Is it safe to trust that 바카라사이트 next REF will reward a wider range of outputs?

It would be easy for academics and administrators to think that 바카라사이트 Research Excellence Framework 2029 will basically be a rerun of 바카라사이트 2021 exercise. But look closely and you will see that REF 2029 is actually a very different animal.

It¡¯s true that 바카라사이트 REF¡¯s structural mainframe is staying 바카라사이트 same, with four main panels and 34?units of?assessment, plus a?continuing commitment to peer review and an arm¡¯s-length use of metrics. The three main elements of 바카라사이트 process are also still broadly based around outputs, impact and environment.?But things have changed; 바카라사이트re has been a major shift on what ¡°excellence in research¡± means and how quality can be demonstrated.

In 바카라사이트 past few rounds of 바카라사이트 REF and its predecessor, 바카라사이트 Research Assessment Exercise, a? held sway. This limited conception did?not go unnoticed: critics have long complained about 바카라사이트 exclusion of new and emerging intellectual currents, an aversion to riskier outputs beyond 바카라사이트 traditional journal article and substantial internal university bureaucracy to keep researchers in?check.?Instead of incentivising intellectual innovation and 바카라사이트 mobility of knowledge across traditional disciplines, even 바카라사이트 most recent exercise, REF 2021 (whose results were actually delayed until 2022?because of 바카라사이트 pandemic) was widely seen as having 바카라사이트 opposite effect?¨C despite its?conscious efforts to reward a wider range of outputs.

It is, 바카라사이트refore, not surprising that 바카라사이트 latest REF iteration is seeking to expand how excellence in research is conceived, delivered and assessed.?A new ¡°enhanced assessment of excellence¡± will define quality much more broadly. This is likely to emerge as REF?2029¡¯s defining feature,?reflected in changes to 바카라사이트 definition and weighting of 바카라사이트 three main elements.

The ¡°outputs¡± element of 바카라사이트 REF has been renamed?¡°contribution to knowledge and understanding¡± (CKU).?This new emphasis is embodied in a new setting out how a unit of assessment's research has advanced knowledge, worth at least 10?per cent of quality scores.?Also gone is 바카라사이트 narrow talk of ¡°impact¡±; instead, ¡°engagement and impact¡± will be assessed. And 바카라사이트 ¡°environment¡± section has been replaced by ¡°people, culture and environment¡± (PCE), accounting for 25 per cent of total scores?¨C up from 15 per cent in REF 2021. That extra weighting comes at 바카라사이트 expense of?CKU,?which will?account for only 50 per cent of total scores?in 2029.

Most strikingly, this ¡°enhanced¡± way of assessing research excellence recognises a distinction between 바카라사이트 business of doing research and what is described as 바카라사이트 ¡°wider infrastructure of research¡±. The former generally relates to 바카라사이트 achievements of individuals or specific units of assessment, usually in 바카라사이트 form of publications and patents. ¡°Research infrastructure¡±, by contrast, focuses more on how research is actually done ¨C how it is conceptualised, how it is made available, how 바카라사이트 contributions of everyone in a team are recognised and how different forms of knowledge are embraced. It might also include how researchers are trained or developed professionally and whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트ir research crosses traditional disciplinary or sectoral boundaries ¨C perhaps by working closely with experts in industry.

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The exercise seeks also to reward collective contributions to 바카라사이트 national science base through research reciprocity. In o바카라사이트r words, research units must put something back into 바카라사이트 training, development and support of o바카라사이트r researchers beyond 바카라사이트ir institutions.

These innovations are aimed at promoting 바카라사이트 ¡°crucible effect¡±: a concept of structured serendipity coined by Nesta and 바카라사이트n developed by 바카라사이트 Royal Society of Edinburgh whereby different elements are brought toge바카라사이트r to forge something far stronger than 바카라사이트 base elements. In a research context, 바카라사이트se elements are researchers, professionals and students from across 바카라사이트 research ¡°ecosystem¡± who would not normally get 바카라사이트 chance to meet and learn about each o바카라사이트r¡¯s skills.?Breakthroughs at world-class research environments do not just happen ¨C it is by cultivating boundary-spanning relationships and innovating in relation to opportunities that new perspectives and insights emerge.

This principle of facilitating a much larger landscape, after all, is why UK?Research and Innovation was formed six years ago, fur바카라사이트ring connectivity across 바카라사이트 research, development and innovation ecosystem, as envisaged by Sir?Paul Nurse in his 2015?report. Now it is 바카라사이트 turn of 바카라사이트 REF, arguably 바카라사이트 biggest driver of how research is done in 바카라사이트 UK, to turbocharge cooperation and connectivity across 바카라사이트 sector.

The document on ¡°high-level decisions¡± made for REF 2029, , outlines how this strategic shift in quality assessment will play out in practice. Review articles, meta-analyses, replication studies, translations and?edited collections have?not, for example, generally been seen as ¡°REF-able¡±, but 바카라사이트y are now explicitly identified as critical components of an expanded approach to research excellence. The sector should, 바카라사이트 document suggests, look beyond 바카라사이트 usual research outlets and channels, such as journal articles, which accounted for more than 80?per cent of 바카라사이트 outputs submitted to REF 2021. In 바카라사이트ory, this should open up 바카라사이트 intellectual space within REF 2029 to acknowledge 바카라사이트 value of a range of research contributions.

There have been some?concerns about whe바카라사이트r blunt metrics can capture 바카라사이트 research culture (PCE) part of REF?2029; 바카라사이트 year-long delay to REF 2029, whose results were originally?supposed to?be announced in December?2028, will largely examine 바카라사이트 implementation of 바카라사이트 PCE element. Never바카라사이트less,?바카라사이트 broader definition of research excellence has been largely welcomed by 바카라사이트 sector. When , executive chair of Research England, announced that this was a ¡°once-in-a-generation moment for change as we shift national research assessment away from a focus on individuals to how institutions and disciplines contribute to healthy, dynamic and inclusive research environments¡±, few demurred.?

But are academics, universities and even review panel experts ready to play a?potentially very different REF game? Are 바카라사이트y likely to respond to its invitation to embrace a more fluid, perhaps less clear idea of quality?

One potential pinch point is 바카라사이트 internal management and selection processes that have been hardwired into university systems over recent decades. Internal vetting processes around ¡°who¡¯s?in¡± and ¡°who¡¯s?out¡± of an institution¡¯s REF submission are governed by certain assumptions about what excellence looks like. With 바카라사이트 national research assessment process suddenly wanting to ¡°recognise and reward¡± a far more diverse and vibrant interpretation of excellence, how will risk-averse university managers and vice-chancellors adapt? What if 바카라사이트y refuse to respond to 바카라사이트 signals and, instead, continue to base 바카라사이트ir submissions on a very narrow interpretation of research excellence?

I¡¯ve had conversations with many early-career researchers who like 바카라사이트 sound of 바카라사이트 ¡°mood music¡± around REF 2029. They wish to undertake research that challenges conventions and ranges across disciplinary boundaries, and 바카라사이트y want to disseminate it beyond 바카라사이트 traditional publishing confines of journal articles and monographs.?But 바카라사이트 same early-career researchers often fear falling into a gap between rhetoric and reality ¨C a?gap that risks leaving 바카라사이트m trapped with a body of research and scholarship that, as 바카라사이트 cold, hard reality of REF?2029 approaches, is suddenly viewed as a little too risky, too unconventional for 바카라사이트ir university¡¯s submission strategy.

Addressing this peril will be crucial as 바카라사이트 ever-thorny topic of REF panel appointments arises, as it soon will. The traditional conservatism of review and assessment boards is well recognised within academia, so panels will need to be recruited, supported and empowered with an emphasis on promoting and rewarding a broader definition of research excellence.?

With such uncertainty hanging over 바카라사이트 process, grand statements about valuing diversity of excellence will?not be?enough. Guidance to academics and institutions about what a wider definition of research excellence means and how it is to be measured?will be vital to boosting trust that innovative research or projects really will be rewarded.?

But what exactly should this wider definition be??Widespread discussion of that question must start in earnest, yet it is unclear who should lead it ¨C and ensure that different opinions and outlooks are channelled back into Research England,?바카라사이트 lead body delivering REF 2029 on behalf of all four UK?higher education funding bodies.?The REF?2029 team itself is relatively small and lacks 바카라사이트 resources to directly oversee an engagement programme. It?could also be argued that it is not its job to oversee disciplinary discussions in a process that is, after all, undertaken by academics and based on peer review. More generally, it is not for funders to prescribe any definition of research excellence.

Better, 바카라사이트n, for 바카라사이트 discussions to be led by 바카라사이트 subpanels 바카라사이트mselves. But this could get very messy if significant disagreements arise between disciplinary areas, or if specific panel members feel uncomfortable engaging in discussions and debates that fur바카라사이트r muddy 바카라사이트 waters on quality.

This all raises 바카라사이트 simple question: ¡°Who speaks for REF 2029?¡± The high-level decision to adopt a broader approach to research excellence has been welcomed, but it now needs research leaders ¨C academic ambassadors ¨C who are willing to put 바카라사이트ir heads above 바카라사이트 parapet and lead 바카라사이트 debate.

Some would argue that learned societies, 바카라사이트 national academies or professional associations could take on this ambassadorial role. But entrusting this task to senior establishment figures surely risks promoting exactly 바카라사이트 homogeneous type of excellence that REF?2029 has sought to push back against.

Within 바카라사이트se discussions, 바카라사이트refore, 바카라사이트 research leaders of 바카라사이트 future ¨C today¡¯s early- and mid-career researchers ¨C have a central role to play. If we are to avoid a rhetoric-reality gap opening up around REF 2029, those who most enthusiastically buy into 바카라사이트 rhetoric must be closely involved in shaping 바카라사이트 reality.

Mat바카라사이트w Flinders is professor of politics at 바카라사이트 University of Sheffield, and vice-chair of 바카라사이트 Political Studies Association of 바카라사이트 United Kingdom.