Announcement: Changes herald the way forward
Starting from 2012, all Koers articles have been published online and on a rolling basis. This means that an article can be published electronically as soon as it is ready. At the end of a particular year, all the articles are brought together in a hard copy, with one issue for all normal articles and separate issues for special or themed editions.
The Koers archive, from volume 1 of 1934 up to the most recently published article, is available free of charge on our Koers webpage. Subscribers continue to receive a hard copy of all the volumes published during a particular year.
From 2012 to the end of 2014 Koers has made use of the services of AOSIS OpenJournals® and the webpage http://www.koersjournal.org.za. As from 01 January 2015, however, Koers will no longer make use of the services of this publishing house.
From January 2015, the only official webpage of the Koers journal and the Koers Society will be http://www.koers.co.za/journal. Our readers will be able to find our complete archive of articles on this website. Authors can make use of this site to submit their articles for publication and to follow the anonymous review process online.
Our new website will also feature regular news updates, photos, video clips and links to like-minded organisations. Keep an eye out for http://www.koers.co.za for updates on conferences, new publications and special offers.
After serving as editor-in-chief of Koers for just over 6 years, I have informed the Koers Society management that, as from January 2015, I will no longer function in this capacity, even though I will remain active as vice-chair of the Koers Society. For the next 2–3 years, Professor Annette Combrink, a former editor of Koers, will be acting as its editor-in-chief. She can be contacted at annette.combrink@nwu.ac.za
The number of Koers readers has increased dramatically during the past few years. Our visibility has also increased with our being on prestige platforms such as SciELO-SA and the Scopus database. As soon as a Koers article is published, the complete text is archived in databases such as GALE, CENGAGE Learning, ProQuest, SciELO-SA, Google Scholar, EBSCO Host, SA ePublications, Sabinet and Directory of Open Access Journals. During the first half of 2014 Koers articles were downloaded more than 96 000 times, which means that we have more readers than ever before. Further good news is that the recent ASSAF peer-review process has shown that Koers is widely acknowledged as a high-quality journal.
We have reason to be grateful for the favourable position that Koers is in right now, in spite of the many changes that have taken place during the past few years – including the closure of the Bureau for Scholarly Publications and the gradual decline of the traditional academic support community associated with the transition of the former Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education to the new North-West University.
Koers can treasure and develop its reformational philosophical essence in a changing environment that opens up new, inclusive exchange possibilities. A variety of groups can be valuable dialogue partners, especially if they appreciate the importance of the fundamental questions we reflect on, test our academic resources against the religious claims made about them and are serious about engaging with and responding to the challenges facing us all at a social level.
Apart from being open to promoting Christian scholarship in the midst of conversations in which other dialects can be heard, and meeting academic challenges, Koers also needs to respond to the following challenges:
The development of an active support base of younger people across colour, gender and language divisions, with students who can be involved as readers, authors, organisers, recruiters and editorial workers.
Strengthening ties with international partners such as Dordt College, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Calvin College, the Association of Reformational Philosophy, IAPCHE, Redeemer University College, Trinity Christian College and the Institute for Christian Studies.
Making contact and developing good relations further with our sister institutions in Africa, South America and Eastern countries.
Requesting financial support from supporters, not only from one particular institution.
Making renewed contact with religious communities from which a shared vision for a society can be acted out in concrete practices and institutions.
In the midst of all the blessings Koers is experiencing we need to actively work towards Christian scholarship that contributes to the healing and growth of our world.