First Australian ERA rating

Comments on Margaret Sheil “Big picture reveals impressive achievements”, 1/02/2011, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/big-picture-reveals-impressive-achievements/story-e6frg6zo-1225997656630

Obviously, it is an interesting and difficult exercise and admittedly it is impossible to be perfect in rating.

A number of comments on general rating of research.

Firstly, what the standard used in this is matters a lot.

What is the world standard used in the comparison? Is it including all universities from both industrial and developing countries, or is it excluding developing countries in which most universities have lower standards?

Secondly, the staff to student ratio should also be considered as the impact of excessive burdens of teaching on research and incorporated in some way into the rating to have universities compete on the same footing.

A closely related factor is the cost levels of inputs, such as wages and salaries and capitals used.

Thirdly, some commercialisation of research may also warrant some consideration, as not all applied may attract the same citations in journals.