As of 2016, HERDC publications reports are no longer being submitted to the government. UniSC is still collecting publications as per the specifications below for the internal Research Publications Data Collection (RPDC) as well as preparation for ERA reporting.
RPDC (Research Publications Data Collection) was formerly known as HERDC (Higher Education Research Data Collection). An annual report, it is the University's main source of information on research activity. Prior to 2016, HERDC submission to the Commonwealth Government included both research income and research publications, and determined our Research Block Grant funding amounts. Changes to the way research funding is allocated to universities has meant that from 2016 publications are no longer being included in the government submission.
Although not submitted to the government, publication data is continued to be collected by UniSC for the purpose of reporting on research activity internally and for other research reporting schemes.
This guide covers research publication reporting only. For information on research income reporting for HERDC, please contact the Office of Research.
Research publications are reported in the following categories:
A publication is more than just a release of the work. It implies quality control (such as peer review or in-house quality control) and enhancement through processes such as assessment or review, editing, copy-editing, design, and conversion of the work to an appropriate format.
A research publication is characterised by:
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:
Activities that do not support the conduct of research must be excluded, such as:
All publications submitted for RPDC reporting must meet the following criteria:
Meet the definition of research as defined by the HERDC 2015 specifications
According to the HERDC 2015 specifications, 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.
The author of the research publication being submitted for RPDC must have their UniSC affiliation on or within the publication.
If UniSC is not identified within the work and the research was carried out while employed at UniSC, an Author Affiliation Statement must be completed.
Must have been published in the relevant calendar year
To be included in the RPDC reporting, publications must meet the definition of research, meet the specific criteria below, and can only be counted once.
All authored research books must meeting the following criteria:
The types of books that may meet the criteria include: | The types of books that do not meet the criteria include: |
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All book chapters in research books must meeting the following criteria:
The types of book chapters that may meet the criteria include: | The types of book chapters that do not* meet the criteria include: |
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* Unless they meet all the criteria for inclusion. |
All refereed journal articles must meeting the following criteria:
The types of journal articles that may meet the criteria include: | The types of journal articles that do not meet the criteria include: |
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All refereed conference papers must meeting the following criteria:
The types of conference papers that do not meet the criteria include: |
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Non-Traditional Creative Works (NTROs) were not submitted as part of the annual HERDC collection, however they are included in the ERA collection. As such, they are now eligible for the annual RPDC collection of research outputs.
NTROs must satisfy the same criteria as RPDC publications in the "All publications" tab, as well as:
Further information on NTRO eligibility criteria can be found here.
If you have an NTRO research output, let us know the details by logging into your Researcher Profile and depositing your output. Further information about depositing research outputs to the Research Bank can be found here.
Please also email your Research Statement to research-repository@usc.edu.au
For the purpose of reporting eligibility, authored books and book chapters must be published by a commercial publisher. The requirement for a commercial publisher takes the place of a formal peer review as required for journal articles and conference papers.
Note:
The recognised definition of 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.
Universities and other self-supporting university presses are also regarded as commercial publishers, provided that they have responsibility for the distribution of the publication, in addition to its printing.
Publishers that may not be eligible include:
For the purposes of the reporting eligibility, an acceptable peer review process is one that involves impartial and independent assessment or review of the research publication in its entirety before publication, conducted by independent, qualified experts. Independent in this context means independent of the author.
Peer review is required for journal articles and conference publications. It is also required for books and book chapters that are not published by a commercial publisher.
For journal articles, any of the following are acceptable as evidence of peer review:
For conference publications, any of the following are acceptable as evidence of peer review:
For books and book chapters that are not published by a commercial publisher any of the following are acceptable as evidence of peer review:
Note: A statement from an author that a publication was peer reviewed is not acceptable. The existence of a national or international advisory board is also not sufficient evidence that all relevant publications were assessed by members of it.
Download the last HERDC specifications (for publications) for the 2015 Collection year. Note that publications are no longer being submitted to the government for HERDC reporting from 2016 however our RPDC internal reporting follows the criteria specified in these guidelines.
For further information on RPDC or ERA reporting:
Library - UniSC Research Bank
Rebecca Cooke - Senior Digital Library Officer, Library Services
Office of Research
Research Performance Information & Systems, Office of Research