ATSE welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Australian Research Council (ARC) consultation on the treatment of preprints in Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA).
ATSE has previously provided feedback to the 2020 review of the ERA and Engagement and Impact Assessment (EI) frameworks (Australian Academy of Technology & Engineering, 2020).
This submission outlines the importance of upholding peer review as the gold standard in assessing the quality of research, and makes the following key recommendations:
Recommendation 1: Do not include journal preprints in ERA 2023.
Recommendation 2: Lengthen the reference period and reduce the frequency of ERA.
Recommendation 3: Provide ERA evaluation data and metadata via the ARC’s data portal for public access.