Britain Promote the Reform of a new round of scientific research evaluation of universities
May 30, 2022 09:27 Source: "China Social Sciences" May 30, 2022, Issue 2416 Author: Reporter Chen Mirong

May 12,British Scientific Research Excellence Framework (REF) evaluation results announced。2014,British Scientific Research Evaluation System (RAE) becomes Ref after reform。This is the second round of evaluation results released by the Ref。As the authoritative ranking of British universities,Ref evaluation largely affects the distribution and reputation of scientific research funds in British universities。Before and after the release of the evaluation results,Many British scholars have reflected this。This reporter sorted out the evolution of the British research evaluation system,I have sorted out the point of view of relevant scholars,and interview several scholars。

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The British scientific research evaluation has a long history,The system is relatively mature。As early as the First World War,The UK established the University Delivery Committee。Since then,Various performance indicators are introduced into the field of higher education,But they are more generalized,No system。1986-1989,The UK has implemented two "Scientific Research Selection Evaluation",It aims to clarify various performance indicators、Systematic,Improves the efficiency and rationality of colleges and universities in a competitive manner。This stage is mainly based on peer reviews,But only involves traditional universities,So only a small number of colleges and universities get scientific research funds。At the same time,Excessive number of evaluation units、Deliveting is too tilting to the big courtyard、Not verifying the evaluation materials、Insufficient planning and other issues have also been criticized。

The early 1990s,Vocational and Technical College of the UK merged into the university system,But the funds reserved for scientific research have almost no increase,The reform evaluation system is imminent,RAE came into being in this context。At the same time,England Higher Education Allocation Committee、Wales Higher Education Allocation Committee、Scottish Higher Education Allocation Committee、North Ireland Employment and Learning Department began to replace the university appropriation committee,Responsible for the implementation of RAE evaluation in the four regions above the bet365 Play online games United Kingdom。Its functions include not only performance appropriations,More importantly, it improves British scientific research quality and strength through scientific research and evaluation。In RAE evaluation,The number of evaluation units gradually decreases,and divided the review expert group based on the evaluation unit,Evaluation standards are gradually unified into "scientific research results、Scientific research environment、Scientific Research Reputation "。1992、1996、2001、2008,The UK carried out four RAE evaluations in the United Kingdom。The evaluation method at this stage is mainly based on peer evaluation。

2014,RAE transforms to Ref,but still dominated by the above four higher education appropriation institutions,Specific management work is performed by the REF group and regulatory team representing four funding entities。Ref2014 The biggest change compared to RAE2008 is the introduction of the evaluation of "scientific research influence",At the same time, further reduce the number of evaluation units,Performing the double -layer evaluation group mode,Divided into the main、Times review expert group,Pay more attention to interdisciplinary and cooperative research,Performance of peer reviews、The evaluation method supplemented by the literature is supplemented by。Ref evaluation results are generally released every 7 years,Ref2021 due to the extension of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic,Therefore, released this year。This is also the ranking of the latest British university rankings and scientific research evaluation results released after 8 years。

  Ref and the highlights of the reform of scientific research evaluation with universities

Ref's evaluation indicators cover scientific research results、Three dimensions of scientific research influence and scientific research environment。Scientific research results are the core elements of evaluation,Focus on the representative scientific research results of participating scholars and scientific research units; the scientific research influence mainly uses case research and influence templates to evaluate academic research in the economy、Society、Culture and other fields;、Scientific research management and scientific research business evaluate the environment and sustainability of the scientific research platform。The evaluation team will add the evaluation index rights to be added to total,Evaluate the rating of each evaluation material in accordance with the standard,Finally divided the overall scientific bet365 live casino games research quality of colleges and universities into 0-4 five stars。Among them, 0 stars represent "lower than domestic recognition",1 star represents "domestic recognition",2 stars represent "International recognition",3 stars represent "International Outstanding",4 stars represent "International Leader"。Institutions in charge of higher education in Britain decide how much scientific research funds to allocate them to it based on the evaluation stars obtained by colleges and universities。

Compared to Ref2014,In Ref2021,The weight of scientific research achievements in the evaluation decreased from 65%to 60%; the weight of scientific research influence accounted for 20%to 25%; the weight of the scientific research environment remained at 15%.。​​Ref2021 is still on the basis of referring to the REF2014 evaluation results,Reform exploration of the evaluation system: in terms of evaluation organization and management,Further streamline the evaluation unit,Optimized subject classification,At the same time, improve the representativeness of the review experts,Improve the management system of scholars;,Change the evaluation method of scale -oriented,Encourage scientific research and innovation; in the influence of scientific research,Further expansion of the influence covering the scope,Emphasize the influence of non -academic nature of scientific research; at the scientific research environment dimension,Added the entry -level review,Added college -level environment evaluation。,One of the funding institutions -the England Higher Education Allocation Commission was also replaced by the England Research Agency in 2018,The latter becomes the main manager of Ref。

Ref2021 The first innovation point is,For the first time, all reports submitted by all personnel who are responsible for academic research for the first time。Compared with Ref2014,Academic achievements were incorporated into consideration 46%,The coverage is wider。and previously in Ref2014,In order to obtain the ideal evaluation results college,tend to selectively apply for continuous scholars or non -junior researchers。For this,Vice President of Aston University in the United Kingdom、Simon Green, who has participated in the review of the REF2014 and Ref2021 expert group, was evaluated to,This new measure can fully present the depth and breadth of the scientific research of a department。

Ref2021 The second innovation point is,Each scholar can submit 1-5 scientific research results,and the average of 2.5 results per person per submitted for evaluation materials bet365 live casino games can,and each participating scholars in 2014 must submit 4 published results。Green thinks,This move has two important and positive impacts。First,This makes every evaluation material not a personal scientific research show,but the results of teamwork。In different academic achievements combinations,A researcher only submits one journal article or 1 book is completely reasonable。Similarly,If a single result is rated as 4 stars,It is also worthy of the materials for related hospitals than submitting 3 3 stars。2,This will make the scientific researchers turn the attention point from the quantity to quality。In other words,Everyone will focus on the production of less and finely produce,This is especially favorable for researchers in early scientific research careers。

Vice President of Liverpool University in Liverpool in the United Kingdom、Ref2021 "Art and Humanities" Disciplinary Disciplinary Disciplinary Discipline Team Dinah Birch said,In the REF2021 evaluation,Most of the members of the expert group have previously participated in the scientific research evaluation work,Also participated in the review,This ensures that the quality standards are strictly implemented。The international expert group also guarantees that this evaluation is in line with the research standards of global expectations。,The influential case research report submitted by major colleges and universities is very mature and very far away,These reports will be open to the public in mid -June 2022 in mid -June 2022。

 The controversy is still

Although the REF evaluation system is unique,Since its implementation in 2014, it has effectively promoted the improvement of the quality and strength of the British scientific research,But the sound of criticism is still endless。The Vice President Cillian Ryan, the vice president of the University of Notting Hansterte, believes,Peer review is the main link in the evaluation of scientific research results,But the dissertation and monographs submitted to REF have previously been reviewed by experts from journals and publishers,Therefore, it is necessary to re -evaluate whether the research results are needed to be discussed。

Journal citation data is also considered an indicator of the quality of research results。Dan Ryan said,Art、Scholars in the fields of humanities and many social sciences are quite micro words about this method,Because many publications in these fields are not limited to traditional academic journals,Also there are real objects such as books Bet365 app download and paintings。So the evaluation index of using citation data is more favorable for the discipline of natural sciences。

Professor Peter Mandler at Oxford University in the United Kingdom has participated in the British national -level scientific research evaluation for 30 consecutive years,In the RAE evaluation of 2008 and the review of the "History" discipline expert group in 2014。In the past, he supported this evaluation,It is believed that this is the best way to distribute limited government funds to colleges and universities since the 1990s,He also supports the most important link in the assessment -peer evaluation。

But,Mandler disclosure,After each round of evaluation,The next round should pay more attention to the influence of scientific research。This means,less and less evaluation of the research itself。The reduction in the evaluation of the study itself also means a reduction in peer evaluation。Scientific research influence and scientific research environment, although it is also evaluated by scholars,But the "influential appraiser" outside the academic community also participated in it。

Mandler said,Evaluation of scientific research influence and scientific research environment is even thicker than the assessment itself,Lack of evidence support。For example,A book may have 300 pages,Evaluation experts have to take several hours、Use lifetime professional knowledge to evaluate,But this book may only account for about 2%of the scientific research results submitted by a middle school department,According to the scientific research results, the weight ratio of 60%of the entire evaluation,This book only accounts for about 1%of the total evaluation materials of this department.。and an influential case research report may be 5 pages,Influential appraisers only need to review these 5 pages to determine the influence of related research,And this short report may account for 6%of the general assessment materials of the department.。This makes the entire evaluation a public relations game,Submitted case research report, the more described the slot chaos,The better the grades you can get。

other,Mandler also noticed,Some universities are using REF to achieve other purposes,And these purposes sometimes go far with the original intention of the system。For example,Some universities will simulate Ref evaluation and quantitative indicators,To determine employees' employment、Removal and promotion。The worse thing is,Ref has become a huge bureaucracy nightmare。Each round of reform is based on existing templates,But the complexity and management difficulty Bet365 app download are continuously increased。For the personal daily life of higher education institutions and researchers,Ref has also formed huge pressure,Weaken its enthusiasm and originality,This makes the final effect of the evaluation get farther and farther away from the goal of improving the quality of scientific research。

For the high cost of implementing the REF evaluation,Mehmet Pinar, a professor at economics at Zhishan University Business School, and Tim Horne, director of scientific research director of Stanford County University, found statistical research,Scientific research results、Scientific research influence and the scientific research environment are highly positively correlated,To a certain extent, it has caused waste of resources,So you should simplify Ref's evaluation element,To reduce the evaluation cost。

The founder and president of the British Higher Education Policy Research Institute, Bahram Bekhradnia, believes,Team of huge funding in scientific research,Universities have a poor investment in teaching and learning funds for teaching and learning。Generally speaking,The reputation of colleges and scholars is closely related to their scientific research strength,But with their teaching results, it is very related。This makes colleges and scholars more willing to put energy on scientific research。Another,Ref has the meaning of "zero sum game"。All universities think it is necessary to participate in evaluation competition to continuously improve their strength,But this effort and return may not be proportional。Even if everyone is working hard,But always turn around,But they must also persist in working,Otherwise, it will be thrown behind。

  Suggestions for scientific research on Chinese universities

Since its launch of "Double First -class" construction,Chinese universities have achieved fruitful results in scientific research,But there are many problems that need to be solved,such as SCI first、Light quality、Insufficient evaluation training、Administrative and Leading, etc.。For this,my country has also issued a series of normative documents,For example, "Several Opinions of the use of the correct evaluation orientation of the relevant indicators of the SCI thesis of the SCI thesis" (2020)、"About Deepening Project Review、Talent evaluation、Opinions of Evaluation Reform "(2018), etc.。

Ryan told reporters,Chinese university scientific research assessment more focuses on evaluation indicators to some extent,But the relevant mechanism must be clear when using the evaluation indicator,For example, why a paper is high,The reference bet365 Play online games rate in different areas of a discipline will also be different。These problems can be fully understood by cross -department and interdisciplinary cooperation research。This means that experts participating in the review need to receive a large number of training to play a good role in evaluating,So evaluating experts must be very senior and professional。

Green suggests in an interview with reporters,It should not be nominated for evaluation experts by the government or college itself。In the UK,The members of the REF Expert Group are nominated by the professional associations of their respective disciplines,Similarly,The manager of the scientific research evaluation system should also open with the government,For example, REF is now managed by the England Research Agency, which is under the British Research and Innovation Foundation of the Non -Government Institution。

Editor in charge: Cui Cen
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