Research Excellence Framework

Difficult conversations about how the REF’s post-2029 open access books mandate will be financed cannot be avoided, say experts

Rethink on Research Excellence Framework’s demand that submitted monographs should be freely available follows fierce condemnation of a policy described as ‘unaffordable’ and ‘excessively bureaucratic’

The 2029 Research Excellence Framework aims to assess ‘how institutions and disciplines contribute to healthy, dynamic and inclusive research environments’. But will panellists and university managers really move away from a focus on prestigious journal papers, asks Matthew Flinders

Extending embargoes and permitting more exceptions are likelier than a full U-turn, suggest academic publishing experts

If the best books aren’t REFable, UK research will appear artificially weak, say Heather Widdows, Fiona Macpherson and Simon Kirchin 

Majority of respondents to survey worry loose affiliation criteria for Research Excellence Framework could open door to ‘buying in’ star talent

British Academy urges Research Excellence Framework leaders to pause open access plans as sector bodies highlight ‘crushing costs’

‘Excessively bureaucratic’ and ‘unaffordable’ rules on open access proposed for the next Research Excellence Framework should be discarded, say university executives

These initiatives don’t demand extra funding, undervalue publisher input or create institutional or disciplinary divides, say Anthony Cond and Jane Bunker

Extra costs linked to proposed new Research Excellence Framework rules could send art history departments to the wall, warns Francesca Berry

Proposed changes to how scholars publish show little awareness of how they will profoundly reshape academic life, says David Lund

Researchers say precariously employed academics will lose out if universities are required to stump up fees for open access

Pilot to test potential indicators announced amid sector uncertainty

Requiring OA publication would have left bookshops’ history sections narrower in scope and the preserve of a select few authors, says Rory Cormac

Swift clarification of exemption for mass-market books follows claims that REF open access requirements would destroy publishing opportunities for scholars

Extension of journal mandate to monographs designed to ‘make research more open and equitable’, but has historically been a source of controversy

Research quality more evenly spread than funding and ‘toxic cultural bias’ could be behind disparities, says geographical analysis for Hepi

Year-long delay to the next Research Excellence Framework must be used to correct fundamental flaws of proposed exercise, say sector experts

Everyone, from funders to individuals, has a role to play in building a research system that operates with integrity and robustness, says Alexandra Freeman

Year-long delay to UK research assessment follows concerns abolishing minimum output rule for researchers could harm inclusivity

Disagreements over equality issues mentioned in science secretary’s Israel letter must be swiftly addressed, says ex-research council head

Former Warwick head Sir Nigel Thrift says reduced focus on outputs could undermine case for government support of UK research

The increased weighting of the environment section poses risks in an era when EDI is increasingly politicised, say Alice Sullivan and John Armstrong 

As a human activity, research cannot but be cultural as much as it is scientific, say Annamaria Carusi and Shomari Lewis-Wilson

Cedars poll highlights toxic working environments in British universities that REF’s focus on research culture aims to tackle

The 2028 exercise’s measurement of the quality of research environments will account for a quarter of overall marks. But what exactly does quality look like? Can it really be measured? And are there political risks in diluting the REF’s focus on outputs? Jack Grove reports

The new rules are welcome, but change will only truly occur if institutions finally get over their obsession with publications, says the Hidden REF committee

Study finds submitting an individual to UK research assessment cost institutions £6,000 on average

Ethnicity and disability status also significant factors influencing likelihood of researchers being submitted, report finds

The new REF rules allow greater scope to aim for the (four) stars. But who will embrace the risk of crashing to Earth, asks Matthew Flinders

Universities could be marked down on research culture if a handful of researchers dominate submissions, says research assessment officials

Reaction to the new rules has been mixed, but they promise to fix the toxic aspects of research culture, says Cat Davies

Challenges for practice research reflect broader issues around knowledge production and academic hierarchies, say Bill Balaskas and Katia Chornik

Elite universities harbour doubts about shift away from rewarding proven research excellence, says Manchester vice-president, though sector broadly welcomes changes for next assessment exercise

How will proposals to redraw submissions and assessments affect university staff and institutions? THE’s at-a-glance guide to the next Research Excellence Framework explains more

Policies to curb university expenditure on research assessment exercise failed to stop soaring costs, report finds

Universities will be allowed to submit dozens of outputs by an academic – or none at all – to next Research Excellence Framework under proposed new rules

Short time horizons and a focus on cost-efficiency are limiting production of truly groundbreaking research, say Moqi Groen-Xu and Peter Coveney

Immediate review of outputs by a REF reviewer could be more efficient, transparent, informative and, above all, fair, says Martin Lang

Britain’s claims to ‘science superpower’ status look shaky as it is being outperformed by smaller nations on top-rated papers, says study lead

Forcing teaching-focused academics to produce 3* research is like asking a world-class cricket bowler to focus on batting, says a research director

‘Mother of ERA’ now charting its demise, as the ‘law of diminishing returns’ prompts a rethink

More details emerge of how sharp rise in quality outputs and tweak to funding formula are hitting institutions

Sciences gain £145 million that would have gone to humanities and social sciences under old system

New Research England head reflects on her roundabout route into academia and the future of research evaluation

Automation should only be used to support peer review and not usurp it, finds major study

Bibliometric-led evaluation of research outputs unable to replicate ‘richness’ of peer-review model

Research England examining study on how AI might be used to predict quality of research outputs

Retiring Research England executive chair reflects on REF, impact and open access

University breached advertising rules by claiming its arts and humanities research was ‘number one’ in UK, says regulator

Changing world in research means substantial changes to UK assessment needed, says outgoing chair of Research England

Modern institutions get millions more in quality-related grants, in first allocations to use 2021 REF results

Narratives describing research in departments should be replaced by institution-level document, recommends funder-backed study

More innovative screening of grant applications that avoid full peer review could remove red tape burden on researchers, says Adam Tickell

Research England unveils substantial uplifts for both quality-related research funding and knowledge exchange activities

Analysis reveals that UK scholars tend to move to jobs that bring them into closer conformity with disciplinary standards, says Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra

Despite being the second largest REF submitter, business ranks 30th of 34 disciplines on research income per FTE, says Robert MacIntosh

Analysis suggests philosophy professor’s old department may net as much as £333,000 from the activities that saw her targeted by activists

There is always more to a research question than the underpinning science. So work with the people you are studying, says Nicola Ray

The president of the University of Würzburg discusses the differences between the two systems, why he’s joined a European university alliance and the benefits of interdisciplinary working