REF 2021 Glossary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Assessment criteria = Criteria used by the panels to assess the quality of each element of the submission TBC for:
- People, culture and environment
- Contribution to knowledge and understanding
- Engagement and impact
Assessment period = The years in between the submission deadline of the previous REF and the submission deadline of the current REF cycle, for which REF assesses the quality of a Higher Education Institution’s (HEI) research by considering the quality of the above three components. Dates TBC.
Category A eligible staff = Academic staff with a contract of employment of 0.2 FTE or greater for at least 6 months in the REF assessment period, and whose primary employment function is to undertake either "research only" or "teaching and research". Staff on "research only" contracts should meet the definition of an independent researcher. Staff meeting these criteria will form the total eligible staff pool.
Category A submitted staff = Category A eligible staff who have been identified as having significant responsibility for research on the census date: these will be submitted to REF.
Code of practice = Each institution making a submission is required to develop, document and apply a code of practice on determining who has significant responsibility for research, who is an independent researcher and the selection of outputs in their REF submissions. LSE's REF2021 code of practice will be replaced in due course with a REF2029 code of practice in 2025/26.
Contribution to knowledge and understanding (CKU) = This component includes outputs and will be expanded in REF2029 to include the assessment of a structured explanatory statement, taken from the disciplinary-level statement, which will present an evidence-based description of the institution’s wider contribution to knowledge and understanding in the disciplinary area. The statement should also explain how the outputs submitted are representative of the research and researchers in the disciplinary area within the School.
Double-weighting = Institutions may request that outputs of extended scale and scope be double-weighted (count as two outputs) in the assessment.
Early career researcher (ECR) = Category A staff who started their careers as independent researchers on or after a specified date, which is TBC.
Engagement and impact (E&I) = This component includes the assessment of impact case studies supplemented by an engagement and impact narrative comprised of quantitative and qualitative evidence, focused on outcomes, and supported by data which sets out the wider contribution of the research activities to society and the economy.
Guidance on submissions = This document specifies the data requirements, definitions and criteria for submissions by Higher Education Institutions. REF Guidance on Submissions
Impact = An effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia.
Impact case study (ICS) = A succinct narrative of the non-academic impact of research. High-scoring ICSs must provide compelling evidence of the significance and reach of the impact described (see below), as well as making clear the distinct and material contribution of the underpinning research.
Impact reach = The extent and/ or diversity of the beneficiaries of the impact, e.g., constituencies, numbers of groups, as relevant to the nature of the impact.
Impact rigour = new criterion for REF2029. A precise definition is yet to be communicated by the main panels but Research England has said it is expected that this criterion “will be applied to the unit’s approaches to engagement and impact, for example how they ensure that engagement is carried out in an ethical manner with awareness of potential inequities in relationships with non-academic partners".
Impact significance = The degree to which impact has enabled, enriched, influenced, informed or changed the performance, policies, practices, products, services, understanding, awareness or wellbeing of the beneficiaries.
Independent researcher = A member of staff who undertakes self-directed research, rather than carrying out another individual’s research programme.
Interdisciplinary research = For the purposes of REF, interdisciplinary research is understood to achieve outcomes (including new approaches) that could not be achieved within the framework of a single discipline. Interdisciplinary research features significant interaction between two or more disciplines and / or moves beyond established disciplinary foundations in applying or integrating research approaches from other disciplines.
Joint submission = Two or more UK institutions may make a joint submission in a UOA, where this is the most appropriate way of describing research they have developed or undertaken collaboratively. Panels assess a joint submission in the same way as submissions from single institutions.
Knowledge exchange = A two-way exchange between researchers and research users, to share ideas, research evidence, experiences and skills. Knowledge exchange refers to any process through which academic ideas and insights are shared, and external perspectives and experiences brought into academia. Note that for REF purposes knowledge exchange is the means by which impacts can be achieved, but only impacts are assessed in REF. Learn more about REF Impact
Main panel = The sub-panels work under the leadership and guidance of four main REF panels.
Multiple submission = Whether institutions may exceptionally make more than one submission in the same UOA to REF2029 is TBC.
Open Access (OA) = A publishing model that enables peer-reviewed outputs of scholarly research to be made freely available online. It can be achieved through deposit of an authoritative version of the research output in an institutional or subject repository (Green OA) or by publication in journals which are made available free of charge online (Gold OA). REF OA policy for REF2029 TBC. How to deposit scholarly research at LSE.
Output = The product of research, as defined in REF (e.g. a journal article or book). An underpinning principle of REF is that all forms of research output, in any language, will be assessed on a fair and equal basis. Outputs must have been first made publicly available within a specified period, TBC.
Overall profile = For REF2029, the overall quality profile for REF comprises the scores for the three sub-profiles: people, culture and environment (25 per cent), contribution to knowledge and understanding (50 percent), and engagement and impact (25 per cent).
Panel criteria and working methods = The REF panel criteria document, which has not been published yet for REF2029, will set out the details of the criteria and working methods that the panels will apply when assessing submissions and includes descriptions of the disciplines covered by each UOA.
People, culture and environment (PCE) = The overall environment, including but not limited to the strategic direction and support for staff, use of resources, planning and engagement of an institution, will be assessed at both institutional level (IL) and disciplinary level (DL). The data and evidence required for the REF2029 submission are TBC.
Publication period = Outputs submitted to REF2029 must have been first made publicly available within a specified time frame, which is TBC.
Research assistant = An individual member of academic staff whose primary employment function is "research only", and who is employed to carry out another individual’s research programme rather than as an independent researcher in their own right.
Research = For the purposes of REF, research is defined as "a process of investigation leading to new insights, effectively shared".
Significant responsibility for research = Staff with significant responsibility for research are those for whom explicit time and resources are made available to engage actively in independent research, and that is an expectation of their job role.
Starred level definitions = Each item submitted to REF is scored as one of the following: 4* (world leading); 3* (internationally excellent); 2* (internationally recognised); 1* (nationally recognised) or unclassified.
Submission deadline = The date on which all Higher Education Institutions must submit their REF data is likely to be in November 2028.
Submission = A submission comprises a complete set of data about staff, outputs, impact and the research environment, returned by an HEI in any of the 34 UOAs.
Submitted unit = A group or groups of staff identified by the HEI as working primarily within the remit of a UOA and included in a submission, along with evidence of the research produced during the publication period, examples of impact underpinned by research in the unit, and the structures and environment that support research and its impact.
Sub-panel = In each of the 34 UOAs an expert sub-panel of academics and research users will conduct a detailed assessment of submissions.
Sub-profile = Each of the three elements of the assessment – people culture and environment; contribution to knowledge and understanding; engagement and impact – will receive a sub-profile, showing the proportion of the submission that meets each of the starred quality levels.
Substantive connection = For REF2029, all outputs must have a substantive connection to the submitting institution. This will include outputs produced by anyone employed by the institution on a minimum 0.2 FTE contract for at least 6 months in the REF assessment period. Indicators to evidence this are TBC.
Underpinning research = original research (produced at LSE) which can be shown to have contributed to impacts described in an impact case study. This may be a body of work produced over a number of years or the output(s) of one particular project. It can describe the work of one or more researcher. The eligibility period for underpinning research is usually the 20 years immediately prior to the final REF submission deadline, but exact dates are yet to be confirmed.
Unit of Assessment (UOA) = Submissions in REF2029 can be made in 34 discipline-based "units of assessment".