Malignancy of the RAE

Richard Bowring rightly rates one major article over four half-baked papers ("Premature publication", Letters, THES November 6). Why, though, does he think the RAE favours the latter? As a panel chair presumably he would score the entries 5 and 1. If the RAE panels do their job properly (and some do) they will discourage the tide of worthless publication.

David de Meza Interdisciplinary Institute of Management, London School of Economics, and department of economics, University of Exeter