For example, ERA outcomes and data:
• focus attention on research quality and thereby provide incentives for improvements in research performance
• inform a range of policy advice and initiatives across various Government portfolios
• assist universities with their strategic planning, decision-making and their research promotional activities in Australia and internationally (for example, to attract prospective researchers and students).
3.2 ERA policy
3.2.1 Value of ERA As noted in the above section, a key objective of ERA is to identify research excellence across the full spectrum of research activity. The results of ERA have shown that over time, university research has improved in quality (see the ERA outcomes on the ARC Data Portal). Other indicators of research quality have also shown similar trends in the performance of Australian universities and researchers. 7 ERA provides a rich source of information that can inform decisions and shape policies related to Australia’s university research sector. For example, an independent report 8 on ERA commissioned by the ARC found that: • domestically and internationally, ERA was credited with assisting Australian universities’ improvements in international research rankings
• ERA had caused researchers to focus more on quality of publications rather than quantity
• ERA results were used widely by universities for strategic planning. These conclusions are supported by more recent internal ARC analyses. 9
The Review is investigating the extent to which ERA is meeting its objectives. In addition, stakeholder feedback is sought on the impacts of ERA on the Australian university research sector.
7 For example, over the same period that ERA has assessed research outputs (2003-2016), Australia's relative citation impact and share of the world’s top 1 per cent of highly-cited publications have risen as noted in the Australian Innovation System Report 2017, p. 19. 8 ACIL Allen Consulting, Benefits Realisation Review of Excellence in Research for Australia, (2013). 9 ARC, , Australian Research Council Annual Report 2017–18 , (2018).
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