• Section 1 - Purpose
• Section 2 - Scope
• Section 3 - Principles
• Publication and dissemination of research
• Authorship
• Open access
• University affiliations and attribution
• Use of perpetual identifiers
• Section 4 - Definitions

Section 1 - Purpose

(1) This document sets out the University of Canberra’s policy on authorship, publication and dissemination of research.

(2) The policies, procedures and practices of the University and its researchers are guided by:

1. Authorship: A Guide Supporting the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research 2019
2. Publication and Dissemination of Research – A Guide Supporting the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research 2019.

Section 2 - Scope

(3) This Policy applies to all University of Canberra (University) staff, students and affiliates (academic, professional, honorary appointments) undertaking research activities.

(4) This Policy applies to the authorship of all research outputs including non-traditional research outputs. This Policy also applies to other documents related to research such as research proposals, grant applications, reports for funding agencies, tenders, patents and patent applications.

Section 3 - Principles

Publication and dissemination of research

(5) Dissemination of research findings is a critical part of the research process, as it passes on the benefits of the research to other researchers, professional practitioners and the wider community.

(6) Researchers have a responsibility to disseminate a full and accurate account of their research as broadly as possible, including negative findings and results contrary to hypotheses. Researchers must ensure that the use of the work of others is appropriately acknowledged and cited. The University is committed to promoting an environment of honesty, integrity, accuracy and responsibility in the dissemination of research findings.

(7) Publication activities must take account of any restrictions relating to intellectual property or culturally sensitive data and manage these appropriately.

(8) Publication and dissemination activities must also take account of any funder policies and requirements.

(9) Publication of multiple papers based on the same analysis of the same set(s) or subset(s) of data is not acceptable except where new interpretations are presented and there is full cross-referencing within the papers (for example, in a series of closely related work, or where a complete work grew out of a preliminary publication and this is fully acknowledged). In borderline cases, an author who submits substantially similar work to more than one publisher must disclose this to the publishers at the time of submission. 

(10) Research findings should not be pro-actively reported in the public media before they have been reported to a research audience of experts in the field of research, preferably by publication in a peer-reviewed journal, except where there is a contractual arrangement. Researchers are encouraged to engage in expert commentary but must be clear when findings are not yet peer reviewed.

(11) It is acknowledged that where issues of public policy and concern make prior advice desirable, such advice must be tendered first to the public or professional authorities responsible, and the unreported status of the findings must be advised at the same time. Only where responsible authorities fail to act can prior reporting to the media be justified, and again the unpublished status of the findings must be reported at the same time.  

(12) Where there is private reporting of research that has not yet been exposed to open peer-review scrutiny, especially when it is reported to prospective financial supporters, researchers have an obligation to explain fully the status of the work and the peer-review mechanisms to which it will be subjected.  

(13) Publications must include information on the sources of financial support for the research. Financial sponsorship that carries an embargo on such naming of a sponsor should be avoided.  

(14) Deliberate inclusion of inaccurate or misleading information relating to research activity in curriculum vitae, grant applications, job applications or public statements, or the failure to provide relevant information, is a form of research misconduct. Accuracy is essential in describing the state of publication (in preparation, submitted, accepted), research funding (applied for, granted, funding period), and awards conferred, and where any of these relate to more than one researcher.  

(15) All reasonable steps must be taken to ensure that published reports, statistics and public statements about research activities and performance are complete, accurate and unambiguous. 

(16) Consistent with the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research, the University provides advice to its researchers on how to disseminate research findings, talk to journalists, and ensure appropriate partner acknowledgment, through a dedicated Media and Communications area.

Authorship

(17) Authorship must be:

1. an honest reflection of contribution to research;
2. assigned fairly, and consistently with established disciplinary practice; and
3. communicated clearly and transparently between contributors to the research.

(18) It is essential that all parties responsible for bringing about a piece of research are duly acknowledged for their contribution in any publications or reports that result from the research. Authorship of a research output is a matter that should be discussed and documented between researchers at an early stage in a research project, and reviewed whenever there are changes in participation.

(19) When there is more than one author of a research output, one co-author (by agreement amongst the authors) should be nominated as executive author for the whole research output and should take responsibility for record-keeping regarding the research output. This would normally be the senior or corresponding author. 

(20) The University is guided by the Vancouver Protocol and the normal conventions of each discipline. The Vancouver Protocol states that the minimum requirement for authorship of a publication should be:

1. participation in the conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data; and
2. participation in drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
3. willingness to give final approval of the version to be published.

(21) It is the responsibility of the executive/senior author to initiate discussions and resolve disputes in regard to authorship, order of appearance of authors and other issues related to acknowledgment of contribution to the work and the publication. In doing so, the principles in Clause 17 should be considered in the context of any power imbalances between researchers, or other issues that may potentially influence authorship decisions such as the unwillingness of researchers to accept authorship and/or accountability for their contribution.

(22) ‘Honorary authorship’ occurs when a person is listed as an author of a publication when they have not participated in any substantial way in the conception, execution or interpretation of at least part of the work described in the publication. ‘Honorary authorship’ is unacceptable. Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not justify authorship. General supervision of the research group is not sufficient for authorship. Any part of an article critical to its main conclusion must be the responsibility of at least one author. As stated in the Vancouver Protocol, each and every author without the help from co-authors, should be able to understand, to present and to defend the general ideas and findings published in the paper. No person who is an author, consistent with this definition, must be excluded as an author without their permission in writing. 

(23) Due recognition of all participants is a part of a proper research process. Authors must ensure that the work of all participants in the research – research students, research assistants and technical officers, whether paid or voluntary – is properly acknowledged.

(24) It is the responsibility of the executive author (that is, the author taking overall responsibility for the publication) to ensure that all nominated authors have read the final paper, that each meets the minimum requirements for authorship, and that there are no other persons who meet the minimum requirements for authorship but have not been included among the authors. In submitting the manuscript for publication, a statement to this effect should be included in the covering letter, and a copy of this letter, signed by all authors, should be held on file. The executive author should be identified in the letter as the author to which correspondence should be directed. If, for any reason, one or more co-authors are unavailable or otherwise unable to sign the statement of authorship, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC); Faculty Executive Dean; Director, Research Centre; or Director, Research Institute may sign the file copy on their behalf, provided they themselves are not a co-author, noting the reason for the co-author’s unavailability. 

(25) Conflicts arising through disputes about authorship should be first brought to the attention of the Faculty Associate Dean, Research (ADR) for resolution. If this fails, or if the Faculty ADR is a party to the dispute, the matter should be brought before the DVC.

Open access

(26) The University expects researchers to prioritise open access channels of dissemination and ensure compliance with any funder open access policies. Researchers are encouraged to use the University’s ‘read and publish’ agreements, supported by the University through prioritising acquiring and providing access to resources with open access licencing, as outlined in the principles of the Library Collection Policy.

University affiliations and attribution

(27) Staff and students of the University are required to cite/by-line the University of Canberra as their primary affiliation. To ensure correct citation, the by-line must begin with “University of Canberra”, with any faculty, institute or centre information following this. Acronyms or a different order of by-line information must not be used. This requirement continues to apply to research conducted at the University even if published after staff or students have left the University.

(28) Relevant external affiliations, such as a company, business or other organisations pertinent to the author’s research and translation, including professional practice, must be cited along with other relevant organisations.

(29) Affiliates should consider whether the publication would be reasonably viewed as related to their University appointment. If so, then it would be expected that the University of Canberra receives a by-line.

Use of perpetual identifiers

(30) ORCID is the authority source for external identifiers for staff and students of the University.

(31) Researchers and higher degree by research (HDR) students must establish and use an ORCID ID and may establish other persistent digital identifiers that uniquely distinguish individual researchers and their research activity.

Section 4 - Definitions