Emerald Publishing proudly supports the Hidden REF, a campaign to officially recognize the often-overlooked roles that support academic research. The Embedding Trust in Evaluation (E-TIE) project, awarded £3.5 million by Research England, aims to include these "hidden" roles in the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2029, a major national assessment determining public funding for research.
Launched in 2020 by academics from the University of Southampton, the Hidden REF celebrates the vital contributions of roles such as technicians, research software engineers, librarians, and administrators. These individuals play essential, yet frequently unacknowledged, parts in successful academic research. The new E-TIE project will provide recommendations to Research England for embedding formal recognition of these roles in the REF 2029.
The project will be led by Simon Hettrick, Professor of Software Sustainability, along with James Baker (Professor of Digital Humanities) and Gemma Derrick (Professor of Research Policy and Culture). They will use the project to advocate for an inclusive approach to research evaluation, ensuring a broader, fairer recognition of research contributions.
As part of its goals, E-TIE will also share best practices for submitting non-traditional outputs for assessment, offering a more accurate reflection of the collaborative nature of modern research.
The funding marks an important step toward more inclusive research assessments, paving the way for future frameworks that recognize the full spectrum of research contributions—helping ensure that all roles, big and small, receive the recognition they deserve.
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