ICT Implications of the Research Excellence Framework (REF)
Further Information
Current status of the REF and bibliometrics
[Oct 2009]Information on the bibliometric aspects of the REF and the pilot exercise can be found at the HEFCE website
Final Project Report:
http://ie-repository.jisc.ac.uk/338/
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is developing new arrangements for the assessment and funding of research, replacing the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) with the Research Excellence Framework (REF). In the original proposals for the REF, published in 2008 there was a proposal to replace some of the peer review elements with a bibliometric analysis of research outputs to produce citation indicators. To test the robustness of both
the proposed methodlogy and citation data it produced,during the summer of 2008 HEFCE ran a pilot exercise on the bibliometrics aspects of the REF. As part of the pilot exercise HEFCE contracted with Evidence Ltd to carry out the analysis of the returns and to carry out a matching exercise with publications found on Web of Science (WoS). Evidence Ltd subcontracted with Symplectic Ltd to carry out some of this work.
As part of this pilot JISC were asked to investigate the ICT implications emerging from the pilot institutions for the REF in general and bibliometrics in particular. The project was split into two investigative phases. An online survey of all pilot institutions obtained an overall picture of how they had approached data gathering and in particular the degree of IT support that had been used - these findings were published in October 2008 and the survey and analysis of responses are reproduced in the appendix to this resource. A second phase selected five representative institutions to be studied in more detail. The final report for the project was puiblished in March 2009.
This resource draws on both the initial survey and the detailed case studies to establish where IT systems can provide support for the REF and, on the basis of the information available, what type of systems provide the best facilities for meeting the requirements of the REF pilot.
Case Studies
At a briefing event held in London in September 2008, institutions participating in the pilot were invited to volunteer for the more detailed case studies. Five institutions representing a suitable range of approaches were selected from eight volunteers, with each institution showing a particular aspect worthy of more detailed study. In the event some of those aspects became less relevant, however the five represent a diverse set of approaches to providing the REF data with widely differing amounts of IT support for creating the return.
Institutions were visited during November/December 2008, with each interview lasting around three hours. We would like to express thanks to all those who made time to talk and honestly share their experiences and views for the benefit of this resource.
The institutions studied were:
View HEFCE REF Case Studies in a larger map
