Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk encourages formal responses to articles published in the Journal that contributes to constructive scholarly discourse. Responses to an article must be submitted within one month of its publication and are generally considered for inclusion as a commentary.

All commentaries undergo review by two editorial board members. Published commentaries will be shared with the original article's author(s), who will be invited to submit a rebuttal. Rebuttals are also subject to review by the same two board members. Responses and rebuttals, whenever possible, will be published in the same issue and will receive priority publication.

Only one response from the same author or group of authors on a specific published article will be considered. A response to a rebuttal, in the form of a rejoinder, will be considered only if deemed necessary by the Editor-in-Chief, in consultation with the two board members who reviewed the original response and rebuttal.

The purpose and tone of a response should be constructive and collegial, with any critique directed at the content of the article rather than the author(s). Responses containing libellous or defamatory statements will not be considered. If deemed appropriate, the Journal will initiate a correction or retraction of the published article.

While responses to articles published in the Journal are welcome, we may, under specific circumstances, also consider responses to research articles published elsewhere, provided they fall within the Journal's scope; authors are encouraged to consult with the Editor-in-Chief before submitting such a response.