Focus and Scope

Lexikos (Greek for "of or for words") is a journal for the lexicographical specialist. It is the only journal in Africa which is exclusively devoted to lexicography.

Articles dealing with all aspects of lexicography or the implications that research in related disciplines such as linguistics, computer and information science, etc. has for lexicography will be considered for publication. Articles dealing with terminology will be also considered, but a lexicographic perspective should be apparent. Articles that do not have a lexicographic focus will not be processed.

Articles may be written in Afrikaans, English, Dutch, German and French.

Peer Review Process

Articles and review articles are subjected to strict anonymous evaluation by independent academic peers in order to ensure the international research quality thereof.

Publication Frequency

Lexikos 34 will be published-as-you-go, or as articles are peer reviewed and typeset.

All Lexikos 34 articles will be collected into a full volume in October/November 2024 as usual.

Open Access Policy

This 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.

Accreditation, Indexes and Availability

Lexikos is available online at http://lexikos.journals.ac.za/
Lexikos is available online from Sabinet, AJOL, Ebsco and Proquest

Indexes
Asian Digital Library; Arts and Humanities Citation Index®, Current Contents®/Arts & Humanities, Current Contents®/Social and Behavioral Sciences; ERIH Plus; EuroPub Index; Index Copernicus Journals Master List; Journal Citation Reports/Social Sciences Edition, Social Sciences Citation Index®, and Social Scisearch®; Linguistic Bibliography Online; Linguistics Abstracts Online; Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts; MLA International Bibliography; R.R.K. Hartmann's Bibliography of Lexicography; SciELO SA; Scopus

Digital Preservation

Lexikos. This journal is in the process of migrating from the Stellenbosch University preservation platform to the PKP PN (Preservation Network) platform.

ORCID iD

This journal programme cannot read the ORCID iD.  Please do not add it when you Register or when submitting a paper.

After Registration, can you Edit your Profile and then insert the ORCID iD, or send an email to lexikos@sun.ac.za for assistance.

Stellenbosch University researchers/authors can create an ORCID iD here.

ORCID iD is a persistent, unique, numeric identifier for individual researchers and creators. It distinguishes you from researchers and creators with the same or similar names.  ORCID iD is similar to ResearcherID, Scopus Author ID, ISNI and other systems for identifying and distinguishing researchers and creators.

Sponsors

Mouthpiece of Afrilex (African association for Lexicography)

• Afrilex - African Association for Lexicography

Sources of Support

AFRILEX

Die Fonds Neerlandistiek

Het Jan Marais Nationale Fonds

Journal History

Lexikos (Greek for "of or for words") is a journal for the lexicographic specialist and since 1991 it has been published by the Bureau of the WAT in the AFRILEX Series. AFRILEX is an acro­nym for "lexicography in or for Africa". The publication of Lexikos is an indirect result of a formal lexicographic discussion in Stellenbosch in 1989 between the editorial staff of the WAT and a group of prominent linguists. The Bureau of the WAT realized that there existed a great need for the exchange of lexicographical information and experience in Africa. This led to the establishment of Lexikos, which as a specialist publication could serve as an excellent medium and vehicle for lexicographic discussion.

Lexikos is the only journal in Africa that is exclusively devoted to lexicography. It contributes enormously to stimulate the lexicographical discourse not only in Africa but also in the inter­national lexicographic community. It consists of contributions from all over the world on a variety of lexicographical aspects, theoretical as well as practical.

Although the first contributions published were only in Afrikaans and English, articles in other languages such as German, Dutch and French were also later published. At first, only articles were published, but later it became necessary to add other types of contributions and catego­ries such as reviews and publication announcements. As from Lexikos 4 the contributions were also distinguished typologically and accordingly classified under headings such as Arti­cles, Review Articles, Reviews, Projects, Reports and Lexiconotes.

In 1994 an Advisory Board as well as an Editorial Committee of international standing was appointed. The Advisory Board primarily gives advice to the Editor, and the Editorial Com­mittee judges contributions for Lexikos to help ensure the academic quality of the publication. As from the first volume of Lexikos two or more lexicographic specialists judged each research article. From volume 4 onwards Lexikos was accredited by the Department of Edu­cation as an income-generating publication. This once again confirmed the standard of the journal.

Since 1996 Lexikos has become the mouthpiece of the African Association for Lexicography. One of the most important aims with the publication of Lexikos was the establish­ment of a communication channel for national and international lexicographic discussion, and in par­ticular to serve lexicography in Africa, with its rich language diversity.

The first editor of Lexikos was Mr Pieter Harteveld. His contribution to the establishment and expansion of Lexikos was remarkable. The scientific standard and relevance of the research contributions was of great importance to him. Mr Harteveld was the editor of the first five vol­umes of this publication. After he passed away Dr D.J. van Schalkwyk acted as the editor of Lexikos 5. As from Lexikos 6 Dr J.C.M.D. du Plessis took over as editor and he remained in this position until Lexikos 20 was published. He once again acted as the editor for Lexikos 23 when the appointed editor was unavailable owing to work pressure. During his editorship, Dr Du Plessis established and strengthened the journal's position and status as scientific journal on an international level. He did his utmost to help create a true culture of scientific reporting on lexicography in Africa. He also offered guidance to new contributors by assisting them with their contributions. From 2011 to 2016 Lexikos was edited on a rotating basis by Profs Elsabé Taljard, Danie Prinsloo and Rufus Gouws. In 2016 Dr H.S. (Steve) Ndinga-Koumba-Binza joined the editorial team after Prof. Gouws had to withdraw from the team owing to other work obligations. Although the editorial team share the joint responsibilities for each volume one member of the team is annually appointed as final editor. Prof. Dion Nkom joined the editorial team in 2019, and together with Prof. Prinsloo took charge of Lexikos 29. Prof. Prinsloo retired as editor at the end of 2019 and Profs. Nkomo, Taljard and Dr Ndinga-Koumba-Binza remained as editors in 2020. In 2021 Mr André du Plessis (no relation to Dr Du Plessis), joined the team. Mr Du Plessis was given the opportunity to lead the team of editors in 2023 and 2024. In 2024, the editorial team revised the editorial structure after the addition of Prof. Michele van der Merwe and Prof. Sonja Bosch to the team. The decision was made to appoint Mr Du Plessis as editor-in-chief for an extended period to ensure a stable and sustainable administrative and academic foundation. The new structure will enable the editorial team to have a single coordinator and administrator, while editorial duties could be fairly shared amongst all editors. Prof. Bosch is to serve as German editor, while Prof. Van der Merwe, like Profs. Taljard and Nkomo, will be an associated editor. Dr Ndinga-Koumba-Binza can now focus solely on French submissions. Apart from his administrative duties, Mr. Du Plessis has the same editorial responsibilities as the other editors.

Lexikos is published annually. It is electronically available on the webpage http://lexikos.journals.ac.za/, but also made available by Sabinet, AJOL, Ebsco and Proquest.

Since 2009 Lexikos has been an indexed journal for which an Impact Factor is being calcu­lated in the category Linguistics. In 2017 the Impact Factor of Lexikos as Linguistics journal was higher than the average among journals in humanities published outside the Western world. This shows that Lexikos has established itself as one of the leading lexicographical journals in the world.

The publication of the printed issues of Lexikos was made possible inter alia by a generous donation from the L.W. Hiemstra Trust. This trust was established by Riekie Hiemstra in memory of Ludwig Wybren (Louis) Hiemstra. In 2018 the journal became an online-only publication.