Excellence in Research for Australia (Previously the Research Quality Framework)
News
Latest News: 21 May 2009
In prepration for the University's Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) submission, all research-active staff are required to define their current areas of research using up to 3 Field of Research (FoR) Codes.
Instructions for inserting or reviewing your FoR codes in IRMA are available here. Please complete all of the steps requested by Friday 05 June 2009.
30 April 2009
Specifications, Assessment and Implementation
Today Professor Trevor Hambley (Director of Research for the Faculties of Science) gave a presentation to the Heads and Deans on the background to the University ERA strategy and the information that will requested from faculties, schools, and individuals.
To obtain a copy of this presentation, please contact , ERA Professional Officer (Science).
28 April 2009
Release of ERA Evaluation Guidelines & ERA Indicator Benchmark Methodology Documents
The ERA Evaluation Guidelines provide guidance on the evaluation of assigned material for the 2009 evaluations. The ERA Indicator Benchmark Methodology outlines the sources, dates and calculations used to derive benchmarks for the ERA trial. Both documents are available at the ARC's
ERA Trial website.
28 April 2009
ARC Releases Final ERA Humanities and Creative Arts (HCA) Journal List
The ERA HCA Journal Ranking List is a result of consultations with the sector and review by leading researchers and the ARC.
The list identifies the journals that are identified by Scopus (the ARC's chosen citation supplier for Cluster Two HCA).
Journals Missing on the ERA Ranking List
Journals missing from the ERA Journal Ranking List may be submitted to the ARC using the following form available here and the instructions contained within. Please cc copies of this completed form to the University's ERA Executive Officer Joseph Bevitt () for tracking.
If staff have any other comments regarding the ERA Journal Ranking Lists, please contact Joseph by email or on Ext 78129.
23 February 2009
ERA Timeframe
The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, today announced the timeframe for the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) trial, which will evaluate the Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences (PCE) and Humanities and Creative Arts (HCA) clusters.
“Recent feedback on the ERA Submission Guidelines and ERA-SEER Technical Specifications raised concerns about the proposed timing of the ERA trial."
“To ensure universities are adequately prepared for the trial, submissions for the PCE cluster will now commence in June 2009, and submissions for the HCA cluster will commence in August 2009."
“The outcomes of these trials will inform the full ERA process in 2010."
The full media release is available at Media Release.
23 February 2009
ARC Releases Final ERA Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences (PCE) Journal List
The ERA PCE Journal Ranking List is a result of consultations with the sector and rigorous review by leading researchers and the ARC.
The list identifies the journals that are identified by Scopus (the ARC's chosen citation supplier for Cluster One PCE) and therefore subject to citation analysis under ERA.
20 February 2009
Scopus Chosen as Sole Citation Supplier for ERA Cluster One (PCE)
ARC CEO, Margaret Sheil, today announced that Scopus will provide citation information for the ERA initiative Cluster One (PCE) evaluation. The PCE Cluster will use citation analysis as an indicator to assess research quality.
In preparation for submission, institutions will obtain an Electronic ID Code (EID) for each paper published in a journal indexed by Scopus. To facilitate this, the ARC has made arrangements for Scopus to undertake EID tagging for each submitting institution. The cost of the EID tagging will be met by the ARC.
Further information regarding the citation supplier, publication tagging and the data that will be provided back to institutions is available here.
6 February 2009
ARC Releases DRAFT ERA Submission Guidelines and Technical Specifications
The ARC today released the draft ERA Submission Guidelines and draft ERA SEER Technical Specifications for Cluster One (Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences) and Cluster Two (Humanities and Creative Arts) for consultation.
The University of Sydney submitted its response to the Draft Guidelines on 6 February 2009.
19 December 2008
ARC Releases ERA Indicator Principles and Descriptors
The Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative will undertake evaluations of the research in Australian higher education institutions at a discipline level according to research quality and activity. Evaluations will assess research excellence using a combination of indicators and expert review.
The development of these indicators has been assisted by expert advice provided by the Indicators Development Group IDG and sub groups, and consultation with the research and higher education sector.
Click here for the ERA Indicator Principles document and here for the ERA Indicator Desciptors.
18 August 2008
Leading Researchers Advise ARC on the Indicators of Research Quality
The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, and CEO of the Australian Research Council (ARC), Margaret Sheil, today announced the establishment of an Indicators Development Group (IDG) to advise on the application of discipline-specific indicators for the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative.
The Group is made up of twelve research metrics and statistical experts. Three of these experts are from overseas – see press release.
In addition, the ARC has established two sub-committees to assist the IDG with the development of the approach to the evaluation of research in the Creative Arts and in the Humanities. The sub-committees are chaired by leading researchers from the sector, and comprise eminent members of the sector with expertise in the relevant disciplines for Cluster 2. The sub-committees will report directly to the IDG.
Information on the IDG and sub-committees membership is available on the ARC website.
13 June 2008
ARC Releases Research Outlet Rankings
The ARC has released the current version of the Research Outlet Rankings and has called for responses in July. These rankings will form an important component of the ERA process for all panels. Each university is permitted to make one response on these rankings. The University of Sydney will coordinate its responses through a panel of senior academics who will combine the suggestions for forwarding to the ARC.
Click here for the current list
Click here for the instructions on how to make changes to the list and how to submit them.
31 March 2008
New Classification to assist ERA Development
The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, announced on March 31st 2008 that the new Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC) will be a primary tool for defining disciplines and the make-up of discipline clusters in the Government’s Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative – see press release.
“The new classification is more closely aligned to research currently being undertaken in Australia and New Zealand and will enable greater accuracy in data collection and analysis, especially in emerging fields of research such as nanotechnology and climate change.”
“The ANZSRC contains about 40 per cent more research codes than the 1998 Standard Research Classification it replaces. The former RFCD codes have been updated with Field of Research codes, and the socio-economic objective codes refreshed.”
Further information on the ANZSRC may be obtained at the Australian Bureau of Statistics webpage.
26 February 2008
The RQF has a new name - Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA)
The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, today announced his plans for a new research quality and evaluation system – see press release.
“The Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative, to be developed by the Australian Research Council (ARC) in conjunction with the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, will assess research quality using a combination of metrics and expert review by committees comprising experienced, internationally-recognised experts.”
11 January 2008
Senator the Hon. Kim Carr, Minister for Industry, Innovation, Science and Research announced on December 21st 2007 that the current RQF round was to be cancelled and that consultation on a new process would be undertaken - See Press Release.
Thank you all for the time and effort that you have put in to this process so far. There will, however, be a replacement for the RQF which is expected to be largely metrics based and therefore the data collection undertaken thus far for the RQF remains relevant and important. The RQF team will be concentrating on the completion of the 2001-2007 data collection and verification process through the first months of 2008. If you have not completed checking and correcting the data we hold for you in IRMA, it is important that you do so immediately. Please send changes and/or additions to the IRMA helpdesk at as soon as possible.
Research publications and income data for 2007 is now likely to be particularly important, both in its own right and potentially as a benchmark for the new RQF. We must ensure that 2007 data is captured accurately and with the same sense of importance as we have attributed to the capture of 2001-2006 data.
Thank you again for all your contributions thus far. If you have any questions please contact the University's ERA Liaison Officer Joseph Bevitt ( or 9036 6145).
Professor Merlin Crossley
Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)