The Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) in Australia requires that all papers published by members of academic institutions in Australia be reported every year. The publications go towards funding allocations for Universities and it is therefore imperative that all publications meet DEST guidelines. However, each academic institution has their own guidelines for what information they require to be printed on publications, so please check with your institution.

Conference Publications have a DEST Weighting of 1. The guidelines state that the paper must meet the following requirements:

  • the paper must be published in either a volume of proceedings, a special edition of a journal, a normal edition of a journal, a book or a monograph, CDROM or Conference or Organisational website.
  • the paper must be peer reviewed.
  • the paper must be presented at conferences, workshops or seminars of national or international significance.
  • the author must be affiliated with the claiming institution.
The University of Melbourne recommends that the author retains a number of items from the Conference:
  • the entire table of contents of the conference publications.
  • Flyleaf and/or other introductory pages showing:
    • Author's affiliation with the University or academic institution.
    • Editors of the conference publication.
    • All dates referring to copyright, publications, printing and distribution of conference publication.
    • Title of the conference publication
    • Conference name, date and location
    • Publisher and place of publication
    • ISBN
  • Entire Conference Paper showing:
    • Title of the conference paper
    • All author(s) of the conference paper
    • Page numbers of the conference paper
  • Proof of refereeing for the conference publication (ie a statement in the publication that states that full papers are refereed.
  • Proof of national/international significance of the conference.
  • Proof of public dissemination of the conference publication
For further information about your University's DEST requirements, please contact the Publications Unit at your University, or check with your departmental administrative staff.