2004 HERDC HANDBOOK

FOR THE COLLECTION OF 2003 HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH DATA

(FORMERLY RESEARCH QUANTUM)

*** HELP HOTLINE ***

Where staff have a problem that cannot be solved through this booklet or by contacting their department/ research centre etc, please contact Neale Yates at the Office for Research on 9688 4601 or 9688 4710.

This version of the handbook reflects the latest publications specifications from DEST made available by them as at December 2003 and supersedes earlier copies of the handbook.

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CONTENTS

General information...... 3

Changes to the criteria for 2003 DEST publications...... 4

DEST advice on publications...... 5

Common questions and answers about proformas...... 10

How to fill in the proformas...... 11

VU Publication Categories

(A)BOOK...... 13

(B) BOOK CHAPTER...... 14

(C) JOURNAL ARTICLE...... 14

(D) MAJOR REVIEW...... 15

(E) CONFERENCE PUBLICATION...... 16

(F) AUDIO - VISUAL RECORDINGS...... 16

(G) COMPUTER SOFTWARE...... 17

(H) DESIGN...... 17

(I) PATENT...... 18

(J) ORIGINAL CREATIVE WORK...... 18

(K) REFERENCE WORK...... 18

(L) OTHER PUBLIC OUTPUT...... 18

(M)SEMINAR/INTERNAL WORKING PAPER...... 19

(N)OTHER REVIEW...... 19

(O)CONFERENCE PRESENTATION...... 19

(P)THESIS ...... 19

(Q)APPOINTMENT/AWARD...... 19

(R)EXAMINER/REVIEWER/ASSESSOR...... 19

(S)CONTRACT REPORT/TECHNICAL REPORT...... 19

Detailed DEST Publication Specifications

(A1) BOOKS – Authored Research...... 20

(B) BOOK CHAPTER...... 21

(C1) PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES...... 24

(E1) REFEREED CONFERENCE PUBLICATIONS ...... 26

Other Categories under consideration for Internal Funding

(I1) PATENTS...... 27

(J1) MAJOR CREATIVE WORKS ...... 28

RFCD AND AREA OF RESEARCH STRENGHTH CODES...... 31

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GENERAL INFORMATION

Publications submitted in categories A1, B, C1 & E1 may be subject to external audit and evidence verifying publication details must be submitted with the proforma

Staff will need to:

  • Submit a signed proforma.
  • Attach photocopy evidence of the publication. This will normally be a photocopy of the table of contents/flyleaf/preface/introduction, whatever is appropriate to the type of publication. SEE PAGES 20-26 FOR DETAILS.
  • Schools/research centres etc. will retain these proformas (and attached photocopied publication details) centrally for three years to facilitate the verification process by DEST.
  • Staff should ensure they have the published or commercially available item available for inspection by DEST auditors.

WHEN DO THE FORMS HAVE TO BE RETURNED? It is anticipated that schools/research centres etc will make a formal start to the collection process in early March. Your School will set a deadline for the return of Proformas. Please check with your department or research centre to find out what their schedule will be. The Office for Research expects that the data entry and correction process will need to be completed by departments/research centres etc will be 14th May. Internal audit of data to check publication categories and that appropriate verification documents have been supplied will occur in May.

PROFORMAS are available from the Office for Research Website at

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CHANGES TO THE CRITERIA FOR DEST PUBLICATIONS

Institutions are now able to seek advice on the eligibility of foreign language publications in the humanities discipline from the Australian Academy of Humanities (this should be done through the Office for Research & Development).

CHANGES TO THE RESEARCH QUANTUM COLLECTION AT VU

  • The collection process is unchanged from last year.

DEST ADVICE ON PUBLICATIONS

The following is an extract from the 2004 HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH DATA COLLECTION - SPECIFICATIONS FOR PREPARING RETURNS (Sections 4):

4.1Key Characteristics of Research Publications

For the purposes of this collection, a “research publication” is characterised by:

  • substantial scholarly activity, as evidenced by discussion of the relevant literature, an awareness of the history and antecedents of work described, and a format which allows a reader to trace sources of the work through citations, footnotes etc;
  • originality, that is, it is not a compilation of existing works;
  • veracity/validity through a peer validation process or by satisfying the commercial publisher or gallery processes;
  • increasing the stock of knowledge; and
  • being in a form that enables dissemination of knowledge.

4.2General Requirements

Each publication must:

  • meet the definition of research (see section 1.2); and
  • only be counted once. If, for example, a conference paper is published in conference proceedings and is subsequently included as a chapter in a book, it can be counted as a chapter or as a conference paper but not both.

4.2.1Apportioning Authors

For categories other than Book Chapters, where there are multiple authors, apportion the count according to the number of authors. For example, if there are three authors of a publication, count one third for each author who was a staff member or student of the university.

4.2.2Verification Material

Verification material must be retained to demonstrate that the publication meets the criteria against the category being reported. A list of the verification material required for each category is provided at Appendix E.

A pro-forma which may be used for collecting details of individual publications is provided at Appendix F. While use of the pro-forma itself is optional, collecting the information either through a modified form or computerised records is mandatory. The information may be kept in written or electronic form.

The completed pro-formas (or their equivalents) may need to be submitted to the Commonwealth or auditors if requested.

Details of individual publications counted and information verifying the classification of those publications must be retained by each institution for three years to facilitate any audit.

4.2.3Checklists

Check lists may be adapted by universities for use by staff undertaking the collection, or used by collection coordinators for quality control purposes. While they are not mandatory, their correct use would ensure that the main requirements of each publication category are satisfied and that the necessary verification materials for audit are available. It is highly recommended that this or a similar system of structured checks be used.

The check lists at Appendix G do not provide all the details of the eligibility and verification requirements. It is important that staff collecting or checking the information have access to the data specifications as well as subsequent advice and clarifications provided by DEST at the web site:

4.3Definitions

4.3.1Year of Publication

The research must have been published in 2003 and the date of publication must appear within or on the work being claimed. Letters from authors, editors, creators etc stating that a work was published in 2003, even though no such date exists within the publication, is not acceptable evidence of year of publication.

An exception to this may apply for Journal Articles or Conference Publications that are produced on CD Rom or are web-based and no date exists within or on the publication. In these instances a letter from the editor of the journal or the conference organiser may be accepted to indicate the year published. Note that this applies only to works where no date exists within the work being claimed. A letter from an editor or conference organiser cannot override a date that is displayed within the work.

A further exception may apply for the copyright date or “date last updated” that appears on a web page. These dates may refer to copyright or updated date of the web page, not the publication. A web page date should not be used as the date of publication.

The date a conference was held may be acceptable as the year of publication if no other date exists on the work.

A work published in 2002 cannot be counted as a 2003 publication, even if it is not received by the author or by libraries until 2003.

The year of publication would normally be the latest of the nominal year, the year indicated as published, the year indicated as printed or the year of copyright.

Copies of the pages showing the available publication details must be included in verification materials.

This means that if the first publication (eg Australian Journal of Astrophysics December 2003) is shown as having been published, printed or copyrighted in 2004, it cannot be counted in the current collection because the nominal year of publication has been overridden. It will have to be considered for the following collection of year 2004 publications.

4.3.2Author Affiliation

Institutional affiliation must be identified either:

  • within or on the work being claimed; or
  • where institutional affiliation is not identified within a work, the university must obtain a statement from the author indicating that he or she undertook the research leading to the publication in his or her capacity as a staff member or student of the university; and
  • either:
  • a statement from the Director of Human Resources or Dean of Students (or equivalent) indicating that the author was an appointee or student of the university in 2003 (or earlier if that was when the research leading to the publication was conducted), or
  • an extract from the university’s staff or student list that lists the author.

Advice via email would be sufficient to demonstrate author affiliation.

Where a publication shows that an author has affiliation to more than one institution (eg Janet Harvey, Tutor in Economics, University of X; PhD student, University of Y), each Australian university named in that by-line can claim the publication at full value.

Adjunct fellows, honorary staff members and staff on leave are considered affiliated with a university if the university is identified in the by-line.

4.3.3Commercial Publisher

The concept of a commercial publisher is used as a surrogate quality test for books and book chapters in place of any formal peer review requirement.

A recognised commercial publisher is an entity for which the core business is producing books and distributing them for sale.

If publishing is not the core business of an organisation but there is a distinct organisational entity devoted to commercial publication and its publications are not completely paid for or subsidised by the parent organisation or a third party, the publisher will be accepted as a commercial publisher.

For the purpose of this data collection, university and other self-supporting higher education institution presses are regarded as commercial publishers, provided that they have responsibility for the distribution of the publication and not only its printing.

A register of acceptable commercial publishers is available on the DEST web page at This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all acceptable publishers. Institutions will need to be satisfied that a publisher not on the list satisfies the criteria for a commercial publisher.

Note that many of the books published by professional bodies do not report original research findings but report the results of evaluations, or repackage existing information for the benefit of professionals or practitioners. It is important that institutions assess these publications very carefully against the definition of research provided in section 1.2 and only count those publications which report research activities.

4.3.4Peer Review

For the purposes of this collection, an acceptable peer review process is one that involves an independent, expert review.

The peer review process must involve assessment of the publication:

  • in its entirety – not merely an abstract or extract;
  • before publication; and
  • by appropriately independent, qualified experts. Independent in this context means independent of the author.

For journal articles, any of the following are acceptable as evidence:

  • the journal is listed in one of the Institute for Scientific Information indexes (
  • the journal is classified as “refereed” in Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory (Volume 5 - Refereed Serials) or via Ulrich’s web site
  • the journal is included in DEST’s Register of Refereed Journals (see section 4.6.2);
  • there is a statement in the journal which shows that contributions are peer reviewed;
  • there is a statement or acknowledgement from the journal editor which shows that contributions are peer reviewed; or
  • a copy of a reviewer’s assessment relating to the article.

Note:

  • a statement from an author that a publication was peer reviewed will not be accepted;
  • the existence of a national or international advisory board is not sufficient evidence that all relevant publications are assessed by members of it.

4.3.5Foreign Language Publications

Foreign language publications are eligible to be counted. The same verification evidence is required, in English, as for any other works that are sampled for audit. It is not necessary to translate the entire publication, but all relevant sections required for the verification of information to demonstrate that it meets the criteria of the category against which it is being claimed. This includes evidence that the work meets the definition of research.

Note: The expertise of the Australian Academy of the Humanities may be used to assist an institution in the validation of foreign language publications in the fields of the humanities. Any such arrangements are to be negotiated between the Academy and the respective institution.

4.3.6Electronic Works

Electronic works are eligible to be counted, provided they meet all of the criteria of the publications category against which they are being claimed.

Q & A ABOUT PROFORMAS AND COLLECTION PROCESS FOR 2001 DATA

I COLLABORATED WITH OTHER STAFF FROM MY DEPARTMENT. SHOULD WE ALL SUBMIT A PROFORMA?

No. One author should submit a proforma on behalf of all the collaborating authors from his/her department.

This avoids duplicate entries in a department.

WHAT IF I COLLABORATED WITH STAFF FROM OTHER DEPARTMENTS? SHOULD WE SUBMIT A PROFORMA TO EACH DEPARTMENT?

Yes. One proforma should be submitted to each of the departments.

This way each department gets the correct publication calculation and each department will receive appropriate recognition in the research report.

WHO SHOULD I GIVE MY COMPLETED PROFORMAS TO?

Give them to the nominated data entry person in your department/research centre etc.

WHAT IF I RUN OUT OF ROOM ON THE FORM?

Please attach a sheet of paper.

WHAT IF I DO NOT HAVE ALL THE PUBLICATION DETAILS TO HAND? SHOULD I LEAVE BLANKS?

No. All the information is required. Please do not submit your proforma until all questions have been answered.

DO OTHER DOCUMENTS NEED TO ACCOMPANY THE PROFORMA?

Yes. You need to attach photocopies of source documents appropriate to the type of publication. The verification requirements are outlined on pages 30 - 34

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THE INFORMATION BELOW OUTLINES HOW TO FILL IN THE QUESTIONS WHICH ARE COMMON TO ALL THE PROFORMAS

Name/s of Author/sPlease Print, Include all authors in the order in which they appear on the publication.

Family NameGiven NameDept/Centre

1 ………………..……..…………, ………..……..….……….(Dept.:______/Staff/Student/External)

2 ...... ,...... (Dept.:______/Staff/Student/External)

3 ...... ,...... (Dept.:______/Staff/Student/External)

4 ...... ,...... (Dept.:______/Staff/Student/External)

What we need here is:

  1. The family name or surname of the author(s).
  2. The given or first name of the authors
  3. His or her department (this includes the department that a student or external collaborator has been associated with for this piece of work).
  4. Staff or student or external to be circled as appropriate.

School/Centre where you are submitting this Proforma......

Please note which department or research centre etc. you are submitting this proforma with. This will of course normally be your school. It may seem an unnecessary question, but the software needs the information to perform a calculation for the Research Quantum return and to attribute the work to the correct schools in research reports. As noted earlier, only one proforma should be lodged with each department for that particular publication output.

Total Number of Authors contributing to this Publication......

Quite simply, the total number of authors who contributed to this piece of work. The number entered here should equal the number of authors entered at the top of the page. Again, it may seem an unnecessary question, but attached pieces of paper become lost etc, and the correct information is needed for the software to perform calculations and give each School its due share of the publication.

Number of Authors in this School/Centre contributing to this Publication......

If there are Authors from more than one Department, one Proforma should be submitted to each Department.

This is asking for the number of authors who are from your School (including yourself).

Indicate whether the publication forms part of a KRAs research activity.

This section of the proforma is designed to allow credit to be shared between units. Naming a School or Centre will list the publication against both the submitting department and the associated school or centre in the research bibliography.

RFCD Division

Please choose the appropriate two digit RFCD code from the rear of the handbook on page 47 and enter thus: eg. | 0 | 1 |

Area of Research Strength.

This replaces the Strategic Research Areas question previously used. If you do research within one of the university’s nominated areas of research strength please include the code (see page 47). otherwise leave this blank.

Year......

We need the year of publication. Only work published in 2003 can be included in the DEST return. If the nominal year of publication is 2002 but you have evidence indicating that the real publication date was 2003, the publication may be eligible. For example, if the December 2002 issue of a Journal did not appear until February 2003 and the copyright date was 2003, a publication in that issue would be eligible for inclusion in the DEST return.

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VU Research Publication Categories and Proformas

Books (A)

A1 Research Books - Authored DEST Category
(see page 20 for detailed specifications)

A2 Authored – other

This refers to books which must be written solely by the author(s) ie edited books are not eligible. Publications in this category must be a substantial work of scholarship.

Include:

  • research monographs published by university departments
  • textbooks (consisting mainly of new combinations of existing knowledge or updating of a body of established knowledge to make it more readily accessible) aimed primarily at a university audience
  • books published by private individuals university departments and privately funded companies, e.g. “vanity presses”
  • evaluative and investigative government department publications, e.g. DEST EIPs
  • translations of published books and other authored books or monographs not classified in A1 above
  • annotated anthologies.

Exclude:

  • creative works such as novels, depending mainly upon the imagination of the author rather than upon a publicly accessible body of agreed fact (possibly J)
  • university departmental Working Papers, Technical Reports, Discussion papers and the like (excluded completely)
  • textbooks that are primarily aimed at secondary, primary or pre-school students (excluded completely).

A3 Edited