From research project to broader impact: exploring our recent publications
Research commissioned to answer a specific question can have a life well beyond the final report. A project ending does not necessarily mean the research ends with it. Our researchers are driven to build on the questions and evidence generated through their work, pursuing further analysis and new research questions that contribute to the broader knowledge base.
For MUARC, publication in high-quality peer-reviewed journals is an important pathway for extending the impact of our research. While reports provide evidence directly to the stakeholders who commission and fund our work, academic publications allow findings to be independently scrutinised, shared with the wider research community, and used to inform future research, policy and practice.
Publishing research supports the development and progression of our academic staff, with peer-reviewed publication an important measure of academic achievement within a university setting. Through our Publications Incentive initiative, MUARC recognises researchers who lead high-quality peer-reviewed journal papers and provides a financial reward to support their ongoing academic development. The initiative reflects the value we place on producing high-quality research and extending its impact beyond the original project.
To illustrate this pathway, we examined 12 of MUARC's strongest peer-reviewed papers published between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026, for which our authors were awarded a Publication Incentive. These papers were published in Q1 (i.e., in the top one-quarter) journals and journals with an impact factor above 2.5, and had a MUARC researcher as first or last author. They represent only a small proportion of MUARC's broader research outputs during the year.
These papers emerged from a diverse range of research projects and collaborations, and our researchers’ drive to strengthen the knowledge base. Taken together, several themes emerge with a common thread running through them: understanding safety and injury prevention within the broader systems in which people live, work and travel.
Work-related road safety
Three papers focus on the safety of people who drive for work, particularly light commercial vehicles and gig-economy drivers. Together, they examine road safety from organisational, managerial and regulatory perspectives, highlighting the importance of understanding the working environments in which driving occurs.
- Managerial insight towards enhancing road safety culture in the light commercial vehicle and gig economy transportation workforce in Australia
- Enhancing workplace road safety for commercial and gig economy drivers in Australia
- A legislative analysis for enhancing safety for people who drive light vehicles for work in Victoria, Australia
Emerging and shared mobility
Three papers explore the emerging trends in transport, from rideshare services to automated and shared autonomous vehicles. They examine how people understand, perceive, and respond to these forms of transport, providing evidence to inform their safe development and implementation.
- Cruising through concerns: Australian parents' views on teen rideshare service use
- A priori acceptance of automated rideshare services
- Exploring factors influencing user Re-ride intentions in shared autonomous shuttle vehicles
Driver behaviour, attention and novice driving
Four papers examine different aspects of driver behaviour and the development of safe driving. The research considers attention and engagement in non-driving tasks, metacognitive skills, aggressive behaviour, and the role of supervised driving experience among learner drivers.
- Using Australian Naturalistic Driving Study data to explore non-driving task engagement across young novice and experienced drivers
- The effect of metacognitive skills on dissociative driving behaviour: a pilot study of two brief attention-based training methods
- Never being aggressive is important: A nationally representative survey of aggressive driving in Australia
- The effectiveness of mandating supervised driving practice requirements on improving road safety outcomes for learner drivers
Targeted road-user safety
Two papers focus on specific road user groups and safety measures. One examines seatbelt use among pregnant drivers, while the other considers the perceived usefulness of cycling safety countermeasures in Australia and New Zealand.
- Assessing seatbelt use among pregnant drivers in Australia: Correct seatbelt positioning, discomfort, knowledge and information sources
- Perceived usefulness of cycling safety countermeasures in Australia and New Zealand: do stigma, stress and self-reported behaviours play a role?
Extending the impact of commissioned research
These themes are not intended to define MUARC's research program, nor do they capture everything MUARC has published over the past year. Instead, they offer a snapshot of the breadth and quality of research being led by MUARC researchers.
They also illustrate why publication is an important part of an impact-driven research centre. A commissioned project may begin with a specific question from a funder, but the resulting evidence can have relevance well beyond the original project.
The delivery of a report does not have to be the end of that journey. Research can move from project to report, to peer-reviewed publication, reaching new researchers, policymakers, practitioners and communities along the way.
For MUARC's stakeholders, supporting publication from commissioned research can extend the value of that investment: strengthening the evidence base, informing future research and helping build the next generation of academic expertise.
MUARC is a research centre within the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University. Our seven research teams bring together multidisciplinary academic expertise to generate evidence that supports policy and practice across safety science and injury prevention. If you are working on a safety challenge, would like to learn more about our research expertise, or are seeking evidence to support decision-making, we would welcome the opportunity to hear from you.