Despite the vast literature on policies, criteria and indicators of research quality assessment, little attention has been given to the role of academics: how they perceive the quality of their research and how these views can be used to inform institutional practices.

With the present study, we aim to overcome the observed lack of concrete data on the perspective of the academics about the dimensions considered most crucial for the development of high-quality research. In a specific way, the study intends to obtain data on the relevance attributed to a set of dimensions and sub-dimensions in order to contribute to a process of reflection on how quality research is perceived by academics.

The theoretical framework of the study addresses the following topics:

- Academic Research and Researchers (Brew & Lucas, 2009).

- Conceptualization of research performance (Bazeley, 2010).

- Factors influencing university research performance (Edgar & Geare, 2013).

- Researcher identities in managerial times (Elizabeth & Grant, 2013).

- Academic perspectives on research and being a researcher (Åkerlind, 2008).

- Research management (Deem, 2010).

In the review of the main normative documents for framing the assumptions about the dimensions to consider when assessing the quality of research we looked at frameworks used across Europe and beyond to assess the quality of research.  The most relevant frameworks and guidelines are portrayed in the Multidimensional Research Assessment Matrix (AUBR, 2010) organized in the following dimensions: Research Engagement, Resources and Institutional Culture, Performance, Productivity and Innovation, Quality, Merit and Impact and Sustainability and Support.

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