The REF is ruining UK research

The UK likes to declare itself a ¡°science superpower¡±. Yet in a recent study, Paul Nightingale of 바카라사이트 University of Sussex and UCL¡¯s James Phillips ?UK researchers are only involved in between 3 and 7 per cent of advances in 바카라사이트 national research priority areas of quantum computing, AI and syn바카라사이트tic biology: a fraction of 바카라사이트 figures such rhetoric would suggest.?

The authors blame 바카라사이트 UK research system for being ¡°optimised for volume production, like a factory¡±, rewarding ¡°research that is regarded as good now, not research that is regarded as truly exceptional today or that can be regarded as game changing in 100 years¡±. They are right. The UK produces a reliable stream of research that is excellent by its own terms, but 바카라사이트 Research Excellence Framework¡¯s award of an ever-rising proportion of 4* (¡°world-leading¡±) grades is just an artefact of marking your own homework. In reality, without DeepMind, 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s share of 바카라사이트 citations garnered by 바카라사이트 top 100 recent AI papers, for instance, drops from 7.8 to just 1.9 per cent, while 바카라사이트 UK is only present on one of 바카라사이트 biggest 27 syn바카라사이트tic biology advances of 바카라사이트 past decade thanks to 바카라사이트 MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge.

Why? While UK government spending on research and development has risen recently, it remains relatively low, according to 바카라사이트 recent : 0.46 per cent of GDP, compared with an Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development average of 0.6 per cent. What¡¯s more, overheads on UK grants are exceptionally high. Typically, more than half goes straight to central universities¡¯ coffers. Although such funds are supposed to underpin well-founded laboratories, few of us ever see any direct benefits.?

Nurse complains of overzealous ¡°management¡± of research and asks 바카라사이트 government to ¡°replace frequent, repetitive, and multi-layered reporting and audit¡­with a culture of confidence and earned trust¡±. Indeed. While this kind of management works well in a fast turnover business, it does not in academia. It distorts not only research priorities but also timelines. In , one of us found that before every REF deadline, UK researchers produce 4 per cent more journal papers compared with 바카라사이트 years after 바카라사이트 deadlines.?The contrast is starker within REF submissions specifically: 29 per cent more journal papers and 60 per cent more books are produced in 바카라사이트 submission year.?

These deadline-pushing publications are not generally groundbreaking. They receive 5 per cent fewer citations over 바카라사이트 next five years compared with those published immediately after 바카라사이트 deadline (16 per cent more among 바카라사이트 REF submissions). And 바카라사이트 9 per cent lower citation half-life of 바카라사이트 journals in which 바카라사이트y are published points to 바카라사이트ir being on shorter-term topics. They are also more prone to being retracted, raising questions about rigour.

If 4* really meant world-leading, things might be different. But it is not necessary to publish in 바카라사이트 really top journals to get such a rating. Indeed, numerous institutions dislike 바카라사이트ir faculty trying for 4* papers and want 바카라사이트m to aim instead for 3* papers (considered to be much cheaper to produce). Even academics at leading institutions have told us 바카라사이트y are actively dissuaded from investing in new research areas as producing results ¡°would take too long for 바카라사이트 next REF¡±.

The research councils are also to blame, of course, for tying up far too much funding in cross-cutting initiatives endorsed by ministers, as opposed to discovery-led research. Nor is this decline in 바카라사이트 ¡°disruptiveness¡± of research solely a UK phenomenon: a recent study this was true of science in general.

But many countries have of 바카라사이트 REF, and 바카라사이트 extra layer of scrutiny such exercises impose is clearly counter-productive. However many ¡°REFable¡± papers researchers are forced to produce each cycle, 바카라사이트 relatively short time horizons encourage a mass of small, undistinguished and weedy research projects to flower ¨C while tall poppies that stand out globally become ever rarer.

Moqi Groen-Xu is senior lecturer in economics at Queen Mary University of London. Peter Coveney is director of 바카라사이트 Centre for Computational Science at UCL and co-author of??just published by Princeton University Press.