Independent review of the role of metrics in research assessment

This page summarises work HEFCE is carrying out to review the role of metrics in the assessment and management of research. This work will be of interest to anyone with a professional interest in research assessment and funding.

What is metrics-based research assessment?

Metrics is the quantitative analysis of scientific and scholarly research outputs and their impacts. Metrics include a variety of measures and statistical methods for assessing the quality and broader impact of scientific and scholarly research.

About the review

The independent review of the role of metrics in research assessment will consider how well metrics can be used across different academic disciplines to assess the excellence of research undertaken in the higher education sector.

The outcomes will be of interest to those who undertake research and will inform the work of HEFCE and the other UK higher education funding bodies as they prepare future iterations of the Research Excellence Framework.

Call for evidence

As part of the review, we launched a call for evidence to gather views and evidence relating to the use of metrics in research assessment and management. The deadline for responses was Monday 30 June.

Download the Letter calling for evidence as PDF (212 KB) | Download the Letter calling for evidence as MS Word (232 KB)