The REF was first held in 2014, succeeding the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). It is run jointly by Research England, the Scottish Funding Council, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and the Department for the Economy Northern Ireland. Each unit of assessment is judged on three elements: outputs (the quality of research publications and other outputs), impact (the effects of research beyond academia) and environment (the strategy, resources and infrastructure supporting research). Subject panels score each submission on a five-point scale (4*, 3*, 2*, 1*, unclassified) using expert peer review.
References
- ref.ac.uk. Research England guidance documents. Royal Society of Chemistry REF panel reports.