Research: REPORTING

Reporting of all research publications, creative works and scholarly activities is administered by Avondale Libraries.  Submissions must be received by 31 March to be included in the yearly Scholarly Activities Report and HERDC data.  Ideally, faculty should submit works as they are published.

Steps for Submission:

1. Sign into ResearchOnline@Avondale, click on 'Submit Research' in the sidebar, access the appropriate reporting form from ResearchOnline@Avondale for your school  and then click on ‘Submit Research’ in the sidebar.
2. Complete the form, attach electronic file(s) and click on the Submit button to send the completed form and associated documents to the Electronic Services Librarian at the Lake Macquarie Campus Library.
3. You will receive an email confirming your submission for your personal records.
4. All submissions will be verified by Library staff.

If you require more detailed reporting instructions - which state specific reporting field requirements - please access the reporting guides listed on this page.

Research publications are reported in the following categories:

• A1 - research books or monographs
• B1 - chapters in edited research books
• C1 - refereed journal articles
• E1 - fully written conference papers published in a refereed proceedings.

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:

• 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. See important notes below regarding the treatment of scholarly editions and scholarly translations)
• veracity/validity through a peer review process or by satisfying the quality control processes of a commercial publisher
• increasing the stock of knowledge
• being in a form that enables dissemination of knowledge, and can be in any appropriate format such as print, publication online, or publication in digital form on separate media such as a CD.

Research is defined as the creation of original knowledge and/or the use of existing knowledge in an original way so as to create new methodologies, concepts, and understandings. Analysis and synthesis of previous research which leads to original and creative outcomes can also be included.

Activities that 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
• Development of HDR training and courses
• 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)

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 Avondale Research Publications Data Collection reporting follows the criteria specified in the ERA guidelines from the Australian Research Council (ARC).