British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences
THE IMPACT OF IMPACT
The British Academy has today (3 December 2009) welcomed the emphasis on peer review in the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)'s proposals for the new Research Excellence Framework (REF) but urges it to make the assessment of 'impact' conditional on the overriding quality of the work.
In its response to the HEFCE consultation, the Academy accepts there is a legitimate public interest in the impact of research, but warns that the proposed methods of measurement are untested and will need to take into account the multiplicity and individuality of disciplines within the humanities and social sciences.
With ways of assessing 'impact' in their infancy, the Academy recommends that the current weightings (60% for outputs, 25% for impact, 15% for environment), should be revised to 65% for outputs, 15% for impact and 20% for environment to better serve the stated aims of the Framework, and to be more sensitive to the distinctiveness of the disciplines being assessed.
It also notes that academic researchers often make their public contribution not only by particular pieces of research, but by the general expertise they bring to the understanding of public issues, and there is some relation between impact and esteem.
The Academy also cautions that the integrity of disciplines risks being lost if distinct disciplines are grouped together for assessment in ways that make no intellectual sense.
Professor Albert Weale, Vice-President of the British Academy, said:
The basic premise of our submission is that no society can call itself genuinely prosperous and civilised unless is takes seriously the contribution of the humanities and social sciences in its social and intellectual life. In this context, the Academy welcomes HEFCE's commitment to a broad definition of impact.
However, we stress that the assessment of impact must be dependent on the quality of research if it is to make the broad public contribution that it merits. It is also essential to respect the intellectual integrity of distinct disciplines if research excellence is to be adequately assessed.
We welcome the openness with which HEFCE is conducting its consultation, and we are happy to work with them in the further development of the Framework.
The British Academy's response was submitted on Thursday 3 Dec2009. For a full copy of the submission, or interview requests, please contact Kate Turnbull, Press and PR Manager on 0207 969 5263
NOTES TO EDITORS
Published:
03 December 2009
- The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the new (to be implemented in 2013) system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions (HEIs). In previous years, research quality has been assessed periodically through the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).
- The REF will focus on three elements, which together reflect the key characteristics of research excellence. These are:
Outputs The primary focus of the REF will be to identify excellent research of all kinds. This will be assessed through a process of expert review, informed by citation information in subjects where robust data are available (for example, in medicine and science).
Impact Significant additional recognition will be given where researchers build on excellent research to deliver demonstrable benefits to the economy, society, public policy, culture and quality of life. Impacts will be assessed through a case-study approach that will be tested in a pilot exercise.
Environment The REF will take account of the quality of the research environment in supporting a continuing flow of excellent research and its effective dissemination and application.
- The consultation, which closes on 16 December 2009, sets out proposals for all key aspects of the framework.
- The British Academy, established by Royal Charter in 1902, is the national body that champions and supports the humanities and social sciences. It aims to inspire, recognise and support excellence and high achievement across the UK and internationally. For more information, please visit www.britac.ac.uk