Game of Rankings: Australian uni given warning

The Australian Research Council has written letters of warning to several universities.

The council warned universities earlier this year that it would take the provision of any false or misleading information seriously, and that serious offences could be prosecuted under Commonwealth law.

Several universities are being threatened with tough penalties for allegedly providing data that would artificially boost their performance on prestigious research rankings used to allocate government funding.

The results are used to help allocate about $120 million in government research grants each year and universities spruik their results to demonstrate their prowess in certain research fields.

Sources have said that the University of Tasmania and Central Queensland University were among those institutions that have been contacted by the council.

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