REF 2029

In June 2023 the four UK higher education funding bodies published key decisions on the high-level design of the next research assessment exercise and outlined issues for further consultation. These initial decisions represent a shift towards a broader and more holistic approach to research assessment.  Consultation on the initial decisions for REF opened on 15 June 2023 and ran until 6 October 2023. The initial decisions document is available at www.ref.ac.uk

In December 2023 the REF team produced a 'next steps' document announcing a delay from 2028 to 2029, to address some issues, including how to implement plans to break the connection between individual staff and institutional submissions.

On 18 March 2024 the REF team opened the open access consultation. Any organisation, group or individual with an interest in research or scholarly publishing was invited to respond to the consultation. The consultation closed on Monday 17 June 2024. The REF team intends to publish the final REF 2029 Open Access Policy in the summer or autumn of 2024.

In January 2024 the REF team published an update on People, Culture and Environment (PCE), the update outlined a series of workshops and a pilot exercise to develop and test indicators to be used for the PCE element of REF.

Unit of Assessment Structure

The funding bodies propose to retain the REF 2021 Unit of Assessment structure for REF 2029

New elements for Assessment.

Current proposals reshape and rebalance the three assessment elements to support broader assessment, increasing focus on research culture, people and environment.

1. People, Culture and Environment, 25%
2. Contribution to Knowledge and Understanding, 50%
3. Engagement and Impact, 25%

These replace the previous assessment elements ‘Outputs’, ‘Impact’ and ‘Environment’, which were split 60/25/15 respectively.

Volume Measures and Staff

REF 2029 aims to break the link between staff and outputs, aiming for a submission that represents research and researchers in the disciplinary areas. The proposed changes mean that institutions would not submit staff to the assessment exercise. Instead, the funding bodies would use an average full-time equivalent (FTE) of eligible staff over multiple years to calculate the volume measure. Number of outputs and impact case studies required would be an average value and not be directly linked to individual staff employed on a specific census date.

Eligibility

It is proposed that Staff eligibility criteria from REF 2021 would remain in use for REF 2029 and eligible staff would be indicated in institutions annual HESA returns.

Early consultation considered wider inclusivity of research related staff in submissions, however REF have confirmed that research sole-authored by postgraduate research students (including PhD theses) will not be eligible for REF 2029. REF have also confirmed that research sole-authored by individuals employed on contracts with no research-related expectations will not be eligible for REF.

• REF 2029 will keep REF 2021 Unit of Assessment (UoA) structures, along with advisory panels on equality, diversity and inclusion, and interdisciplinary research.
• Staff eligibility for REF remains the same as in REF 2021 and can be found in our Code of Practice
• The assessment process, as undertaken by expert sub-panels for each UoA, remains and will work under guidance from the four Main Panels:
  • Main Panel A: Medicine, health and life sciences.
  • Main Panel B: Physical sciences, engineering and mathematics.
  • Main Panel C: Social sciences.
  • Main Panel D: Arts and humanities.
• Submission will remain broadly similar to REF 2021, institutions will submit outputs, impact case studies and statements relevant to submitted Units of Assessment, institutional statements will also remain part of the assessment.

Main differences from REF 2021 in REF 2029

• There will be no census date for staff numbers and staff lists will not be submitted
• Individual circumstances for reduction in output requirements have been removed
• Research-active staff will not be required to submit a minimum number of outputs
• The minimum number of impact case studies an institution can submit per disciplinary submission will be reduced to one.
• The 2* minimum quality threshold for the research that underpins impact case studies has been removed.

Further ongoing work which may lead to changes includes:

• Ensuring that breaking the link between individual staff members and unit submissions does not have any “unintended consequences.”
• Developments and guidance on how to show a “demonstrable and substantive link" to the submitting institution for outputs
• Consideration of feedback from the Open Access consultation in June 2024
• Further work on the proposed sliding scale for weighting of impact case studies
• Metrics used to underpin the evaluation of the research environment are being assessed as part of the PCE pilot.

A People, Culture and Environment (PCE) pilot exercise is currently underway to test the process for assessment in REF 2029. A series of workshops will run from May 2024 to October 2024 and selected HEIs will submit to a pilot exercise from November 2024 to February 2025. An assessment phase for the PCE pilot will run from March 2025 to the end of June 2025

Outputs

REF 2029 proposals indicate that HEIs will be required to submit 2.5 outputs per FTE of volume-contributing staff in each disciplinary area where they have activity. Outputs will be considered eligible, where there is a demonstrable and substantive link to the submitting institution within the REF assessment period.

REF 2029 also proposes removal of the minimum or maximum output requirements for individual staff members. However, units will be required to explain how their submitted output pool is representative of the research undertaken within the disciplinary area.

Open Access:

The REF 2029 open access consultation opened on 18 March 2024 and will close on 17 June 2024. 

The consultation seeks views on open access requirements Journal articles and conference proceedings. The proposals include the reduction of embargo periods for, preferred open access licences of CC-BY, maintenance of a 5% tolerance for non-compliant items, and a review of exceptions for in-scope Journal articles and conference proceedings, with a potential implementation date of 1 January 2025.

The consultation also seeks views on open access requirements for monographs, book chapters and edited collections. The proposals include immediate open access or an embargo no longer than 24 months from publication, preferred open access licences of CC-BY, a tolerance of 10% at unit submission level, and the introduction of exceptions for in-scope monographs, book chapters and edited collections, with a potential implementation date of 1 January 2026.

Impact Case studies

Funding bodies propose to reduce the minimum requirement to one impact case study for units with fewer than 9.99 FTE and to revise the boundaries.

Proposed Impact Case studies required in REF 2029

Unit of Assessment Structure

• Discussions are ongoing with Schools to establish Unit of assessment fit for staff.

Volume Measures and Staff

• REF eligible FTE are currently consistent with the volume submitted in REF 2021. Senior staff and the REF Team regularly monitor the size of the REF submission.
• Staff in Research and Innovation and in Human Resources are working together to ensure that the annual HESA returns accurately reflect REF eligibility for all staff.

Outputs

• An output assessment was undertaken in 2023 to establish a baseline for eligible REF outputs across all Schools.
• Between 02 May and 30 June 2024, a further nomination exercise is taking place, with reviews being conducted between July and 31 August 2024. By October 2024 we expect to have a good indication of the possible shape of our output submission.
• It is intended that Output Assessment transition towards a continuous assessment model in the future.

Impact Case studies

• 163 impact projects have been identified across the university with an anticipated requirement of around 69 REF case studies, depending on unit of assessment structure.
• Research Leave Schemes have been awarded to support mature case studies.
• Prioritisation of impact case studies is now taking place across all schools.

People, Culture and Environment

• The university of Aberdeen has applied to be part of the REF 2029 PCE pilot exercise and have offered to host some of the PCE workshops.
• The Research Excellence Grant (REG) is used to support research across the university and accounts for 32% of all university income. REG is used to support research with Match funding, Internal pump prime schemes and other measures such as Impact support and the research leave scheme.
• The Institutional research leave scheme has already supported 40 awards over two years with the next round likely to focus on research culture.
• Impact infrastructure has been strengthened and additional support for impact has been put in place.
• Calibration and assessment training has been implemented for all staff.
• The institutional workload exercise is looking at ways to free up staff time for research.
• Support from the Grants academy is in place to help staff apply for more and larger grant applications to major UK funders

People Culture and Environment

• Research Dean: Ben Tatler
• Professional Services Support: Lucy Leiper

Contribution to Knowledge and Understanding

• Research Dean: Nir Oren
• Professional Services Support: Joanna Adams (Open research), Nykohla Strong (output reviews)

Engagement and Impact

• Research Dean: Michelle Mcleod
• Professional Services Support: Ruth Banks