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ASPERA (the Australian Screen Production Education & Research Association) is the peak discipline body of Australian tertiary institutions teaching and researching film, video, television and new media as screen based production practices. One of the central aims of Aspera is ‘to develop and foster research relevant to the sector.’

ASPERA has now established a national peer review committee to evaluate screen production works produced by Australian academics and postgraduate research students. The committee is made up of representatives from five states. It will not primarily be a reviewing body itself but will locate referees with appropriate experience and administer the process. However, committee members may be referees if appropriate. Refereeing will be conducted by three peers of lecturer level B or above.

The members of the national peer review committee are:

Nicholas Oughton (Griffith University)
Leo Berkeley (RMIT University)
Susan Kerrigan (University of Newcastle)
Alison Wotherspoon (Flinders University)
Mick Broderick (Murdoch University)

Screen works that are successfully reviewed will be allocated points using ASPRI (the Australian Screen Production Research Index), which has been formally adopted by ASPERA as a means for screen production academics to have equivalences in the field of screen production to the recognition given authors of academic journal articles, book chapters and books, recognising that screen production is often a large-scale collaboration with creative, organisational and technical dimensions, and work produced that varies in genre, format, length and complexity. Producers can use this peer recognition as an acknowledgment of the quality of their screen production research when dealing with their universities or the wider research community.

The committee is now inviting submissions for refereeing. Works must have been completed after 30 June 2006. Submissions must include the screen work and a research statement of up to 1,000 words, contextualising the work as an original and scholarly contribution to knowledge.

Works submitted before May 15th, 2008 will also be eligible for screening at the 2008 Aspera Conference in Melbourne, where there will be a showcase of selected works that have been refereed.

Contact Leo Berkeley to make a submission or for further information.
Email: leo.berkeley@aspera.org.au
Phone: (03) 9925 3014