Types of output
The RAE sought to encourage institutions to submit all types of research outputs and not to concentrate solely on published papers. Generally institutions were reluctant to be too experimental in which outputs they put forward for assessment and concentrated on papers. With the REF they perceive a greater opportunity to put forward other outputs for the non-bibliometric elements of the framework.
As the pilot exercise was intended to investigate the bibliometric aspects of the REF return it was therefore targeted on those publications that were in Thomson Reuters Web of Science (WoS). As the REF in its entirety will have a wider scope, institutions have started to put in place strategies for collecting a variety of outputs, including, but not limited to:
- Journal papers
- Newspaper articles
- Book Chapters
- Books
- Conference papers
- Moving Images
- Sound
It should be noted that all the case study institutions were working towards institutional catalogues that were configurable and would record and/or hold all types of research output. This probably reflects a growing recognition within institutions that as well as meeting the requirements of the REF, research outputs need to be tracked effectively and preferably tied back to funding and income streams.
There are several technical structures for a flexible and configurable database of research outputs and it is probable that institutions will wish to purchase or develop a model that best fits with both their research profile and operational processes.
