New study reveals Research Excellence Framework boosts UK university production yet has no effect on efficiency.

A study conducted by professors at City, University of London found that the Research Excellence Framework (REF), which measures the research performance of UK universities, has resulted in a significant increase in the amount of high-quality research publications, but not in the output of active academics. The study suggests that the REF must do more to support university research strategies.

Many countries around the world use performance-based research systems (PRFS) to determine the distribution of funding for research across higher education institutions. In the UK, the REF replaced Research Assessment Exercises (RAE) in 2008. The first results were published in 2014, covering the period between 2009 and 2014.

The study researched institutions and the incremental effects of REF2014 on output and quality of the research submitted across UK universities, compared to comparable institutions in the US, which are not exposed to such a measure. It included 103 UK universities that submitted research for the ‘Economics and Econometrics’ panel or ‘Business and Management’ panel for REF2014, alongside 135 US universities with a top-quartile Department of Economics or Business School according to the Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) database from December 2018.

• REF2014 significantly increased UK universities’ research output compared to US institutions, but the number of publications per author did not grow with it. This suggests the REF generally encouraged universities to hire more academics to increase activity rather than supporting their existing researchers to produce a higher volume of work.
• The research excellence increased relative to other countries following implementation of REF2014.
• Increases in research output were generally more pronounced for Russell Group universities than non-Russell Group ones, with a stronger positive impact from REF2014 in terms of number of top publications per author.
• And submissions from universities that selected the Economics and Econometrics RAE2008 panel but switched to the Business and Management panel for REF2014 were significantly decreased compared to those that remained with the same panel.

The study used Scopus, a peer-reviewed literature database, to obtain all articles that included at least one of the 103 UK universities or 135 US universities as an affiliation, had either ‘Economics, Econometrics and Finance’ or ‘Business Management and Accounting’ as subject areas, and were published between 2001 and 2014.

Professor Giulia Iori said the study suggested REF needed to do more to encourage universities to invest in processes and supportive strategies.

Professor Albert Banal-Estañol agreed that the study highlighted areas of improvement needed in the assessment framework.

The study provides the basis for alternative measures of success of a performance-based research system, to ensure the fairest means of distributing funds while preserving competition and increasing overall standards.

 

Reference

Denial of responsibility! TechCodex is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessory action within 24 hours.

Denial of responsibility! TechCodex is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.