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Guide to using Twitter in university research, teaching, and impact activities
Podcasts on measuring your impact, the REF, and academic communication
Maximizing the impacts of your research: A handbook for social scientists
THE News
Category Archives: REF 2014
May 21 2013
Impact factors declared unfit for duty
2 CommentsLast week the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment was published. This document aims to address the research community’s problems with evaluating individual outputs, a welcome announcement for those concerned with the mis-use of journal impact factors. Stephen Curry commends the Declaration’s … Continue reading
Posted by: May 21, 2013
Tagged with: impact factors
May 14 2013
The apparatus of research assessment is driven by the academic publishing industry and has become entirely self-serving
14 CommentsPeer review may be favoured as the best measure of scientific assessment ahead of the REF, but can it be properly implemented? Peter Coles does the maths on what the Physics panel face and finds there simply won’t be enough time … Continue reading
Posted by: May 14, 2013
May 7 2013
Absence of impact used to be the fashionable thing to claim
Comments OffAmidst the time-consuming intensity of compiling submissions for the Research Excellence Framework (REF), Athene Donald reflects on how the necessity of demonstrating research impact has been understood over the years. While there are even identifiable shifts from 2008′s RAE assessment, more … Continue reading
Posted by: May 7, 2013
Apr 26 2013
Heroic impact narratives create a dangerous divide between the researcher and the local context
Comments OffAt a time when researchers are expected to demonstrate ‘impact’, it can be tempting to rely on heroic research narratives that paint the researcher as a kind of evidence-based savior. Pat Thomson warns against the use of this type of … Continue reading
Posted by: April 26, 2013
Tagged with: hero
Apr 17 2013
An embedded culture of research impact will not emerge unless universities think beyond the REF
1 CommentThe common impact narrative, illustrated best by the Research Excellence Framework, is one of ‘accountability’ – impact as the most effective way of demonstrating research’s value for money. But research impact is much broader than this limited bureaucratic understanding. Andrew Clappison … Continue reading
Posted by: April 17, 2013
Mar 18 2013
The ‘avalanche of change’ in higher education must be contextualised in terms of the government’s broader neoliberal policies
3 CommentsA recent report from the Institute for Public Policy Research has made headlines calling for urgent transformation of British universities if they are to survive sweeping technological change. From massive open online courses (MOOCs) to open access, John Holmwood argues these changes are less … Continue reading
Posted by: March 18, 2013
Tagged with: privatisation
Mar 5 2013
The new metrics cannot be ignored – we need to implement centralised impact management systems to understand what these numbers mean
3 CommentsBy using the social web to convey both scholarly and public attention of research outputs, altmetrics offer a much richer picture than traditional metrics based on exclusive citation database information. Pat Loria compares the new metrics services and argues that as more systems … Continue reading
Posted by: March 5, 2013
Tagged with: altmetrics
Feb 26 2013
Case studies are a bridge to influence and a versatile method for communicating research findings
Comments OffBeyond its publicised use in the Research Excellence Framework, James Harvey considers the wider role of the case study as a research method and underlines its often overlooked function as a tool for communicating with different audiences and stakeholders. The case … Continue reading
Posted by: February 26, 2013
Tagged with: case studies, REF
Feb 19 2013
Making an impact: communicating your research to a ‘stand up radio’ audience
2 CommentsSteven Fielding finds it bizarre that academics spend so much time producing knowledge, which they then share only with a tiny number of people. Radio documentaries are a great way for academics to break down the ivory tower image. It offers a … Continue reading
Posted by: February 19, 2013
Tagged with: media, radio
Feb 11 2013
5 Minutes with Professor Rachel Pain: “Research capacity is our greatest resource, and collaboration at any level has the potential to make for excellent research”
2 CommentsRachel Pain talks with Mark Carrigan to discuss the impact agenda, collaborative research, and the distinct opportunities and challenges posed to the academic community by the Research Excellence Framework (REF2014). She finds that now is the time for universities to … Continue reading
Posted by: February 11, 2013
