ADSA POLICY ON PERFORMANCE AS RESEARCH

The following recommendations were adopted at the Australasian Drama Studies Association Annual General Meeting, 28 November 1992:

1. We affirm that performance is an appropriate mode for both research and publication.

2. We assume that all performances can be regarded as publications; not all, however, are either complete publications or can be assumed to be equivalent to publications of a standard eligible for acceptance by a refereed academic journal.

3. We authorise the establishment of a pilot program of refereed performances, with the understanding that the task of the referee groups established by ADSA is to determine the criteria, standards and procedures which will, in the opinion of the Association, establish such equivalence.

4. We note that ADSA further aims to establish and maintain procedures of peer review of publication by means of performance, and will seek acceptance by universities, the ARC etc. of the assessments so generated as bona fide evidence of publication of research at a level equivalent to publication in a refereed academic journal.

5. We recommend that minimum criteria for consideration by a panel of referees be the provision by the researcher of:

• a statement of the research aim or aims being addressed by the performance
• a contextualisation of the performance within the research/publication project being conducted by the researcher (i.e. is it the full result of the research, one part of a larger project, one among several realisations of the research question, an illustration which will be incorporated with other modes of analysis/documentation/notation etc.)
• a statement of what, in the researcher's opinion, are the appropriate criteria and conventions the referee ought to consider in assessing the performance
• a statement of the researcher's methodology
• an agreed timeline for consultation with the referees prior to the performance in order to ensure as far as possible that everyone is clear and in agreement about criteria and procedures of assessment
• an agreement that peer review by ADSA has as its primary purpose the assessment of the performance's standing as the equivalent of publication in a refereed academic journal, rather than the provision of critical or professional comment for other purposes. Referees' reports should not be used in other contexts without clearance from ADSA and the referee(s) concerned.

We further recommend once the pilot program has been undertaken

6. That ADSA establish a directory of members willing to serve as referees, together with a listing of their area(s) of expertise.

7. That ADSA establish a file of model procedures and referee reports as an archive for future reference and research.