Research & Development Management

University Protocols For Research With External Agencies

The University Research Management Plan has identified the need for Murdoch to diversify its research funding. This will involve greater interaction with State government agencies, Industry and commercial companies. There will be both benefits and potential areas of conflict as a result of this change. It is important to ensure that the relationships with all such research partners are of a very high quality. In maintaining such relationships we aim to safeguard academic freedom and the capacity of researchers to investigate and publish without fear or favour, and to honour the commitments that we make to external agencies. In this regard it will be important for both the University (and its researchers) and the external agencies to be clear on a range of issues including:

Intellectual Property
Reports for External Agencies
Postgraduate Supervision/Co-supervision
Publication of Reports and Papers
Research and External Agency Interaction

Intellectual Property (I.P.)

The University has an Intellectual Property policy (Statute 18) and in interacting with external agencies it is important that the interests of researchers and the University are protected. Sometimes, in a desire to secure research funds, researchers may be tempted to give up their rights; this is not acceptable to the University. The Industry Liaison Office has experience in negotiating such matters and should be asked to provide assistance and advice at the very outset of project negotiations. It is essential that research staff are fully aware of I.P. matters at the time they embark on a project. Similarly, postgraduate research students must be informed of matters relating to I.P. prior to the commencement of their research programme.

Reports for External Agencies

When research agreements are drawn up with external agencies the issue of reporting needs to be addressed seriously. Particular attention should be given to the timetable that is agreed to, the resources that will be required to honour a particular schedule, and the importance of deadlines. Any timetable of reports should be an appropriate blend of information transfer and realism. A project can be rendered ineffective if the reporting requirements are unreasonable and the researchers are obliged to spend much of their valuable time in writing frequent reports, rather than trying to address the research question at hand. Similarly, if the external agency requires very long reports, appropriate resources should be factored into the original funding request. The total funding requested for a project should include provision for the reports, as well as for the research itself. Sometimes in focussing on the research the implications of the reporting requirements are overlooked. The failure of some researchers to meet their commitments to complete reports by the agreed deadlines is a significant issue. Such failures can have very serious consequences for researchers in terms of their capacity to continue to attract funding. There are cases known across the country of researchers who are good at their work, but who fail to deliver reports on time, and who have been excluded from further industry funding. Similarly, some research funding agencies have threatened to penalise a whole institution for the failure of one researcher to deliver reports on time. Thus, at both the individual, and the institutional level, there are potentially serious consequences which may result from the failure to deliver reports on time. It is not acceptable for researchers to ignore the obligations they entered into freely at the time they negotiated the original funding. If there is a delay looming, it is important that researchers take the initiative and contact the sponsor directly, and at the same time advise both the Dean and the Industry Liaison Office. It is very important to be proactive rather than hoping that the problem will go away if it is ignored.

Postgraduate Supervision/Co-supervision

There can be mutual benefit from having R&D personnel in external agencies involved as associate supervisors in the supervision of postgraduate research students. When this works well the interaction between the University and the external agency can be enhanced, there may be additional research resources available for the project, and the student can experience something of a research environment outside the University. However, such Co-supervision works only when the two supervisors have a mutual respect, when both bring some expertise and experience to the project, and when the interests of the student are appropriately safeguarded. Personnel may be transferred, or resign, from external agencies, in which case problems could emerge in the supervision of postgraduate students. This is especially serious if the University supervisor does not have the appropriate degree of expertise in the area. Indeed, supervisors should think very seriously about their capacity to provide high quality supervision in particular areas of research. It may be wiser to turn down opportunities for supervision than to enter into an area in which they have insufficient expertise.

Publication of Reports and Papers

Since there will be varying degrees of interaction between University researchers and an external agency, it is likely that a range of varying approaches to publication may be required. The following list illustrates some of the potential interactions.

University research is of interest to an external agency, but they have no direct involvement in the research and provide no funding. In these cases it may be helpful, and certainly courteous, to send copies of preprints, (i.e. once a manuscript has been accepted for publication but prior to the availability of printed reprints), or reprints to an appropriate person in the agency(ies) involved.
Research in which there is no direct involvement of an external agency in the research, or funding, but which has significant implications for the agency concerned. In these situations it is desirable to send a draft manuscript to the agency concerned, informing them that the paper is going to be submitted to a journal in, for example, four weeks time. Constructive feedback could be helpful in such cases, but it is not in any way to be seen as inviting a veto on publication. Nor should researchers be subjected to undue delays in submitting their manuscripts for publication.
Research in which there has been significant research collaboration between research staff from an external agency and University researchers, and/or in which there may have been extensive financial support by the external agency. In cases of significant joint collaboration there is likely to be joint publication of the results, depending on agreement about the relative contributions of the authors. It is important that in activities involving postgraduate research students the issue of publication is discussed at the start of the project. Joint research activities should involve all the researchers in the production of the final manuscript. If the external agency support is solely financial, sending a draft copy of a paper, especially if there are significant implications for the external agency, is appropriate. Again, the objective is not to encourage censorship, but to inform an agency and to request useful comment.

Potential areas of difficulty include publication of commercially sensitive material, or material which may be in conflict with the public policy of an external agency. In cases where there has been no joint research activity, there is likely to be value in sending draft manuscripts to agency staff prior to publication. This will have the benefit of informing people about what is happening in the particular University research programme, and the findings that are about to be published. It may also help to ensure that there are no unexpected problems with the validity or interpretation of the data.

It is important that issues relating to publication are dealt with at the start of any collaboration. This is particularly true where postgraduate research students are involved. It is helpful for students to develop a track record of research publications in order to advance their careers. Barriers to this can influence their subsequent career development. It is to some extent debatable whether postgraduate research students fully appreciate this at the start of their candidature. They may be willing to sign confidentiality and non-publication clauses early in their studies that they would be unwilling to sign later. Issues relating to research publication should be discussed very early in a research student's candidature. The supervisor has a responsibility to advise the student about the process of publication and to develop an understanding about Co-publication. It is recognised that, for quite legitimate reasons, students sometimes publish on their own. Indeed in some disciplines this is the normal approach to publication. However, it is appropriate that in such circumstances a draft manuscript is seen by the research supervisor. Research students are undertaking a programme of training and it is appropriate that their first steps in publishing in the research literature are assisted by experienced people. Research carried out at Murdoch should, wherever possible, be published using Murdoch's name, even if the author(s) have moved to another institution. This is the normal convention in scientific disciplines, but not in Arts/Social Sciences - related areas. It may be possible for those in Arts/Social Sciences - related areas to adopt the former convention for journal articles, but books may be more problematic. Postgraduate thesis material should be free from external interference. However, supervisors should exercise appropriate care in providing opportunities for students to present their research so that useful findings can be disseminated.

Research and External Agency Interaction

In some cases research findings will have obvious implications for changes to current external agency management policy, e.g. (a) research on commuter traffic flows may lead to recommendations on urban transport systems, or (b) research on the numbers and distribution of an endangered species of plant or animal may have implications for their management, or (c) research analysis of a total industrial process may lead to suggestions for modifying existing procedures to increase efficiency, productivity or profitability. Some researchers may wish to leave the data to speak for themselves without drawing out the implications. Others may feel that the consequences should be drawn out in a more explicit manner. There are a several questions that can be asked when making comment on significant external agency policy matters: ( a ) does the data and the analysis support the contention that some external agency management policy should be changed? ( b ) in line with good practice, has comment been sought from the agency responsible for the relevant policy area? ( c ) does the research have only local significance, or does it have wider implications, e.g. at national or international level? The University encourages researchers to conduct high quality research in areas that address relevant contemporary problems. Academic freedom is vital to the integrity of any University and we seek to maintain this as a core part of Murdoch's research. The University also seeks constructive engagement and dialogue with external agencies in addressing relevant contemporary problems.

The object of these protocols is to help staff and research students to build long-term cooperative relationships with external agencies, as a vital part of the development of the University's research effort.

Responsible Officer: Director, Research and Development
Date of Last Review: 16 October 1996
Date of Authorisation/Approval: 16 October 1996
Authorising/Approving Officer: Research and Development Board