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Professor Sharynne McLeod. Photo:
Britta Campion/The Australian
Talk of the town
Australian speech pathologist
named world’s best researcher.
By Wade Zaglas
F
ew people can say they’re the best
in the world at anything, but for
Charles Sturt University professor of
speech and language acquisition Sharynne
McLeod, that’s exactly the case.
A year after being named Australia’s
leading researcher in her field, McLeod
learnt that she had gone one step further:
becoming the world’s most cited expert
in her field.
The decision to recognise Bathurst-based
McLeod as the world’s leading expert in her
field was based on the quantity and quality
20
of her published research papers across
the world. Charles Sturt University also
gained recognition, being named a ‘leading
institution’ for the work of McLeod’s speech
pathology research team.
Research magazine, published annually
by The Australian, selects scholars and
institutions with the most research papers
published in their field’s top 20 journals. To
do this, a “trailing five-year impact factor”
(using Google Scholar) is used.
The second step involves analysing the
number of citations for each paper and the
number of academic peers using them.
The publication found that McLeod was
the world’s most cited expert in the field of
audiology, speech and language pathology,
an accomplishment extolled by CSU vice-
chancellor Professor Andrew Vann.
“To be identified as a global leader is no
mean feat, and is testament to Professor
McLeod’s expertise in, and enthusiasm for,
the field she has dedicated herself to for the
past three decades,” he said.
“These twin acknowledgements
are fitting recognition of Charles Sturt
University’s commitment to impactful
research which contributes to our regional
communities and across the world.
“I commend Professor McLeod and
the wider research team for their work
to manifest the university’s ethos of
Yindyamarra Winhanganha – ‘the wisdom
of respectfully knowing how to live well in a
world worth living in’.”
McLeod left the University of Sydney
for Charles Sturt 20 years ago, and was
instrumental in establishing CSU’s first
speech pathology courses. She has worked
in the School of Teacher Education for 16
years while continuing her research into
speech pathology.
In 2009, the world expert was one of
the first researchers to be recognised with
an Australian Research Council Future
Fellowship, allowing her to research
multilingual children’s speech acquisition.
Currently a Charles Sturt senior research
fellow, McLeod is grateful to be working
with a team committed to “making a
difference in children’s lives”.
Her passion and commitment to her
field is evident in other ways too. Not only
is she the author of 10 books and more
than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles
and book chapters, she is a life member of
Speech Pathology Australia and a fellow of
the American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association.
But for McLeod, research is not an end
in itself: the ability to communicate in the
world is what motivates her. In fact, during
her speech at the United Nations this year,
she asserted that “communication is a
right for everyone, including those with a
communication disability”.
The professor urges parents and
guardians to seek help early if they have any
concerns about their child’s speech and
learning development, and recommends
the Speech Pathology Australia website
to assist people in finding local speech
pathologists.
“There’s no such thing as being too
young for accessing assistance with
speech and language development. Quite
the opposite, in fact: it can make a huge
difference when they’re little.” ■