Definitions of Research

All publications submitted for the HERDC Collection must:

Definition of Research

For the purpose of the HERDC Collection, research comprises:

creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications
any activity classified as research which is characterised by originality; it should have investigation as a primary objective and should have the potential to produce results that are sufficiently general for humanity's stock of knowledge (theoretical and/or practical) to be recognisably increased. Most higher education research work would qualify as research
pure basic research, strategic basic research, applied research and experimental development

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

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 processes or by satisfying the commercial publisher processes
increasing the stock of knowledge
being in a form that enables dissemination of knowledge