Quality assurance and assessment of scholarly research: a guide for researchers, academic administrators and librarians

Quality assurance and assessment play many important roles in the research community. They inform crucial decisions on the funding of projects, teams and whole institutions, on how research is conducted, on recruitment and promotion, on what is published or disseminated, and on what researchers and others choose to read. They underpin trust in the work of the research community.

This document offers an overview of some of the key issues surrounding quality assurance and assessment of scholarly research. It is intended for academic administrators, researchers and librarians who deal with elements of quality assurance and quality assessment as part of their daily work, but who wish to understand more about the broader context of that work.

The guide provides:

• definitions of quality
• tools and mechanisms
• assurance and assessment of research projects and programmes
• assurance and assessment of researchers, institutions, and scholarly journals