Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC) Publications

• Submit your publication
• Lodgement date
• General requirements and definitions

The purpose of the Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC) is to collect performance data on research income and research publications to be used to assess the relative research and research training performance of universities and in turn drives the allocation of funding.

The 2011 HERDC Specifications have recently undergone some significant changes. To see how the changes effect the UWS publications collection please review the Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC) specifications (PDF, 360Kb).

Submit your publication

To view your previously submitted publications (from 2001) visit the Researcher's Portal.

Lodgement date

To enable the Office of Research Services to meet the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR) deadline, your publications need to be lodged and verification materials received as early as possible. Office of Research Services progressively validates lodgements until the end of April for the previous calendar year. For example, a 2010 publication can be lodged up to 30 April 2011.

Any lodgements submitted after 30 April 2011 will be at risk of not being included unless ALL verification materials are received without delay and require no further validation.

General requirements and definitions

Commercial publisher

A 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 is acceptable as a commercial publisher.

University and other self-supporting higher education institution presses are also regarded as commercial publishers, provided that they have responsibility for the distribution of the publication, in addition to its printing.

Research

Research is defined as the creation of new knowledge and/or the use of existing knowledge in a new and creative way so as to generate new concepts,methodologies and understandings. This could include synthesis and analysis of previous research to the extent that it leads to new and creative outcomes.

This definition of research is consistent with a broad notion of research and experimental development (R&D) as comprising of creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of humanity, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications.

This definition of research encompasses pure and strategic basic research, applied research and experimental development. Applied research is original investigation undertaken to acquire new knowledge but directed towards a specific, practical aim or objective (including a client-driven purpose).

Activities that support the conduct of research and therefore meet the definition of research include:

• professional, technical, administrative or clerical support staff directly engaged in activities essential to the conduct of research
• management of staff who are either directly engaged in the conduct of research or are providing professional, technical, administrative or clerical support or assistance to those staff
• the activities and training of HDR students enrolled at the university
• the development of HDR training and courses
• the supervision of students enrolled at the university and undertaking HDR training and courses
• research and experimental development into applications software, new programming languages and new operating systems (such R&D would normally meet the definition of research)
  

Activities that do not support the conduct of research must be excluded, such as:

• scientific and technical information services
• general purpose or routine data collection
• standardisation and routine testing
• feasibility studies (except into research and experimental development projects)
• specialised routine medical care
• commercial, legal and administrative aspects of patenting, copyright or licensing activities
• routine computer programming, systems work or software maintenance.

Research publications

Research publications are books, book chapters, journal articles and/or conference publications which comply with the definition of research and are characterised by:

• substantial scholarly activity, as evidenced by discussion of the relevant literature, an awareness of the history and antecedents of work described, and provided in a format which allows a reader to trace sources of the work, including through citations and footnotes;
• originality (i.e. not a compilation of existing works);
• veracity/validity through a peer review process or commercial publisher process;
• increasing the stock of knowledge; and
• being in a form that enables the dissemination of knowledge.

Author affiliation

The author of the research publication being counted must be affiliated with the claiming university and the affiliation must be identified either within or on the work being claimed.

Where author affiliation with the claiming university is not identified within a work, the following evidence retained in verification material would be sufficient to demonstrate author affiliation and should include:

• 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 2010 (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.
    

Students (domestic or international) are considered to be those students undertaking HDR training to achieve a Research Doctorate (including Professional Doctorates) or a Research Masters.

Where a publication shows that an author has affiliation to more than one university, each university named in that by-line can each count the publication.

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

Note: Copies of staff cards are not appropriate evidence of institutional affiliation. If UWS affiliation is not identified within the work being claimed, please provide a statement as per above. The Office of Research Services will arrange for further compliance documentation.

Year of publication

The fundamental principles that underpin the publications data are:

• The publication is claimed in the appropriate year.
• The year of publication must be verifiable.
• The publication is claimed once only.
  

To be able to count publications in the 2011 submission of Research Publications:

• the research must have been published in the 2010 calendar year, and
• 2010 must be stated as the year of publication within or on the work being claimed.
  

The definition of published in this context is the date the publication was released to its intended audience. Publications which are published as ‘advance’ or ‘in press online’ may be reported either in the year that they published online or the year of final publication. (The key requirement, as stated above, is that the publication is claimed only once).

Letters from authors, editors etc stating that a research publication was published in 2010, even though 2010 is not stated within or on the work as the year of publication, are not acceptable evidence of the year of publication. There are two exceptions:

• For journal articles and/or conference publications that are produced on CD-ROM or are web-based, and do not contain a date published within or on the work being claimed, a letter from a journal editor or conference organiser verifying the published date may be accepted.
• The date a conference was held may be acceptable evidence of the year of publication.
  

The year of publication is normally the latest of the year indicated as published, printed or the year of copyright. A publication with a 2011 copyright date can be reported in the 2010 collection, provided it has a publication date of 2010, and it is not counted again in the 2011 collection.

Pages showing the stated year of publication must be included in verification material.

Peer review

For the purposes of the HERDC, an acceptable peer review process is one that involves an assessment or review of the research publication in its entirety by independent, qualified experts before publication. Independent in this context means independent of the author.

Peer review is relevant for journal articles, conference publications and online books being counted.

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

• the journal is listed on the ARC's ERA 2010 journal list
• the journal is listed in Thomson Reuters Web of Knowledge Master Journal List
• the journal is classified as ‘refereed’ in the Ulrich’s Knowledgebase
• the journal is included in the department’s register of refereed journals (no longer maintained)
• 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
• a copy of a reviewer’s assessment relating to the article.
  

For conference publications, any of the following are acceptable as evidence of peer review:

• the conference is listed on the ARC’s ERA 2010 conference list
• there is a statement in the conference proceedings which shows that contributions are peer reviewed
• there is a statement or acknowledgement from the conference proceedings editor which shows that contributions are peer reviewed
• a copy of a reviewer’s assessment relating to the conference paper.
  

Foreign language publications

Foreign language publications are eligible to be counted. The same verification evidence is required, in English, as for any other works. 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 should be translated. This includes evidence that the work is a major work of scholarship and meets the definition of research.

Electronic works

Electronic works are eligible to be counted, provided they meet all the relevant criteria in these specifications for the publications category against which they are being claimed.

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