Types of evidence cited in Australian Government publications

Demand on researchers to justify the impact of their work outside academia is increasing. Both increasing research use in policy and measuring current use are multi-faceted problems, though there are many potential benefits to researchers and policymakers alike. This bibliometric study aimed to gain insight into the research and reference practices of Australian policymakers, and investigate how this approach compares to previous interview and survey studies. We analysed 4649 references from 80 government publications from eight departments from 2010 to 2017, including references to 1836 articles from peer-reviewed journals, noting each author, title, year, parent publication, source type and access level. The number and type of evidence sourced varied per publication, with the most common sources being peer-reviewed journal articles, federal government reports, and Australian business information. This differs from previous large-scale qualitative studies which found policymakers are most likely to speak directly to colleagues for information, and far less inclined to seek out academic research. The study also found a possible increased chance for academic research to be cited if it was open access. Despite criticisms of citation analysis, at least in the field of research utilisation we cannot solely rely on interview or survey data, as cited evidence use differs from reported evidence use. Both the characteristics of evidence sources in policy and the effect of open access publishing on research use in policy are clearly worth investigating further, particularly longitudinally, which would require increased accessibility of government publications

Longitudinal surveys of Australian youth annual report 2013

The purpose of LSAY LSAY is designed to examine major transition points in young people’s lives, including completing school and transitioning to work or further training and education, as well as other aspects of their lives. LSAY follows nationally representative cohorts of young people over a ten-year period, with interviews taking place annually. Each cohort starts out with about 14 000 students. Survey participants enter the study when they turn 15 years or, for earlier studies, when they were in Year 9. To date, there have been five cohorts,1 the first starting in 1995 (known as Y95), followed by further cohorts in 1998, 2003, 2006 and 2009 (known as the Y98, Y03, Y06 and Y09 cohorts respectively). The last three of these cohorts were still active in 2013 (although it was the last year for the Y03 cohort). Interviews are conducted by telephone, with online interviews also possible from 2012. Since 2003, the sample for the initial wave has been coordinated with the Organisation for Economic Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Only six other countries have surveys that use the PISA sample (Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Uruguay), making LSAY a relatively unique survey. LSAY provides a rich source of data relating to the transitions of students from school to post-school destinations; it also explores their social outcomes, such as wellbeing. Information collected as part of the LSAY program covers a wide range of school and post-school topics, including: student achievement; student aspirations; school retention; social background; attitudes to school; work experiences; and what students do when they leave school

An annotated bibliography of tax compliance and tax compliance costs

An annotated bibliography of tax compliance and tax compliance costs.tax; tax compliance; compliance costs; bibliography; tax evasion; tax avoidance; auditing; tax simplification

Sentencing scammers: law and practice

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2008: 5) has defined consumer scams as a fraudulent invitation, request, notification or offer, designed to obtain someone’s personal information or money or otherwise obtain a financial benefit by deceptive means

Industry use of evidence to influence alcohol policy: a case study of submissions to the 2008 Scottish government consultation.

Jim McCambridge and colleagues analyze industry submissions to a Scottish Government consultation on whole-population approaches to alcohol policy