Revised USP Research Award Scheme
The current scheme is revised by (1) simplifying the Individual Rewards for Publications, and (2) replacing the current Vice-Chancellor’s Prizes for Research by Certificates of Recognition for top contributors in two categories: (1) for the quantity of their research (Research Volume), and (2) for the quality of their research (Highest Cited Paper) based on SCOPUS data. All the awards are for the previous year’s output.
Individual Rewards for Publications
Journal Publications
The current system of classifying journals as A*, A, B and C, called the USP2015 Journal Ranking, will continue to be used until a new QoR Policy comes into existence. Note that the USP2015 Journal Ranking is continually being updated to include new journals, and to reflect any change in the quality of journals.
The reward value attached to an article published in a journal is shown in Table 1.
Table 1: Reward value according to quality of journal
| Quality of Journal according to the USP2015 Journal Ranking | Reward value attached to a journal article (F$) |
| A* | $3000 |
| A | $1500 |
The formula for rewarding multiple authors is unchanged, that is,
Books
The current system of classifying publishers of books will continue to be used until a new QoR Policy comes into existence.
The reward value attached to a book published by a publisher is shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Reward value for books published according to quality of publisher
| Quality of Publisher | Reward value attached to a journal article (F$) |
| A* | $5000 |
| A | $3000 |
The formula for rewarding multiple authors is as for the journals.
Book Chapters
For book chapters, the reward value is based on that of an entire book but reduced by a factor of 0.2. That is, A* is $1500, and A is $750. Same formula applies in the case of multiple authors.
Monographs
Subject to consultation (independent review if needed) and support with appropriate evidence, a monograph can either be equivalently awarded as a book or book chapter.
Certificates of Recognition
Certificates of Recognition will be awarded to the top three researchers in subject areas listed by Scopus for the year for which the rewards are given. The researchers will be recognized separately in two categories;
- Quantity of Research (Research Volume), and
- Quality of Research (Highest Cited Paper).
There will be no monetary reward accompanying the Certificates of Recognition.
Table 3: In 2022, Scopus lists 26 subject areas.
| Social Sciences | Agricultural & Biological Sciences | Engineering | Environmental Sciences | Computer Science |
| Business, Management and Accounting | Earth and Planetary Sciences | Economics, Econometrics and Finance | Mathematics | Chemistry |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | Arts and Humanities | Energy | Medicine | Decision Sciences |
| Materials Science | Physics and Astronomy | Multidisciplinary | Psychology | Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics |
| Chemical Engineering | Immunology and Microbiology | Veterinary | Neuroscience | Health Professions |
| Nursing |
Eligibility
Staff and students of USP at the time of award.
Final Amount and Distribution of Monetary Rewards
If the total amount of eligible rewards exceeds the annual budget, then successful claimants will receive only an appropriate pro rata proportion of the amount calculated according to the criteria described above. The final amount will be kept in a School’s account which the researcher can use only for research purposes.