy states that the Department “does not subsidise all research outputs, but only publications in the form of approved books; recognised accredited journal articles and approved published conference proceedings”. Explicitly excluded from subsidy are correspondence to editors, abstracts and extended abstracts, keynote addresses, obituaries, book reviews, news articles and advertorials.
How a unit is calculated
| Output type | Units | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Journal article in an approved journal, all authors at the claiming institution | 1,0 unit (shared proportionally where authors span institutions) | Research Outputs Policy 2015, §5.7 |
| Article in approved conference proceedings | Maximum 0,5 units | Research Outputs Policy 2015, §7.7 |
| Book chapter | 1,0 unit | Research Outputs Policy 2015, §6.4 |
| Book, 60–89 pages | 2,0 units | Research Outputs Policy 2015, §6.4 |
| Book, 150–179 pages | 5,0 units | Research Outputs Policy 2015, §6.4 |
| Book, 300+ pages | 10,0 units (the maximum) | Research Outputs Policy 2015, §6.4 |
The book scale runs in steps between those points — 90–119 pages earns 3 units, 120–149 earns 4, and so on up to the ceiling of 10. Fractions of units are expressed in decimal form, which is why the national totals carry two decimal places.
The national figures for 2023
Each statistic below is written so it can be quoted on its own.
- A total of 23 777,63 publication subsidy units were awarded to universities in the 2024 submission cycle, for the 2023 publication year — a 2,56% decrease from 24 402,84 units the year before (DHET, 2025).
- Output has grown from 7 230 units in 2005 to 23 777,63 in 2023, a compound average annual growth rate of 6,84% — but the growth rate over the last three years fell sharply to 0,77% (DHET, 2025).
- All 26 public universities submitted their 2023 research publication outputs on or before the 15 May 2024 deadline (DHET, 2025).
| Output category, 2023 | Units | Share of total | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Journal articles | 19 638,5 | 82,6% | DHET, Research Output Report 2023 (2025), Table 1 |
| Books and chapters | 2 990,6 | 12,6% | DHET, Research Output Report 2023 (2025), Table 1 |
| Conference proceedings | 1 148,6 | 4,8% | DHET, Research Output Report 2023 (2025), Table 1 |
| Total | 23 777,63 | 100% | DHET, Research Output Report 2023 (2025) |
Output is heavily concentrated
| University | Units, 2023 | Source |
|---|---|---|
| University of Johannesburg | 3 195,1 | DHET, 2025 |
| University of KwaZulu-Natal | 2 344,4 | DHET, 2025 |
| University of Pretoria | 2 056,0 | DHET, 2025 |
| Stellenbosch University | 2 034,8 | DHET, 2025 |
| University of the Witwatersrand | 1 969,7 | DHET, 2025 |
| Unisa | 1 807,2 | DHET, 2025 |
| North-West University | 1 754,8 | DHET, 2025 |
| University of Cape Town | 1 613,6 | DHET, 2025 |
| University of the Free State | 1 365,4 | DHET, 2025 |
The concentration is the story: 48,79% of all research publication output units were produced by five universities, and 76,29% by only nine (DHET, 2025).
Which journals count, and how many there are
An article earns a unit only if it appears in a journal on the approved list, which is not a single list but a union of recognised indexes. The 2023 report names seven: Web of Science, IBSS, Scopus, the Norwegian List, SciELO South Africa, DOAJ and the DHET’s own South African list.
Counting the master list published through the DHET/CREST ZA Publications Monitor (file dated 11 August 2026), covering journals approved for the 2026 publication year and submission in 2027, the composition is:
| Index | Journals on the master list | Of which eligible for subsidy |
|---|---|---|
| Scopus | 33 972 | 32 148 |
| DOAJ | 25 663 | 23 442 |
| Web of Science | 23 295 | 22 686 |
| Norwegian List | 2 379 | 2 343 |
| IBSS | 2 330 | 2 246 |
| DHET South African list | 290 | 283 |
| SciELO South Africa | 111 | 109 |
| All titles (de-duplicated) | 51 799 | 48 352 |
Titles appear on more than one index, so the columns do not sum to the total. Of the 290 journals on the DHET’s own South African list, 81 appear on that list alone — these are the local titles with no international indexing, and they are the ones a South African postgraduate is most likely to be considering. Note that these seven counts are a tally of the published master file rather than figures the Department itself prints. CREST updates each journal’s status at the end of May and the end of October each year, so check before you submit.
Where South African articles actually appear
- South African academics published in 7 600 different journals in 2023 — only 14% of all the titles across the seven recognised indexes (DHET, 2025).
- More than half — 58% — of all journal articles in 2023 appeared in Scopus- or Web of Science-listed journals (DHET, 2025, n = 29 878 articles).
- Publications appearing only in DHET-listed journals declined from 5,16% in 2020 to 3,04% in 2023 (DHET, 2025).
Predatory journals: what happens if you publish in one
The policy addresses this directly. Section 5.3 requires that institutions “safeguard against predatory journals whose main purpose is financial gain rather than the quality of research”, and sections 5.12 to 5.14 codify removal: institutions and individuals may propose that a journal be removed, South African journals no longer meeting the criteria “will be removed from the list immediately, following a review process”, removed journals may re-apply only “after a minimum of two years”, and “the reasons for removal of journals will be made public”.
Accreditation itself runs through a double review, with panels convened by both the Department and the Academy of Science of South Africa. And the funding consequence is real: the Ministerial Statement on University Funding for 2025/26 to 2027/28 states that for funding purposes, publications found to be fraudulent or appearing in predatory journals, or pending investigation, will have research units “withheld or withdrawn”, with the Department reserving the right to recover funds from the university for up to three historical years.
The practical instruction for a doctoral candidate: before you submit anywhere, check the title against the current master list, and be sceptical of any journal that solicits you by email and promises rapid publication for a fee.
How to use these figures — and what not to claim
Three cautions, because this dataset is widely misquoted.
Do not quote a rand value per publication unit. This is the most common error in secondary writing about the subsidy. The Department publishes the block-grant envelope — the “actual research outputs” sub-block grant runs from about R5,23 billion in 2022/23 to about R5,83 billion in 2026/27 — and it publishes funded-unit totals, but those unit totals include weighted doctoral and research master’s graduates as well as publications. Dividing one by the other does not produce a per-article rate, and the figures circulating online that purport to be one are not traceable to a departmental source.
Cite the publication year, not the report year. A report published in 2025 evaluates the 2023 publication year submitted in 2024. Writing “2025 figures” for these numbers is wrong.
Know that a newer report exists. A report covering the 2024 publication year was released in 2026 but is not, at the time of writing, publicly downloadable from the Department’s site, although individual universities have quoted their own figures from it in press releases. The 2023 report remains the most recent publicly available national dataset. If you find a 2024 national total quoted online, verify it against a primary source before citing it.
Note also that the subsidy model itself is under review: the Department is funding a Publication Quality Framework, coordinated by Stellenbosch University with the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, with implementation extended to conclude on 31 March 2027.
What this means if you are the one publishing
If your degree requires or encourages publication from your thesis — increasingly common at doctoral level — the arithmetic above is your map. A journal article is the highest-value single unit and the overwhelming majority of what the sector produces; a conference paper is worth at most half a unit; and an article in an unlisted journal is worth nothing at all, however good it is. Check the list first, then write.
Turning a thesis chapter into a publishable article is a rewrite, not an extract — different length, different structure, different audience. Keeping the thesis and the derived papers coherent, with one consistent reference list across both, is exactly the kind of long-running project Tesify is built to hold. For the underlying sector context, see our guides to postgraduate enrolment statistics and dropout and throughput, and for the sourcing of national data more generally, our guide to accessing South African data.
FAQ
How many research output units did South African universities produce?
23 777,63 publication subsidy units for the 2023 publication year, down 2,56% from 24 402,84 the previous year (DHET, 2025). Figures for 2024 exist but were not publicly available at the time of writing.
How many journals are on the DHET accredited list?
The master list dated 11 August 2026 carries 51 799 titles across seven recognised indexes, of which 48 352 are eligible for subsidy. The DHET’s own South African list contains 290 titles, 81 of which appear on no other index.
How much is a publication unit worth in rand?
The Department does not publish a per-unit rate, and figures claiming one are not traceable to a departmental source. What is published is the research-output block grant, running from roughly R5,23 billion in 2022/23 to R5,83 billion in 2026/27.
Does a conference paper count as much as a journal article?
No. Articles in approved conference proceedings earn a maximum of 0,5 units; a journal article in an approved journal earns 1,0 unit where all authors are at the claiming institution.
Do book chapters count?
Yes — a chapter earns 1 unit, and a whole book earns between 2 and 10 units depending on its page count, with 300 pages or more reaching the maximum of 10.
Which university produces the most research output?
The University of Johannesburg, with 3 195,1 units in 2023, followed by UKZN (2 344,4) and the University of Pretoria (2 056,0). Five universities account for 48,79% of the national total (DHET, 2025).
What happens if I publish in a predatory journal?
The article earns no subsidy, and the Ministerial Statement provides for units to be withheld or withdrawn and for funds to be recovered from the university for up to three historical years. Check the master list before submitting anywhere.
Does my master’s dissertation itself earn a unit?
No. The Research Outputs Policy subsidises approved books, accredited journal articles and approved conference proceedings. Graduates are funded through separate components of the university funding framework, not through this policy.
Where can I check whether a journal is accredited?
Through the DHET/CREST ZA Publications Monitor, which publishes the downloadable master list, and through your own university library — several publish the current approved-journal spreadsheets directly. Statuses are updated at the end of May and end of October each year.