International relations research performance among Australian universities

Abstract

In this research note, the authors briefly report the results of an exercise measuring the relative research performance of Australian universities in the field of international relations (IR). The findings are based on counting articles in the leading journals in the field, as determined by the Excellence in Research Australia (ERA) journal ranking. The authors also present the number of IR scholars in each university according to a 2011 survey. Three issues are addressed: the logic of journal rankings, especially in light of the decision to drop these from the ERA exercise; the method by which the data was compiled; and a discussion of the findings. These results build on and update those reported earlier for the broader discipline of political science, extending to the period 2003–11.

Keywords:

• international relations
• journal ranking
• research performance
• survey

Additional information

Notes on contributors

J.C. Sharman

J.C. Sharman is a professor in the Centre for Governance and Public Policy at Griffith University. His research is currently focused on money laundering and tax havens, as well as sovereignty and empires. Sharman's seventh book, Global Shell Games: Field Experiments in International Relations, co-authored with Daniel Nielson and Michael Findley, is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press

Patrick Weller

Patrick Weller holds the Premier of Queensland Chair in Governance and Public Management at Griffith University and is an Adjunct Professor in the Australian and New Zealand School of Government. He is co-author of From Postbox to Powerhouse: A Centenary History of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet 1911–2010 (Allen & Unwin, 2011) and Westminster Compared (Oxford University Press, 2011)