Benchmarking the research track record and level of appointment of Australian dietetic academics

Abstract

Aims: Research involvement is fundamental to the practice of dietetics. The present study aims to benchmark the research track record of Australian dietetic academics, and to provide insight into how research productivity informs the level of appointment of academics across the career pathway. Methods: Australian dietetic faculty websites and corresponding Scopus database profiles were used to support a bibliographic analysis of Australian dietetic academics' research track record. Current research productivity in relation to academic attributes, level of appointment, and institutional characteristics were explored. Results: In Australia, dietetic academic level of appointment is logarithmically related to number of publications and relatively consistent across regions and university networks.Conclusions: Benchmarking provides universities with guidance regarding the performance to expect from academics at each academic level as well as feedback regarding recruitment and promotion practices. The present study provides an important benchmark for Australian dietetic academics and offers implications for individual academics and university management. K E Y W O R D Sacademic, benchmarking, bibliometrics, nutrition and dietetics, universities

Benchmarking the research track record and level of appointment of Australian medical laboratory science academics

“…The benchmarks and predictive algorithm in this study were different to that of similar samples of Australian occupational therapy and dietetic academics [4,5]. At the lecturer level, the median number of publications for MLS academics (10) was higher than occupational therapy (2) and dietetic (6) academics, while at the professorial level the median number of publications for MLS academics (82) was between occupational therapy (69) and dietetic (96) academics.…”

“…Holding a doctorate denotes a level of recognition or credibility for research in a speci c eld. Like other disciplines [4,5], holding a PhD in this sample was an important milestone for establishing a research track record, con rming the use of a doctorate in benchmarking employment in a teaching and research academic position above associate lecturer. Interestingly, higher education quali cations in Australia are subject to stringent regulatory standards that require teaching academics to hold higher degree quali cations.…”

“…Given that a negative impact of working at a regional university on the level of appointment contrasted with the positive impact of regional employment from previous studies [4,5] and appeared inconsistent with the need to offer employment incentives to attract quality academics to regional universities, a linear regression was also conducted without the regional university variable. This yielded similar results (R 2 =0.492, model signi cance p<0.001, constant 0.260, cubic root transformation of number of publications B=0.588).…”

“…While teaching remains a primary responsibility of many academics, academic research performance is a major contributor towards career advancement and standards in the MLS profession [2,3]. Previous literature in occupational therapy [4] and dietetics [5] in Australia have reported a high variability in research productivity between health professions. Similar ndings have been reported in equivalent clinical laboratory science (CLS) academics from the United States (US) with low research productivity, reporting 36% of CLS academics not publishing a research paper or abstract over seven years [6] and 68% of respondents to a CLS research survey reported never participating in research activities [7].…”

Benchmarking the research track record and level of appointment of Australian medical laboratory science academics

“…While teaching remains a primary responsibility of many academics, academic research performance is a major contributor towards career advancement and standards in the MLS profession [2,3]. Previous literature in occupational therapy [4] and dietetics [5] 4 in Australia have reported a high variability in research productivity between health professions.…”