Losing control: REF 2029 and the downgrading of academic outputs

In June 2023 UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) announced that the contribution of research outputs to the next REF (Research Excellence Framework) exercise will be radically reduced. In addition, the link between individuals and research publications is to be replaced by a more generic emphasis on ‘research culture’. In this commentary I argue that this change in policy poses a significant threat to the legitimacy of the entire process and will endanger the kind of individual scholarship that is typical within much of the social sciences and the humanities.