Citation awards for Australian scientists

The quality of scientific research is measured by how many papers are published in science journals by a researcher or research team and the number of times they have been referenced by other scientists. Journals that publish scientific papers are also ranked depending on their quality and this is factored in to create an overall citation ranking.

This citation ranking system has been used to determine funding allocations for research under the previous research quality framework  and will also form the basis for the current government’s Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) system.

The ERA initiative, to be developed by the Australian Research Council (ARC) in conjunction with the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, will assess research quality using a combination of metrics and expert review by committees comprising experienced, internationally recognised experts.

Australian researchers who topped the scientific citations rankings from 1997 to 2007 were recently presented with awards at the 2008 Thomson Scientific Citation Awards.

Among the 10 winners were four Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science:

• Prof Brian Schmidt, Australian National University ­ — astronomy and astrophysics
• Prof Suzanne Cory, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research — biochemistry and molecular biology
• Chief scientist Dr Jim Peacock, CSIRO — plant sciences
• Prof Terence Hughes, James Cook University — marine and freshwater biology

The Academy congratulated the Fellows and other award winners on their achievement.