Running the REF on a rainy Sunday afternoon: Can we exchange peer review for metrics?

Abstract

This paper examines the feasibility of replacing the resource-intensive and contested expert review panels in the British national research evaluation – called REF (Research Excellence Framework) – with a much simpler exercise based on metrics. Using the free Publish or Perish software to source citation data from Microsoft Academic (MA), I was able to create a citation-based ranking of British universities that correlates with the REF power ranking at 0.97. I thus suggest that metrics should be considered seriously as an alternative to peer review. It doesn’t mean that we should give up completely on evaluating research quality through peer review. But letting metrics do the bulk of the work frees up a staggering amount of time and resources that would allow us to come up with more creative and meaningful ways to build in a credible quality component in the British national research assessment.