REF 2021 Code of Practice: Output Selection
Part 4: Selection of outputs
Policies and procedures
- 51. All Units of Assessment will follow the general principles for output selection as described below. Unit of Assessment Committees may operate local procedures in line with the requirements of the Code of Practice, taking care not to introduce any procedures or data collection processes that may introduce bias.
- Each Unit of Assessment Committee will select outputs for submission in accordance with its published Working Methods. The selection of outputs is based on research quality and the output portfolio of the Unit of Assessment represents the unit’s optimum research capabilities. Output eligibility for inclusion in REF2021 will be based on Research England published Guidance on Submissions.
- The REF is not considered by the University to be an effective or appropriate mechanism for the assessment of the performance of individual staff members. There is therefore no expectation beyond the minimum requirements set by Research England of an individual’s contribution to the Unit of Assessment submission. Accordingly, collective academic judgement must determine the optimal presentation of the University’s research capabilities for REF purposes and no eligible staff member has an inherent right to determine their specific contribution to the Unit of Assessment submission. Equally, no eligible researcher has the right to refuse to be included in the University’s return.
- All Unit of Assessment Committees will operate a two-stage process for output selection which will include as the first stage an opportunity for eligible staff to nominate their best outputs; and a second stage of peer review by the Committee, advised as required by expert colleagues.
Stage 1: Nomination
- All staff identified as Category A eligible will be invited to nominate publications for inclusion in the submission.
- In order to ensure compliance with the principles of equality and diversity, self-nomination of outputs should be conducted by each Unit of Assessment in the assessment module of Symplectic Elements.
Stage 2: Review, Scoring, Attribution
- All Committee members will participate in the review of the research outputs put forward for possible inclusion in the REF submission and will score each output for its research excellence in accordance with the Research England scale (Table A2, page reference Guidance on Submissions) or based on a more granular scale as appropriate to the Unit.
- UoA Committees may also seek internal or external advice to provide quality assurance of (i) the rigour of the selection process and (ii) that the selection of outputs is consistent with the key principles of transparency, consistency, accountability and inclusivity.
- In line with the Guidance on Submissions, Units of Assessment may include the eligible outputs of former staff in their submissions. These will be considered on the same basis as outputs of current staff. The University does not consider it appropriate to submit the outputs of former staff made redundant while holding permanent contracts, or part way into a fixed-term contract. It is therefore University policy that the outputs of this group of former staff will not be considered for submission to REF 2021.
However, the University does consider it appropriate to submit the outputs of former staff whose contracts ended as per a scheduled date - Unit of Assessment Committees must detail their review and selection process in their Working Methods including information on how outputs are scored and how and when staff will be provided with feedback. The outcome of the selection must be recorded in Symplectic Elements.
Copies of relevant minutes must be submitted to the REF Office for audit purposes and to confirm adherence to the Code of Practice.