Appendix A—Guiding Principles for ERA and EI
ERA indicator principles
In identifying and developing appropriate indicators for each discipline, the ARC considered that they must be: 1. Quantitative —objective measures that meet a defined methodology that will reliably produce the same result, regardless of when and by whom the principles are applied. 2. Internationally recognised —while not all indicators will allow for direct international comparability, the indicators must be internationally-recognised measures of research quality. Indicators must be sensitive to a range of research types, including research relevant to different audiences (e.g. practitioner focused, internationally relevant, nationally- and regionally-focused research). ERA will include research published in non-English language publications. 3. Comparable to indicators used for other disciplines —while ERA evaluation processes will not make direct comparisons across disciplines, indicators must be capable of identifying comparable levels of research quality across disciplines. 4. Able to be used to identify excellence —indicators must be capable of assessing the quality of research, and where necessary, focused to identify excellence. 5. Research relevant —indicators must be relevant to the research component of any discipline. 6. Repeatable and verifiable —indicators must be repeatable and based on transparent and publicly available methodologies. This should allow universities to reproduce the methodology in-house. All data submitted to ERA must be auditable and reconcilable. 7. Time-bound —indicators must be specific to a particular period of time as defined by the reference period. Research activity outside of the reference period will not be assessed under ERA other than to the extent it results in the triggering of an indicator during the reference period. 8. Behavioural impact —indicators should drive responses in a desirable direction and not result in perverse unintended consequences. They should also limit the scope for special interest groups or individuals to manipulate the system to their advantage.
Guiding principles for EI
The general model for the assessment that is being developed is for a:
• comprehensive engagement assessment of university research
• impact assessment that exposes performance at university and discipline level and the steps taken to achieve impact. The following ten principles guide the development of the specific indicators of engagement and impact used in the assessment: • Robust and objective —objective measures that meet a defined methodology that will reliably produce the same result, regardless of when and by whom the principles are applied. • Internationally recognised —while not all indicators will allow for direct international comparability, the indicators must be internationally recognised measures of research engagement and impact. Indicators must be sensitive to a range of research types,
i
Made with FlippingBook Proposal Creator