REF21 Code of Practice

 

As required by Research England, the University has developed a Code of Practice for the preparation of the REF21 submission. The draft below has been developed by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Transfer, Professor, Tim Softley, in collaboration with REF Board (which includes Heads of College and College Directors of Research) and the Head of Research Planning .

The University's REF code of practice has now been approved by Research England and can be found below.

Information on the code of practice

 More information on the REF guidance can be found on the REF21 web pages

If you have any questions about this process or about REF generally you can contact Elizabeth Westlake, Head of Research Planning or Karen Kay, Deputy Head of Research Planning

If you have a confidential query the REF team can also be contacted on ref-confidential@contacts.bham.ac.uk  

Information on applying for a reduction in outputs

The University is committed to supporting all of its staff in their research careers, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity status, race, or religion or belief.  At the same time, it is recognised that an individual’s capacity to undertake research may be affected by a number of circumstances. Such circumstances might include, but are not limited to, career stage, caring responsibilities, one or more periods of parental leave, illness (mental or physical), part-time working, and/or whether an individual is on a fixed-term or a permanent contract.

Academic colleagues who will be returned to REF and believe they may eligible for a reduction in outputs due to special circumstances are invited to voluntarily disclose such circumstances in line with those described in Appendix 4 of the Code of Practice.

The application form should be emailed to ref-confidential@contacts.bham.ac.uk

 

Individual Staff Circumstances

REF-eligible members of staff will normally be expected to propose a minimum of 3 outputs (or equivalent to 3 outputs if one is double weighted) for REF2021. Individuals can reduce this expectation either by declaring special circumstances or through a discretionary agreement with their Head of School/Director of Institute.

Your line manager may already be aware of your circumstances but, for them to be formally reviewed as part of this process, you must personally submit a declaration.  This declaration process is strictly confidential and described in further detail on the next page.

Q: Why this process?

To ensure recognition of the effect special circumstances can have upon an individual researcher’s productivity and to adjust expectations in terms of anticipated production of research outputs.

Q: I’m not sure if this affects me, am I a REF-eligible staff member?

  • If you are on a three-legged research contract (Research, Teaching and Admin) you will be REF-eligible and required to input into the REF2021 outputs assessment. The only exception is a very small subset of staff on the Integrated Clinical Academic Training Pathway (ICAT) within the College of Medical and Dental Sciences (see Code of Practice, Part 2). Each individual linked to ICAT will be reviewed to determine whether they meet the criteria for significant responsibility for research or not. If they are not deemed to not have significant research responsibility they will not be REF-eligible and will not be required to input into REF2021 outputs assessment.
  • If you are on a Research Only contract, your contract will be reviewed against Part 3 of the Code of Practice document to determine whether you meet the criteria of independent researcher or not. Research Only staff deemed to be independent researchers are REF-eligible and required to input into REF2021 outputs assessment. If you are unsure if this applies to you, contact your local REF lead.
  • If you are Teaching Only contact you are not REF-eligible and you do not need to input into REF2021.

Q: What circumstances may count?

Between 1 January 2014 – 31 July 2020 being affected by:

  • Qualifying as an ECR (started career as an independent researcher on or after 1 August 2016)
  • Absence from work due to secondments or career breaks outside the HE sector
  • Qualifying periods of family-related leave (see Appendix 4 of the University’s Code of Practice, Summary of relevant reductions for staff circumstances, paragraph 6 for the definition of qualifying period of family-related leave)
  • Junior clinical academics (those who have been deemed by the University to have Significant Responsibility for Research) who have not gained a Certificate of Completion of training by 31 July 2020
  • Disability (including chronic conditions)
  • Ill heath, injury or mental health conditions
  • Constraints relating to family leave that fall outside of the standard allowances
  • Caring responsibilities
  • Gender reassignment

If any of the points above affected your ability to carry out research or produce outputs in the period between 1 January 2014 – 31 December 2020, you are encouraged to submit a confidential declaration form (as soon as possible) to the Staff Circumstances Group as you may be eligible to receive a reduction in the number of outputs you are expected to propose to REF2021. Declarations are reviewed and, where eligible, you will be entitled to a reduction in the number of outputs you should propose for REF. The reduction is typically related to the length of time you have been affected, including ongoing/chronic circumstances.

For an explanation of the procedure go to the sections on what happens when you declare individual staff circumstances, FAQs and case studies.

If you still have questions please email REF-confidential@contacts.bham.ac.uk in confidence.

 

What happens when you declare individual staff circumstances?

Remember: Declarations cannot be made on behalf of others (e.g. by line managers or colleagues), so it is important that everyone understands that only they can make a declaration of staff circumstances for themselves. For transparency the diagram below shows the steps in the process, estimated timescales and who is involved at each stage. If you wish to declare staff circumstances, we strongly encourage you to do this as early as possible. Please read our FAQs for detailed info.

Step 1: SUBMIT FORM. To declare your staff circumstances, complete the form (HERE) and email to: REF-confidential@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Your form will be read by the Staff Circumstances Group (SCG) and receipt confirmed within 7 working days. 

Step 2: TRIAGE. The SCG process the application using Appendix 4 of the Code of Practice (read HERE) to review and recommended a reduction in the expected number of outputs and refer to the Equality and Diversity Advisory Panel (EDAP) where necessary.

Step 3(a): JUDGEMENT NOT NEEDED, SCG PROCESS CASE. 

Where the reduction in the expected number of outputs is straightforward and does not require a judgement, the SCG will apply the tariff(s) exactly as outlined in the Code of Practice and notify you of the outcome, without involving EDAP. 

Step 3(b): JUDGEMENT NEEDED, EDAP CONSULTED ON CASE.

In less straightforward cases requiring a judgement or in cases where the application of combined circumstances may take proposed outputs to zero, the Equality and Diversity Advisory Panel (EDAP) will be consulted.

SCG will pass on your anonymized information without your name. Judgements will be made in line with REF2021 Guidance, equality legislation and the durational effect of the circumstances. EDAP only meets quarterly, so it can take up to 3 months for you to be notified of the decision. 

Step 4: DECISION COMMUNICATED. Your name and reduction allocation will be passed on to your Head of School / Department / Institute or Head of Research Group. Unless issues relating to the institution’s duty of care are identified, data will only be used for the purposes of the REF process. If appropriate and only with your consent there may be a meeting between you, your Head of School and your HR Business Partner to discuss specific support needs. 

Step 5: REF2021 SUBMISSION. The reduction in the number of outputs you are expected to propose for inclusion in the REF submission will be taken into consideration by your School in the REF preparedness process. Unless you have been granted a reduction to zero outputs, your School will need to submit at least one of your outputs for inclusion into the REF 2021 submission, and may well consider including up to 5 of your outputs if this increases the overall quality of the output pool of your School. Note that no individuals should feel pressured to propose more than their  agreed number of outputs. If you feel you are being put under pressure, then please contact REF-confidential@contacts.bham.ac.uk or a member of the Special Circumstances Group, see below.

Step 6: RESEARCH ENGLAND E and D AUDIT

Your name and the minimum required data related to your case will be submitted to Research England only in cases of zero allocations or unit reduction requests, to aid REF equality and diversity monitoring and REF2021 auditing.

 

Q: Who’s involved in the process?

 All steps 

 The Staff Circumstances Group (SCG) comprises:

The HR Business Partners: Karen Martin (College of Arts and Law), Lora Morris (College of Social Science), Emma Stanway (College of Engineering and Physical Science), Helen Barlow (College of Life and Environmental Science), Sally Steele (College of Medical and Dental Science)

Head of Research Planning and associates from within this team: Dr Elizabeth Westlake (Head), Dr Karen Houghton and Elizabeth Goodyear.

In Step 3b onlyThe EDAP panel consists of:

DPVC (Equalities), in the chair.  At least ten representatives, two from each College (comprising a mix of professorial and early career staff) The University’s Equality and Diversity Advisor and representatives from Professional Services.

Secretary: Two members of the Research Planning Team

EDAP will not be given your name and data they are provided will be anonymized.

In Steps 4 and 5 - Your Head of School / Department / Institute or Head of Research Group, although in your application you can opt to:

  • Share your name and circumstances data, enabling your support needs to be discussed further (if you wish to have this discussion)
  • Disclose your name and the effect of your circumstances only (i.e. the reduction)

Please notify the SCG if you have specific concerns about your name being passed on to any specific individual (e.g. Head of School). The SCG will avoid this if possible or let you know otherwise, enabling you to retract if you wish

In Step 6 only - Research England:

Your name and the minimum required data related to your case will be submitted (by the SCG) to the Research England REF team, REF Equality and Diversity Panel and the Main Panel Chairs only in case of REF2021 auditing or if:

You are eligible to (and opt to) reduce your submitted outputs to 0 and/or your unit are requesting a reduction in outputs required to be submitted. Individuals can only submit zero outputs if they have produced no outputs at all over the assessment period and they have eligible staff circumstances lasting at least 46 months or two or more qualifying periods of family-related leave. 

 

Individual Staff Circumstances - Case Studies

Below we have provided some imaginary case studies of individuals who may wish to declare staff circumstances as equality-related circumstances that have affected their ability to work productively during the assessment period (1 January 2014 – 31 July 2020). There are many other eligible examples and we encourage you to consult the Code of Practice if unsure, especially if any of these conditions relate to you:

  • Qualifying as an ECR (started career as an independent researcher on or after 1 August 2016)
  • Absence from work due to secondments or career breaks outside the HE sector
  • Qualifying periods of family-related leave (see Appendix 4 of the University’s Code of Practice, Summary of relevant reductions for staff circumstances, paragraph 6 for the definition of qualifying period of family-related leave)
  • Junior clinical academics (those who have been deemed by the University to have Significant Responsibility for Research) who have not gained a Certificate of Completion of training by 31 July 2020
  • Disability (including chronic conditions)
  • Ill heath, injury or mental health conditions
  • Constraints relating to family leave that fall outside of the standard allowances
  • Caring responsibilities
  • Gender reassignment

In addition to case studies below, please see worked examples from Research England which include examples of more complex circumstances and illustrations of how to define qualifying periods.

 

Case Study examples
 

Example 1: Family-related leave (pregnancy)

Martha has had two children over the assessment period (1 January 2014 – 31 July 2020), one in 2015 and another more recently in 2018.

Martha has therefore experienced two qualifying periods of family-related, which means she might be eligible to submit zero outputs.

If Martha has been unable to produce any outputs at all over the assessment period, she can submit zero outputs. However, if she has produced an output (e.g. published a journal article) during the assessment period, she must submit at least this output in to REF2021.

 Woman with smiling baby
 

Example 2: Health issues and family-related leave (adoption)

Robert was in a severe car accident in 2015, which led to him being in hospital for 4 months before being able to return to work. He found re-adjustment to work difficult especially in the first year as he was dealing with acute bouts of post-traumatic stress disorder and panic attacks, as well as a weakened right arm from damage in the crash. He has since been to physical and mental therapy which has ameliorated both issues significantly. In 2017, Robert and his wife also began adoption proceedings and in 2019 they adopted a little boy. Robert took adoption leave at this point.

Robert has had time away from work for both physical injury and adoption. In addition, his mental health over 2015-16 affected his ability to work as productively as he would have wished to. Robert has a number of combined circumstances, so his case will be reviewed by the Equality and Diversity Panel. How long these circumstances lasted in total (i.e. accumulative durational effect) will be the key determinant in EDAP’s review of what reduction in outputs might be appropriate in Robert’s case. 

 Hands bandaged and holding pills
 

Example 3: Gender transition and secondment

Julia had gender transition surgery in 2016, legally changing from male to female. Julia needed to take time off from work to undertake and recuperate from surgery (including taking part in numerous physical and psychological examinations in the lead up time), as well as needing some extra time to adjust into everyday life before starting back at work. The process in total took approximately 10 months. In 2019 Julia was offered the opportunity to take a year-long secondment in industry to apply her research expertise within an engineering firm looking to innovate aspects of their production assembly of cars.

Julia has had time away both for gender transition and for a secondment. Whilst the secondment period of 12 month carries a normal reduction in the expected number of outputs, Julia’s additional circumstances have also impacted her ability to work for a significant period of time. These combined circumstances will need to be reviewed by the Equality and Diversity Panel. How long these circumstances lasted in total (i.e. accumulative durational effect) will be the key determinant in EDAP’s review of what reduction in outputs might be appropriate in Julia’s case. 

 Woman looking into mirror
 

Example 4: Harassment and bullying

Omar completed his PhD in Iran, before moving to the UK in July 2016 to take up an early career researcher (ECR) position in the School of Administrative Studies, working within the Head of School’s research group. He found the transition to this research group difficult and experienced bullying behaviour from two other postdocs in the lab who often made hidden racist remarks and even went as far as sabotaging his experiments on occasion by using up custom supplies and ‘accidentally’ switching recording equipment off. Omar found he was unable to work as productively as he’d hoped, partly because of the anxiety he experienced daily (not knowing what might happen next) and partly because of the setbacks and delays resulting from having to restart experiments that had been sabotaged by others. He felt unable to tell his Head of School, as he knew that both postdocs involved were well liked and felt it would be his word against theirs. As a new member of staff Omar also worried about losing his job or being seen as problematic, so he never raised the issues even though they negatively affected him and still cause him ongoing anxiety. 

One of the postdocs left in 2017, but the other still works in the group and whilst the situation is comparatively better than it used to be, Omar still feels he has to remain vigilant. As an ECR in post before 1 August 2016, Omar is required to propose outputs to REF, however Omar wants to declare the above staff circumstances because he feels it impacted on his ability to produce work. He is however, very worried about the repercussions of his name or circumstances being passed on to his Head of School especially as his contract is up for renewal in the next 18 months and he doesn’t want to escalate tensions with the remaining postdoc he still has to work with.

Omar can fill out the declaration form and if he wishes he can indicate that he wants the exact nature of the circumstances to be withheld and only the effects of these circumstances to be shared with his Head of School. If he is really worried, Omar can also make clear in his submission that he wishes for the SCG to avoid notifying the Head of School altogether. In such a case the SCG would opt to contact another figure involved in the College or School REF submission process (e.g. College Director of Research). The SCG will also offer Omar support if he wishes to raise the issue with his Head of School or HR, especially if this might ameliorate any remaining challenges he is experiencing working in the research group. EDAP will have to review the circumstances and make a judgement based on how long these circumstances have lasted in total, including whether the issue is ongoing. The accumulative durational effect will be the key determinant in EDAP’s review of what reduction in outputs might be appropriate in Omar’s case. 

 Man with hands to his face

 

 

Individual Staff Circumstances - FAQs

University of Birmingham’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Transfer, Professor Tim Softley, has produced an easy to read guide to REF2021, please take a look at this HERE (Login required). You can also read our Code of Practice for REF2021.

I’m REF-eligible, so what does the REF2021 outputs assessment mean for me?

The process for assessing the quality of research outputs has changed for REF2021. Now Units of Assessment must submit outputs equal to 2.5 times their FTE (as of 31 July 2020) produced between 1 January 2000 – 31 December 2020, with a minimum of 1 output and a maximum of 5 per staff member. Internally, it is expected that every member of staff submitted for REF will normally be able to propose a minimum of 3 outputs (or equivalent to 3 if one is double weighted) via the PURE system for internal review with respect to possible inclusion in the REF portfolio for the relevant UOA. The number of outputs attributed to individuals in the final submission will depend on a variety of factors/modelling; in exceptional circumstances a reduction to zero may be possible.

If I want to declare staff circumstances, what happens?
See our flowchart for a quick overview of the process and who is involved. If you have questions or would like to have a confidential chat, you can email REF-Confidential@contacts.bham.ac.uk and we’d be happy to help answer your questions in confidence.

Why have a staff circumstances procedure?

The approach to staff circumstances has been developed by the funding bodies to meet a number of key principles:

  • Ensure recognition of the effect circumstances can have upon an individual researcher’s productivity.
  • Create the right incentives for HEIs to support staff with circumstances (and avoid introducing negative incentives, for example around recruitment).
  • Recognise the potential disparity in the available output pool for units in particular contexts, for example where there are high proportions of staff with circumstances, or for very small units.
  • Maintain the integrity of the exercise – both in supporting equality and diversity and ensuring the credibility of the assessment process. 

What is meant by ‘individual staff circumstances’ and why might this concern me?

All REF-eligible staff (i.e. staff meeting particular criteria, see Code of Practice) are required to submit between one and five outputs (e.g. journal publications or books they have authored etc.) to be assessed for research quality as part of REF2021. Thus the number of outputs a unit (e.g. Physics) has to submit varies according to the number of eligible research staff working within that unit, with part-time staff FTE aggregated and included in this overall picture. Some individuals may have individual circumstances that would reduce the number of outputs they would be expected to propose to the outputs pool in PURE and it may even be possible for required outputs to be reduced to zero for a particular individual. This is a voluntary process which requires the individual to declare these circumstances as it is not possible for anyone else (e.g. a line manager or colleague) to do this on their behalf.

As part of the University’s commitment to supporting equality and diversity in REF, we have put in place safe and supportive structures for staff to declare information about any equality-related circumstances that may have affected their ability to work productively during the assessment period (1 January 2014 – 31 December 2020), and particularly their ability to produce research outputs at the same rate as staff not affected by circumstances. The purpose of collecting this information is threefold:

  • To recognise the effect that equality-related circumstances can have on an individual’s ability to work productively, and to adjust expectations in terms of workload / production of research outputs.
  • To enable staff who have not been able to produce a REF-eligible output during the assessment period to be entered into REF where they have;
    • circumstances that have resulted in an overall period of 46 months or more absence from research during the assessment period, due to equality-related circumstances (see below)
    • circumstances equivalent to 46 months or more absence from research due to equality-related circumstances otwo or more qualifying periods of family-related leave.
  • To establish whether there are any Units of Assessment where the proportion of declared circumstances is sufficiently high to warrant a request to the higher education funding bodies for a reduced required number of outputs to be submitted.

 What might be considered applicable circumstances?

  • Qualifying as an ECR (started career as an independent researcher on or after 1 August 2016) 
  • Absence from work due to secondments or career breaks outside the HE sector 
  • Qualifying periods of family-related leave (see Appendix 4 of the University’s Code of Practice, Summary of relevant reductions for staff circumstances, paragraph 6 for the definition of qualifying period of family-related leave)
  • Junior clinical academics (those who have been deemed by the University to have Significant Responsibility for Research) who have not gained a Certificate of Completion of training by 31 July 2020 
  • Disability (including chronic conditions) 
  • Ill health, injury or mental health conditions 
  • Constraints relating to family leave that fall outside of the standard allowances
  • Caring responsibilities
  • Gender reassignment

If your ability to work productively during the assessment period has been constrained due to one or more of the above circumstances and you wish these circumstances to be taken in to consideration, you are invited to complete the staff circumstances form and email this to REF-Confidential@contacts.bham.ac.uk. Further information can be found in paragraph 160 of the Guidance on Submissions (REF 2019/01). Completion and return of the form is voluntary, and individuals who do not choose to return it will not be put under any pressure to declare information if they do not wish to do so. This form is the only means by which the University will be gathering this information; we will not be consulting HR records, contract start dates, etc. 

What evidence do you need for me to declare staff circumstances?

In most cases the declaration form is sufficient in itself and it is unlikely you will be asked to provide additional evidence. For early career researchers, we may occasionally need to clarify contract details with you to look at dates of first employment for example, but this should be a fairly simple process most of time and will not typically be needed.

Is my application confidential?

Yes, we treat any information you give us with utmost confidentiality and we only request the minimum data required for the process. We will only disclose information you allow us to disclose as per your consent within the application form. Within the application you will be asked whether you give permission for your staff circumstances to be shared with your Head of School / Department / Institute or Head of Research Group, so that a discussion can be had about your support needs to work productively and so that there can be agreement with respect to the appropriate number of outputs you should propose for the REF2021 output pool for your unit. You can also opt to not have the exact nature of details raised, instead only your name and the effect of these circumstances will be raised to enable discussion around your support needs and appropriate number of outputs for the REF2021 output pool of your unit. If you are unclear on this distinction or have specific concerns about your name being passed on to a specific individual(s), contact the Staff Circumstances Group and they will provide further guidance in confidence.

Where a judgement on circumstances is needed the SCG will provide anonymised data to the Equality and Diversity Advisory Panel (EDAP), including in cases where a request is being made to reduce an individual’s outputs submission to zero. If a ‘zero’ allocation is recommended by EDAP, the minimum required information related to your circumstances and your name must be passed on by SCG to Research England (i.e. the REF Team, the REF equality and Diversity Advisor Panel and the Main Panel Chairs) as part of their own equality and diversity monitoring, but it will not be shared by REF2021 sub-panels. All data will also be destroyed after the REF2021 audit period. If we suspect there may be a duty of care concern (e.g. you are at risk in some way), the SCG (including your relevant HR Business Partner) will work with you to find support if you need it. You can also retract your application form prior to REF2021 submission, simply contact the SCG.

 

 

Individual Staff Circumstances  - FAQs continued

Is it worth coming forward?

Yes, we really hope so. The declaration process is designed to be a supportive one to ensure expectations on staff are appropriate by allowing them the opportunity to be heard and by having their own say in any equalities-related circumstances that may have affected their ability to conduct research or produce research outputs. This can then be reflected in the number of outputs they are expected to propose to the outputs pool, hopefully reducing some of the pressure they may feel to input at the ‘same level’ of those researchers without such circumstances. Whilst HR Business Partners are involved in the SCG, this process is not being used to identify ‘problematic’ staff and nothing you tell us will be fed into any internal HR procedure e.g. progress reviews or promotion. They have expertise in dealing with staff circumstances on a daily basis and they are well placed to provide suggestions or solutions in specific cases where an individual may request supports.

What will it mean for my School and the University?

For the University itself, it is also worth you coming forward so that we can have a better understanding of the issues that affect our research staff (even if in an anonymized way). It may also help reduce the pressure on units that may be under pressure to submit more outputs than it can reasonably manage, given the circumstances of staff within that unit, through a process to request a reduction in the number of outputs overall a unit should submit. If a unit reduction is requested, the unit must submit the names of those staff who have been given a reduction in the expected number of outputs to the (Research England) REF team, REF Equality and Diversity Panel and the Main Panel Chairs. This is for Research England's own equality and diversity reporting. At no point will REF2021 sub-panels be given your name. All data you provide will be destroyed after the REF2021 exercise and 2021 audit.

What are the ‘risks’?

Hopefully there are none. However, we recognize that some staff may be worried about declaring a circumstance that their employer is perhaps not aware of or that they feel might put them at a disadvantage at present and/or in the future. This should never be the case and the University is working hard to positively change the culture so that this does not happen. All key decision-makers in the University's REF process have undertaken training on equality and diversity, and are supportive of this process. If you are in any doubt, there are a number of staff networks and the Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor for Equalities who should be able to put your concerns to rest and /or work with you to find a solution. We have consulted with staff networks to put this FAQ document together and to send out communications about the Code of Practice and staff circumstances process to raise awareness of the opportunity to have your individual circumstances considered. In the last exercise (REF2014), over 400 members of staff came forward to report individual circumstances and the process was found mostly positive. We have tried to learn lessons from the last exercise, but if you feel there could be improvements to how we support this process, let us know and we will take on board your feedback.

Who will know it’s me?

SCG will review your application and therefore have access to your name and any data your provide; if necessary, they will pass on your (anonymized) circumstances to EDAP, where a judgment needs to be made on a possible reduction in the expected number of outputs. If you are eligible to receive a reduction of outputs, the SCG will need to pass your name and the effect (i.e. what reduction of outputs was deemed appropriate) of these circumstances to your Head of School / Department / Institute or Head of Research Group in order for them to ensure the necessary support is provided. Your Head of School / Department / Institute or Head of Research Group does not need to know the specifics of your circumstances, only the agreed effects, and we will not share this with them without your permission. If you give us permission to, we can share this with them to enable discussion around your ongoing support needs and we can help set up and facilitate this conversation if you’d like us to. If you are worried about your name being passed on to a specific individual(s) (e.g. your Head of School), let the Staff Circumstances Group know this in advance or make this clear within your application. The SCG will work with you to enable you to submit a declaration without involving this individual(s) wherever possible and/or to seek additional support if a duty of care issue is raised.

What if I feel my School/College is placing undue pressure on me to apply for Staff Circumstances?

The REF2021 ‘Guidance on Submissions’ and the University’s Code of Practice is clear that any individual wishing to apply for staff circumstances must feel free to do so without feeling under pressure to do so. If you feel you are being put under pressure, then please contact ref-confidential@contacts.bham.ac.uk and we will work with you to address this. If you are unhappy with the University’s response, you can make a formal complaint to Research England regarding the University’s processes. Please consult the REF2021 website for details of this process (not yet available at the time these FAQs were released).

What’s the difference between proposed for REF and submitted to REF?

Internally we are normally asking eligible research staff to propose a minimum of 3 outputs that could be submitted to REF2021, even though not all of these will normally be submitted to REF2021. The institution has an internal review process to grade proposed outputs (unclassified to 4 star) to determine which it feels are the best quality outputs to be submitted to REF2021, to maximise the quality of the institution’s submission. Therefore, each REF-eligible member of staff is normally expected to propose a minimum of 3 outputs for internal review and they will eventually submit between 1-5 outputs to REF2021 as determined by internal reviewers, with the unit submitting 2.5 outputs (rounded up) on average for each full time member of REF-eligible staff. 

Take this fictional example: if a unit has two REF-eligible researchers working full time it will need to submit 5 outputs (2 people x 2.5 outputs per staff member). If researcher X has 5 eligible four star outputs but researcher Y only has 1 three star output and 2 two star outputs, the unit may opt to submit 1 three star output from researcher Y (as they must submit at least one output for this researcher) and 4 four star outputs from researcher X (because these are higher quality than the two-star outputs of researcher Y). Obviously, this is a very simplified example and realistically we are dealing with hundreds of researchers, so you are asked to propose up to 5 outputs to aid the internal modelling of each unit’s submission, so that we can hopefully submit the best possible options from our collective portfolio. Good REF outcomes ultimately affect us all as future research funding and institutional reputation is affected by it, which is why we have a collaborative process.

What are the deadlines?

The (external) REF Submission deadline is in November 2020 . However, we need to compile all information internally first, so our internal deadlines will be much earlier than this as there is so much data that needs to be processed. The EDAP panel also only meet quarterly, so we have to get information to them in advance of these meetings. The external deadline for declaration of staff circumstances is 6th March 2020 therefore, if you have staff circumstances that you’d like to declare, we encourage you to do this as early on in the process as you can so that we can confirm what is required of you early on. Even though we have a main deadline in Spring 2020, we recognize that staff circumstances may arise or change right up to the assessment census period deadline on 31st July 2020 (e.g. due to illness late in the process), if so please email REF-Confidential@contacts.bham.ac.uk.

What if I have joined the University recently?

If you have been employed in academia throughout the REF period, the process for staff circumstances will still only account for how your ability to produce research has been affected over the REF period, regardless of which institution you were employed by. If you have already agreed circumstances at your previous institution, we will honour this, however we will require evidence of the agreement. We will also consider circumstances applicable before joining UoB, but not been raised at your previous institution. As mentioned previously, if you are an ECR, have had a career break or a secondment, then these are all applicable circumstances for output reductions.

When can you submit zero outputs?

Requests may be made for an individual researcher who has not been able to produce an eligible output where any of the following circumstances apply within the period 1 January 2014 to 31 July 2020:

  • an overall period of 46 months or more absence from research during the assessment period, due to one of more of the circumstances set out in paragraphs *160 to 163 (such as an ECR who has only been employed as an eligible staff member for part of the assessment period)
  • circumstances equivalent to 46 months or more absence from research, where circumstances set out in paragraph *160 apply (such as mental health issues, caring responsibility, long-term health conditions) or
  • two or more qualifying periods of family-related leave, as defined in *Annex L.

[*Please see the REF2021 Guidance on Submissions document for Annex L and paragraphs 160 to 163: https://www.ref.ac.uk/media/1092/ref-2019_01-guidance-on-submissions.pdf

What is meant by ‘work productively’?

 ‘Work productively’ is a term used by Research England in their Guidance on Submissions to REF 2021. The university acknowledges that staff disclosing personal circumstances are productive members of our academic community, and strongly encourages staff to use the REF special circumstances process to get formal acknowledgement that they have not been able to produce as many outputs as (i) they would ordinarily be able to produce or (ii) as another similarly-situated member of staff who is not affected by these circumstances could produce.

 How do I quantify the effect my special circumstances have had?

We acknowledge that it is not easy to quantify, in duration of months, the effect your circumstances have had on your ability to work productively. However, EDAP needs to have this information to be able to apply a formal reduction in output expectation. One way to estimate the effect on productivity in months is to estimate the number of outputs you would have been able to produce if you had not been affected by special circumstances, compare these to the number you have produced, and calculate the percentage.

For example, a scenario could be that an academic would normally produce 6 outputs, but has only been able to produce 3, the effect has been a 50% reduction in their productivity. If the special circumstances were over 3 years, the time would be 18 month (50%).

 

 

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