General Information

DIISR requires that all universities collect data about their research publications. The information is used to calculate how much money DIISR returns to the ANU in the form of research funding.

Click on the following links to access information about the data collection process:

• What information is collected?
• Why is this information so important?
• Who collects the information?
• How does the process operate?
• The publications database (ARIES)

What information is collected?

DIISR requires universities to collect information on eligible publications within the following general categories: books, book chapters, refereed journal articles and refereed conference papers. Publications must satisfy general and specific criteria. These criteria include publication in a specific year, definitions of original research, and measures of quality such as commercial publication or articles having undergone a peer review process.

Each year, DIISR releases Specifications for the Higher Education Research Data Collection. All publications included in data for that year must meet those specifications. In most years, universities' publications collections are subject to audit to ensure that they meet the specifications. Universities providing false information can be penalised.

The following link provides more information regarding which publications are eligible for the collection.

• Summary of publications categories

Why is this information so important?

The collection plays a vital role in determining university funding. Statistics obtained from the collection are used to calculate funding for the Institutional Grants Scheme (IGS) and the Research Training Scheme (RTS). In previous years, the ANU has received approximately $5 million as a direct result of statistics generated by the collection. Accurate reporting of publications data is therefore of great financial benefit to the university and its departments.

In addition, data collected can assist the university in allocating funds internally, as well as providing departments with lists of publications to include in their annual reports.

Who collects the information?

Departmental assistants, assisted by departmental publications officers, are responsible for collecting information from their departmental research staff and students. This information is then passed on to the Research Office publications staff, who verify data based on supporting documentation provided by departments.

How does the process operate?

The collection process runs on an annual cycle. The dates for submission of complete and verified data to DIISR is generally at the end of June for the previous year's publications (ie. data submitted in June 2008 was for works published during the calendar year of 2007).

Departmental assistants can enter data for publications during the year, but must have completed their collection by due dates set out by the Research Office. Most data and verification materials are submitted in March/April of the collection year.

Research Office staff then check all of the publications listed in the database against the verification materials provided. When necessary, they contact the departmental assistants to provide additional information. As each publication is checked and verified, it is locked in ARIES. Once the data have been finalised, the publications staff calculate scores and seek the approval of departmental heads and Deans and Directors. Approved scores are then added together to give a final ANU score for each category.

The final ANU data is entered into a spreadsheet and sent to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, then the Vice-Chancellor, for approval, before being forwarded to DIISR.

In some years, data submitted for the HERDC collection is subject to an external audit, for which the ANU is required to provide verification materials relating to a sample of publications. If any errors are detected, the ANU can be penalised across the board for inaccurate data. In addition to post-collection audits, data provided for the HERDC collection can be subjected to an audit at any time over the three years following a collection.

The Publications Database (ARIES)

The ANU uses a Microsoft SQL Server database with a web interface for research publications data collection. This database is called ARIES. Registered users can access publications information through the 'find publications' function. Departmental assistants can edit and add to their own department's publications list. ARIES can be accessed through the button below.