The guidance for REF 2021 affords universities enhanced flexibility in assembling their portfolio of submitted outputs, i.e. a minimum of one and no more than five outputs per individual within a total number of outputs required per unit.  The University recognises that staff publish outputs at varying rates and does not expect that everyone will submit the same volume of outputs to REF.

This is a significant change from REF 2014 where each individual was required to submit four outputs each and, in practice, it means that UoAs can adapt their submissions to the varied research portfolios of individual staff in determining the distribution of outputs across the unit.

However, there will be scenarios where this flexibility is not sufficient, e.g. where the cumulative effect of individual circumstances has affected the wider unit's productivity, or where an individual has not been able to produce a single output in the REF period due to equality-related circumstances. Therefore, the funding bodies have provided institutions with the option to request a reduction in the total outputs required by a submitting UoA, or to remove the requirement for the minimum of one output for an individual.

There are two options for reducing the total outputs required. Either the total outputs for the unit can be reduced on a tarriff-based system, combining all disclosed circumstances in the unit, or an individual can remove the minimum requirement of 1 output if they have produced no outputs during the period due to their circumstances.

There are a number of defined circumstances, such as defined period of time as an ECR, as well as other circumstances that may be equivalent to absence, such as disability or periods of ill-health.

These are summarised in the image below; however, staff are encouraged to read Section 4 of the Code of Practice and the appendices linked above for more detail.

While the new REF rubric provides enhanced flexibility in the number of outputs attributed to each individual (i.e. min of 1, max of 5), there will be cases where the cumulative effect of individual circumstances has affected productivity of the wider UoA (e.g. high proportion of early-career researchers or multiple staff absent for extended periods) through e.g. increased teaching load or admin responsibilities.

All individual staff members are therefore encouraged to complete the disclosure form if any of the eligible circumstances apply so that we can obtain a clear and comprhensive picture of equality-related circumstances and whether the unit is eligible for a reduction to the total outputs required.

This information will also allow us to report to Research England on the diversity of individuals involved in producing research at Queen’s, and allow the University to ensure, internally, that no particular groups have been proportionally underrepresented in the exercise.

No.  The disclosure form is the only means by which the University will be collecting information on individual circumstances and it will not be consulting administrative records, e.g. as relates to parental leave or start dates for ECRs.

The process for disclosing individual circumstances is entirely voluntary and confidential.  Responsibility for disclosing circumstances lies solely with individuals.  Schools and/ or UoAs should not place pressure on individuals to do so. 

Based on the combined disclosed circumstances of all staff, the UoA will determine whether it is necessary to request a reduction in the total outputs required.  Prospective reduction requests will be considered internally by the REF Equality and Diversity Group, approved by UEB, and sent externally to the REF team at Research England for approval.

The membership of relevant committees and groups is outlined in Appendix 4 of the Code of Practice.

The disclosure process will be administered by the REF Support Team based centrally in the Research Policy Office, who will collate and anonymise individual disclosure forms. Details will not be visible at Faculty, School or UoA level and will be destroyed following completion of the process.

Completed disclosure forms will be handled by a small group of designated individuals in the REF Support Team under the guidance of the REF Manager in accordance with relevant data protection legislation.

Responsibility for reviewing and approving requests for reductions will be managed through the REF Equality and Diversity Group, details and membership of which is included in the University’s Code of Practice.

All individuals with access to disclosure forms will receive appropriate equality and diversity and data protection training, and specific training on the content of this Code of Practice.

Further information on how personal information will be handled is outlined in our REF Data Collection Statement.

The process to disclose individual staff circumstances is now closed.  The deadline for staff to submit their disclosure forms closed on 20 January 2020, following a four-month disclosure period; however, if new circumstances arise between 21 January and 31 July 2020, individuals are still encouraged to complete the voluntary disclosure form as appropriate and submit to ref@qub.ac.uk by January 2020.

Where there are further changes after requests have been submitted to Research England, institutions will be able to make further requests for reductions, e.g. for new staff. Decisions in these instances will be taken during the assessment year (2021).