Section 1

Comparison of ERA 2010, ERA 2012 and ERA 2015

Percentage changes between 2012 and 2015

Number of outputs, applied and esteem measures in the three ERA rounds

The following table provides an overview of the types and volume of research outputs, applied measures (excluding income) and esteem measures submitted to ERA 2010, ERA 2012 and ERA 2015.¹

Traditional research outputs (books, book chapters, journal articles and conference publications) apply to all disciplines. In ERA 2015 there is a new category of non-traditional research outputs, entitled ‘research report for an external body’ which applies to all disciplines. Other non-traditional outputs (curated or exhibited event, live performance, original creative work, recorded/rendered work) and portfolios only apply to some disciplines.²

There has been an increase in the number of traditional research outputs over the three ERA time periods, particularly journal articles. This may have been influenced by a number of factors, such as additional journals included in the 2015 ERA Submission Journal List resulting in more articles being eligible for ERA; improvements in institutions’ data collection practices; and an increase in the number of full-time equivalent staff (FTE) employed in the higher education research system.

Research Outputs*	2010	2012	2015
Traditional outputs
Book	4,912	5,270	5,488
Book chapter	34,755	39,597	45,269
Journal article	206,816	286,637	301,499
Conference publication	73,741	72,977	69,610
Non-traditional outputs
Curated or exhibited event	750	777	753
Live performance	1,807	821	913
Original creative work	9,052	6,026	5,244
Recorded/rendered work	1,260	790	727
Research report for an external body	-	-	2,453
Portfolio of non-traditional research outputs	374	583	791
TOTAL**	333,467	413,477	432,747
Applied measures
NHMRC Endorsed Guidelines	49	50	64
Patents	671	781	936
Registered designs	1	0	7
Plant Breeder’s Rights	31	39	30
Esteem measures
Editor of a prestigious work of reference	34	48	57
Membership of a learned academy or AIATSIS	1,038	1,287	1,416
Recipient of a Nationally Competitive Research Fellowship	2,566	2,729	3,120
Membership of a statutory committee	332	366	262
Recipient of an Australia Council Grant or Fellowship	75	56	84

Notes:
* Totals are as reported in the respective ERA national reports, please note the algorithm for removing duplicated outputs has been refined between ERA rounds.
**Output types within portfolios are not included in the total.

Trends in indexed journal articles in the three ERA rounds

The following chart presents the yearly volume of indexed journal articles in each of the three ERA rounds to date: ERA 2010, ERA 2012 and ERA 2015. In ERA 2010, eligible institutions submitted a total of 22,483 unique indexed journal articles for the year 2003. In ERA 2015, eligible institutions submitted a total of 50,646 unique indexed journal articles for the year 2013 – a more than doubling in volume.

Since the algorithm for removing output duplication is refined between ERA rounds, the chart focusses on indexed journal articles. Indexed journal articles have a unique article identifier which allows the most accurate removal of duplicates and therefore enables comparisons across ERA rounds.

Volume of unique indexed journal articles: three ERA rounds

This line graph displays the total number of unique indexed journal articles across the three ERA rounds. Over the course of the three ERA rounds, the volume of indexed articles has steadily increase from around 22,500 in ERA 2010 to just over 50,600 in ERA 2015.

Note: There are some differences in the number of indexed journal articles for the overlap years between ERA rounds, this may be due to staff entering or leaving the system, changes in eligible research outputs, etc.

¹ Section 4 provides a more detailed breakdown of research outputs submitted to ERA 2015.

² See ERA 2015 Discipline Matrix (opens in new window).