History of the development of the Framework
The REF is an evolution from the approach to research assessment established as the Research Assessment Exercise. See Research assessment exercise on our website or the RAE website for further details.
The REF will consist of a single framework for the assessment of research across all subjects, based primarily on peer review. The original plans for the REF proposed a split between the mechanism for assessing science and non-science subjects, with considerably greater use of metrics than the RAE in the science subjects. Consultation with the sector and development work established that a single system for assessing all subjects would be more appropriate than a two-tier system, though there will be some scope for variation within different panels.
Significant work was carried out to explore the potential of using bibliometric indicators such as the number of citations an article receives as a means of quality assessment, including a pilot exercise in 2008-09. The final report of this pilot concluded that bibliometrics alone are not yet sufficiently robust to replace expert peer review in the REF, although there is scope for citation information to be used as a supplement to expert review in at least some disciplines.
These findings have been incorporated into the current proposals for the REF. The UK funding bodies consulted on their proposals for the REF in late 2009 and the results of this were incorporated into the REF proposals announced in March 2010.
In developing Impact as a substantive element of the REF, the funding bodies ran a pilot exercise in five disciplines to test and refine the mechanisms through which impacts would be assessed. The disciplines assessed were:
- Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences;
- Physics;
- Clinical Medicine;
- English Language and Literature; and
- Social Work and Social Policy.
The pilot involved 29 UK universities, including four from Scotland. The pilot concluded that it is feasible to assess the wider benefits of research using a mechanism similar to that used in the pilot, and the method has now been incorporated into the Framework.