On 12 May 2022, the results of the United Kingdom’s Research Excellence Framework 2021 (REF2021) were released. Generally known as ‘the REF’, this framework exists to assess and hold universities to account for the quality of the research they produce (Stockenhammer et al., 2021). The REF results are important as they are used to distribute Quality Research (QR) funding to these universities (Kelly, 2023). Additionally, they are seen as a ‘reputational yardstick’ (Torrance, 2020, p. 772) that can boost or weaken universities’ perceived strengths among fellow academics, students and the wider public.
The REF2021 operated through Units of Assessment that recruited leading colleagues to evaluate research work submitted by universities. For Education, submissions had to be made to Unit of Assessment 23 (UoA23) in the Social Sciences Panel C. Each submission had to include a Research Environment Statement, a selection of staff’s publications and a number of Impact Case Studies, demonstrating how examples of research led to real-world influencing of, for example, policy and practice.
Given the REF comes with high stakes, both reputationally and financially, departments across the country reflect on research strategies that can enhance the quality of research undertaken by its staff members. One central topic in these discussions relates to the generation of income in the form of grants and fellowships to carry out one’s research agenda. Research borrowing data from the previous REF in 2014 by Pinar and Unlu (2020) revealed that in most Units of Assessment, higher levels of departmental research income correlated with higher REF scores. Their analyses, however, were based on overall research income and did not distinguish between different types of funders.
