Please join us for a special opportunity to hear about how the quality of research publications have been evaluated. Renowned expert, Associate Professor David Moher, School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, will talk about his insights on best practices on evaluating the impact of publications.

• Solo talk by Dr David Moher
• Interactive Q&A with Professor Ana Deletic, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research
• Networking and refreshments on the Alumni Terrace
   

If research is going to benefit society it needs to be prioritised, designed, conducted and reported robustly; promoting the values of individual and organisational research integrity. From at least the 1960s there has been a recognition of problems throughout the research industrial complex enterprise. One recent impact of these problems has been a crisis in reproducibility. Yet researchers have seen their careers advance. At least one scholar has noted the moral and ethical perils of this situation. Promotion and tenure occur because researchers have been able to satisfy the current (albeit narrow) criteria needed to advance their careers, ostensibly publications and associated criteria, usually journal impact factors (JIFs).

Most promotion and tenure committees focus on easily collectable quantitative data – typically arbitrarily stated thresholds about the number of publications required in journals with particular JIFs. There is a growing view that current incentive and reward criteria to advance careers is of limited value, does not reflect research integrity, is not evidence-based and needs to be updated to reflect the current researcher assessment gestalt. More appropriate incentives and rewards may help improve the impact of research and researchers, including its societal utility, value, and enhance research integrity within academic organisations and beyond. How researchers are evaluated reflects what we value most – and don’t – in the research enterprise and powerfully influences researchers’ behaviour, including research integrity.
 

• Please note that this event is for UNSW academic and professional staff only.
• Please bring your staff ID to the registration desk upon arrival.
• Please note that there are limited spaces to attend this event.
• Please ensure to register early to guarantee a seat.