REF 2029

Details of the proposals for the next assessment exercise

Initial decisions were published on 15 June 2023. An update was published on 7th December 2023, in which the exercise was delayed to 2029.

Several changes have been made to the framework compared to REF 2021, and the emphasis of the assessment will shift from an individual to an institutional and disciplinary level. Some elements of the REF 2029 framework are subject to consultation; further decisions on REF 2029 are expected in Summer/Autumn 2024.

The Research Services REF team can support queries, clarifications and briefing requests.

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The design of REF 2029 has been developed through the Future Research Assessment Programme (FRAP), commissioned by the UK funding bodies. The FRAP was tasked to identify approaches to research assessment that encourage and strengthen the emphasis on delivering excellent research and impact, support a positive, productive research culture, while simplifying and reducing the administrative burden on the HE sector. The FRAP has developed its conclusions with input from an international advisory board, consultation with the REF 2021 panels, evaluation activities (including the real time REF review, which sought to capture how researchers experience the exercise) and equality impact assessment. 

Through this work, the REF funding bodies have agreed that REF 2029 should fulfil the following core purposes:

  • Inform the allocation of block-grant research funding to HEIs based on research quality;
  • Provide accountability for public investment in research and produce evidence of the benefits of this investment; and
  • Provide insights into the health of research in HEIs in the UK.

The announced changes are intended to create an assessment exercise that will underpin:

  • A research system that produces high-quality, rigorous research that is open to all;
  • An inclusive and collaborative research system that supports a diversity of people, ideas, institutions, methodologies, outputs, and activities; and
  • An engaged and impactful research system that connects research with wider society to bring about positive socio-economic change.

In REF 2029 the three assessed elements have been reshaped, with the intention of supporting a broader assessment of excellence. The weightings of the elements have been rebalanced to increase the emphasis on research culture, people and environment. The new elements will be:

  • Contribution to Knowledge and Understanding (50%)
  • Engagement and Impact (25%)
  • People, Culture and Environment (25%)

The disciplinary structure (Units of Assessment, or UOAs) will remain the same as for REF 2021.

Element

Weighting

Submission component

Contribution to element

Overall contribution

Contribution to knowledge and understanding

50%

Outputs

at most 90%

45%

Disciplinary-level statement

at least 10%

5%

Engagement and Impact

25%

Impact case studies

80% for units >40FTE

20%

Disciplinary-level statement

20% for units >40FTE

5%

People, culture and environment

25%

Disciplinary-level statement

at most 80%

20%

Institutional-level statement

at least 20%

5%

Staff

There will be no staff submission to REF 2029 and no single census date; instead, the staff volume (expressed as staff FTE) will be calculated as an average of the total staff FTE identified as meeting the criteria for eligible staff with significant responsibility for research within a given UOA over multiple years. Staff volume will determine the number of outputs and impact case studies required. Institutions that intend to make a submission to REF 2029 will be required to complete REF-related fields in the HESA staff return, including UOA assignment, in order to determine the volume for REF 2029. The REF Funding Bodies’ staff eligibility criteria will be consistent with those for REF 2021, although submitting institutions may update their Code of Practice for determining who is an independent researcher and identifying staff with significant responsibility for research.

Output decoupling

REF 2029 will fully break the link between individual staff members and submitted outputs. Outputs will not be attributed to staff and it is anticipated that there will be no minimum number of outputs that can be associated with any staff member. Institutions may submit any output where there is a demonstrable and substantive link to the submitting institution within the REF assessment period. Appropriate indicators of a demonstrable and substantive link to the submitting institution are currently being refined. As in REF 2021, the number of outputs required will be 2.5 x staff volume FTE. Outputs solely authored by DPhil students or teaching-only staff will not be eligible for submission.

As a consequence of the removal of output attribution, no individual staff circumstances processes are proposed for REF 2029. However, it is recognised that further work is needed to minimise any unintended consequences of this major change in the framework.

Additional narrative elements

The disciplinary-level statement contributes ca 30% in total to the overall assessment, and the institutional-level statement will also be separately assessed, contributing at least 5% to the overall assessment. Overall these changes increase the emphasis on research culture and support for people within the assessment.

Engagement and Impact assessment

Generally, fewer impact case studies will be required than was the case for REF 2021 (0-3 fewer impact case studies per submission, with a minimum of one), and the disciplinary-level statement on engagement and impact has an increased weighting within the assessment for small units with a volume less than 40 FTE, to the extent that for small units (<10 FTE) only one impact case study will be required, making up 50% of this element. The requirement for case studies to draw on underpinning research of at least 2* quality has been removed. The funding bodies will ask the panels to consider developing and operationalising an additional ‘rigour’ criterion, to reflect the importance of the process of engagement as well as the outcome.

Initial consultation on the expanded People, Culture and Environment element closed on 1st December 2023.

CRAC-Vitae are running 14 online workshops in May-October 2024 to co-develop indicators on research culture and environment. The workshops are divided into three phases, allowing for reflection and iteration with the sector. The approach is informed by the SCOPE Framework for Responsible Research Assessment. 

The workshops will be complemented by a survey on the development of REF PCE indicators, allowing institutions, networks, special interest groups, and individuals to have their say on key questions. The survey will be open from Monday 24 June - Friday 13 September. For the latest information, please see REF 2029 People, Culture and Environment Indicators project — Vitae Website.

The REF funding bodies issued an invitation to respond to their draft Open Access Policy for REF 2029. The University developed an institutional response to the consultation, which closed on Monday 17th June, and further details can be found on the Open Access Oxford website.

The funding bodies published early decisions on the REF 2029 Open Access Policy on 14th August. This confirmed that there would be no Open Access requirements for longform outputs submitted to REF 2029, and that the implementation date for the REF 2029 Open Access Policy would be 1st January 2026 at the earliest.

The final REF Open Access Policy is expected to be published in Autumn/Winter 2024.

 

Key Guidance Documents

Research Excellence Framework 2028: initial decisions and issues for further consultation - Jisc

Initial decisions next steps December 2023 – REF 2029

People, Culture and Environment update January 2024 – REF 2029

Timetable – REF 2029

Early Decisions on REF 2029 Open Access Policy

Internal Guidance