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Who is ASPERA?
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.’ 

The Peer Review Process
ASPERA has established a national peer review system to evaluate screen production works produced by Australian academics and postgraduate research students. Works are evaluated against criteria of:

•    their scholarly contribution to knowledge
•    originality
•    significance to the field

Refereeing is conducted by three peers of lecturer level B or above.  Screen works that are reviewed are given both quantitative and qualitative feedback.  The quantitative outcome will be used to determine a ranking similar to the journal ranking system used by the Commonwealth Government’s ERA (Excellence in Research for Australia) initiative.

Why Peer Review?
Screen practitioners who participate in the ASPERA process can use this indicator of peer recognition as an acknowledgment of the quality of their screen production research when dealing with their universities or the wider research community. For example, under the ERA system, each university will be selecting the top 20% of their research outputs in the creative arts for evaluation.  ‘Research excellence’ is one of the criteria for inclusion and the ASPERA peer review process can provide evidence of this.

The qualitative feedback can also be seen as valuable in developing a research culture within the academic screen production community and a shared understanding of the key issues in what is an emerging field of research.

Submission Information
The ASPERA peer review committee is now inviting submissions for the refereeing process in 2009. Works must have been completed after 1 January 2002.  This is the beginning of the current ERA reference period.  Submissions must include the screen work and a research statement of 250 words, contextualising the work as an original and scholarly contribution to knowledge. Particularly for non-traditional works, the supporting statement is an important opportunity for the screen practitioner to indicate the context in which the work can be understood as research and its contribution to the field.  Areas to consider when writing the statement are:

-    What was the work trying to achieve?
-    How does it add to or differ from previous work in the field?
-    On what criteria would you like it to be evaluated?
-    How best should it be viewed?

Submissions must include three DVD copies.  In the case of online works, the URL is sufficient.

Deadline
Friday, April 24th, 2009

Suitable works may be screened at the 2009 Aspera Conference in Adelaide.

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