According to documents filed in the Senate, a controversial change to funding rules for the Australian Research Council disqualified academic grant applications worth $22 million.
The federal agency deemed 32 funding applications ineligible due to a new rule prohibiting applicants from citing preprint material when submitting funding proposals.
The rule, described as inapplicable and inconsistent with current practice, disqualified eligible researchers from the 2021 funding round for Discovery Early Career Researcher Awards or Future Fellowships.
The rule affected all applications in the physical sciences. Academic preprints are used widely in these fields.
The Senate approved the order to produce documents earlier in the week. It required the government's de-identification of information regarding fellowship applications by Thursday morning.
Mehreen Faruqi, Greens senator and education spokesperson, moved the motion. Kim Carr, Victorian Labor senator, cosponsored it.
Faruqi stated that the preprint rule should be repealed as an urgent matter.
All rejected applications should be immediately reviewed for grant funding. The nonsensical rule should not prevent them from applying again. The rule should not apply to applications that are currently being considered by the ARC.
This entire saga is a reminder of the declining funding for research in the country. The ARC should treat researchers with respect and not give them this shameful treatment.
On Tuesday, the presidents of the top scientific bodies representing researchers from physics, astronomy and chemistry wrote to the ARC, stating that they did not know of any consultation prior to the implementation of the rule.
We ask the ARC not to revoke this rule. It is inconsistent with our standard practice and unworkable.
The letter was signed by Prof Brian Schmidt (Nobel laureate, Vice-chancellor Australian National University), and included the following: We are shocked that promising research careers were impacted and possibly ended because fellowship applicants cited Preprints and other documents stored on preprint servers.
We recommend that the ARC immediately reverse its rule changes and allow authors to cite relevant material according to disciplinary conventions.
On Monday, the president of the Australian Academy of Science Prof John Shine wrote to Alan Tudge to express concern about the proposed rule change. More than 600 signatories have also signed an open letter from concerned members the Australian research community.
The ARC stated Monday that it was investigating the concerns raised by academics about the proposed preprints rule changes. It posted on Twitter: Thank you to all who contacted the ARC with their disciplinary perspectives about preprints being included in funding applications
A spokesperson for ARC stated last week that the rule guarantees that all applications will be treated equally.
This is a process that ensures applicants are treated fairly and consistent in the selection process.
Guardian Australia is aware that preprints are not affected by the rule in all funding proposals.
Australian researcher ARC Tracker stated that they knew of at least 26 grant applications. These were unsuccessful, but not deemed ineligible.
