Enabling Early Career Researchers to produce quality research: Some issues and implications for strategic initiatives

This paper will elucidate messages received by Early Career Researchers (ECRs) about what counts as 'quality research' as this is expressed through the Australian Research Council policy statements, and through practical initiatives aimed at trying to help ECRs become quality researchers. Drawing on the cases of three ECRs at different points along the ECR continuum, the paper will first describe the messages received by the researchers and then analyse understandings of 'quality research'. On the basis of selected elements of their experiences, the authors will identify and describe specific challenges they face(d) in their attempts to produce quality research. The paper will conclude by presenting issues to be taken into consideration in further initiatives at the levels of policy and practice with a view to enabling ECRs to produce quality research.