Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A university submits a case study describing how a specific research programme informed a change in national clinical guidelines, with corroborating letters from the guideline body as evidence.
- Is an instance
A researcher who moved institutions mid-cycle has their underpinning research still counted toward their new institution's case study, provided it meets the quality threshold, under REF's portability rules for that cycle.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A narrative describing research that is still in progress, with no demonstrated real-world effect yet, does not qualify as a REF impact case study -- impact must already have occurred within the assessment window, not merely be anticipated.
Editorial commentary
Each REF impact case study is a four-to-five-page document covering: a summary of the impact, the underpinning research, references to that research, details of the impact itself (including evidence and named corroborators who can verify the claims), and sources to corroborate the impact. The underpinning research must have been carried out at the submitting institution and must meet a minimum quality threshold, conventionally at least 2* (recognised internationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour) on the REF’s own quality scale.
Scoring and weight within the REF
Case studies are scored by discipline-based sub-panels for reach (how widely the impact was felt) and significance (how much difference it made), on the REF’s own star-rated scale. Impact carried substantial weight in the overall exercise: in REF 2021’s overall Quality Profile per submitted Unit of Assessment, Impact case studies were weighted 25% (Outputs 60%, Environment 15%), up from a 20% weighting for impact in the prior REF 2014 cycle — a deliberate increase signalling the growing institutional importance placed on demonstrable, evidenced real-world effect rather than academic output alone. See REF 2021 for the wider assessment cycle this fits within, and REF for the umbrella framework across cycles including the current REF 2029.
A research corpus in its own right
The REF impact case study database is publicly searchable at results.ref.ac.uk and constitutes one of the largest collections of evidence-based research-impact narratives globally — which is why it is now used as a primary corpus in its own right for research on impact typologies and impact-assessment methodology, not only as a compliance archive institutions consult when preparing their own submissions.
References
- REF 2021 impact case study database (results.ref.ac.uk/Submissions/Impact). King’s College London and Digital Science, ‘The Nature, Scale and Beneficiaries of Research Impact.’ REF 2021 guidance on results (2021.ref.ac.uk).
Also known as
Impact case study · REF ICS
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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