If there are any specific queries not addressed on this website then please contact either Jo Hemmings (020 7955 7884 / j.hemmings@lse.ac.uk or Michael Nelson 020 7107 5221 / m.w.nelson@lse.ac.uk)

Definition of eligible staff

Staff who can be shown to have undertaken significant autonomous research, or otherwise to have made a significant independent research contribution to the research output of a unit or department. The definitions of staff categories A to D are contained below. For a more detailed analysis of eligible staff please refer to paragraphs 74 to 91of the Guidance on Submissions.

Types of staff

There will be no category A* staff (i.e. staff transferring between HEIs in the last year of the assessment period).

Categories of staff are therefore:

Category A: academic staff in post and on the payroll of the submitting institution on the census date (31/10/2007). Eligible Category A academic staff must be employed under a contract of employment within the School on the census date. Their contract must list research and/or teaching as their primary function.

Category B: academic staff who held a contract at the institution after 1 January 2001 and who left the institution (or, exceptionally, are being returned under a different unit of assessment), after that date and before the census date, and who otherwise would have been eligible for inclusion as Category A.

Category C: independent investigators active in research who do not meet the definition for Category A staff but whose research on the census date is clearly and demonstrably focussed in the department that returns them.

Category D: independent investigators who met the definition for Category C staff during the period 1 January 2001 to 31 October 2007 but not on the census date.

Staff transferring HEI during the census period

There will be no special or different treatment for staff transferring HEI during the census period. For RAE 2008 there will be no A* staff as there was for 2001 (A* staff were those transferring between HEIs in the last year of the assessment period who were permitted to submit two publications for both the previous and new institution). The guidelines state that staff may be submitted to the RAE by the institution by which they are employed on the census date, regardless of previous or forthcoming changes in their employment status. Sub-panels will be required to state how they will judge the contribution of category B and D staff (i.e. those who have left a department after 1 January 2001 and before 31 October 2007) to the strength and research culture of each unit of assessment at the census date. For a more detailed analysis on staff transferring HEI during the census period please refer to paragraphs 74 to 91of the Guidance on Submissions. Category C staff circumstances will be recorded in Form RA5c of the submission (refer to Paragraph 163 in the Guidance on Submissions).

Volume measure

A means of identifying those staff to be counted in the volume measure in subsequent funding, if required, will be developed within the exercise.

Non-submitted staff

Alongside the quality profile for research, the Funding Bodies will publish the full-time equivalent (FTE) number of staff submitted in each submission. Unlike in previous exercises, they will not collect any information through the RAE process on staff who have not been included in submissions at the level of each unit of assessment. Panels will only receive information about submitted staff. However, HEIs are required to make an individualised staff return to HESA, which will include non-submitted staff. Therefore, data about proportions of submitted and non-submitted staff will be available through the HESA staff record, published separately from and to a different timetable than the RAE results.

Definition of research

The definition of research for RAE 2008 does not differ substantially from that used in RAE 2001. Changes in phrasing from the 2001 definition are in bold:

'Research' for the purpose of the RAE is to be understood as original investigation undertaken in order to gain knowledge and understanding. It includes work of direct relevant to the needs of commerce, industry and to the public and voluntary sectors; scholarship*; the invention and generation of ideas; images, performances, artefacts including design, where these lead to new or substantially improved insights; and the use of existing knowledge in experimental development to produce new or substantially improved materials, devices, products and processes, including design and construction. It excludes routine testing and routine analysis of materials, components and processes such as for the maintenance of national standards, as distinct from the development of new analytical techniques. It also excludes the development of teaching materials that do not embody original research.

* Scholarship for the RAE is defined as the creation, development and maintenance of the intellectual infrastructure of subjects and disciplines, in forms such as dictionaries, scholarly editions, catalogues and contributions to major research databases.

Assessment of types of output

Sub-panels are required not to rank or regard any particular form of output as of greater or lesser quality than another per se. For further details on research outputs please refer to paragraphs 92 - 104 of the Guidance on Submissions.

Assessment of volume of output

There should be no automatic penalty for failure to list the maximum number of outputs: sub-panels must look at each case on its own merits, although different sub-panels may take different views reflecting their knowledge of normal practice and expectations in their subject area on far how volume of output may reliably be used as an indicator of quality. Sub-panels should identify what factors it will take into account for submissions where the volume of output is unusually low.
Sub-panels may request additional information, such as quantitative indicators of total research outputs where requests are reasonable, justifiable and explicit. Such requests are subject to approval by the funding bodies, specified within sub-panels statements of criteria and working methods and will not require collection of any types of data not previously collected for the RAE.

RAE 2008 Key Dates and Internal Deadlines

01 Jan 2001: Start of assessment period (i.e. start date for publication of cited output)
Aug 2006: Pilot RAE software to be made available to HEIs for testing
Dec 2006: Final RAE software to be made available to HEIs
31 Jul 2007: End of assessment period for research income and research student data
31 Oct 2007: Census date (i.e. cut-off date for staff in post)
30 Nov 2007: Closing date for submissions
31 Dec 2007: End of publication period (i.e. cut-off point for publication of cited research outputs)
Dec 2008: Results published

Definition of star grades

Four star Quality that is world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour.

Three star Quality that is internationally excellent in terms of originality, significance and rigour but which nonetheless falls short of the highest standards of excellence.

Two star Quality that is recognised internationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour.

One star Quality that is recognised nationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour.

Unclassified Quality that falls below the standard of nationally recognised work. Or work which does not meet the published definition of research for the purposes of this assessment.

New starters/career breaks

Provided you are in post on the census date (31/10/2007) and are employed under a research and/or teaching contract, you are - in theory - eligible for inclusion in the RAE 2008 submission. The ultimate decision as to which staff will be included in the submission will lie with the RAE Strategy Committee. If you are submitted to the RAE you would normally be expected to submit four research outputs. Early career researchers and staff who have taken career breaks may be allowed to submit fewer than four outputs, provided sufficient evidence of mitigating circumstances is supplied (details must be given in form RA5b).

Away from the School on the census date?

Staff on unpaid leave of absence or secondment on the census date who are contracted to return to normal duties up to two years (inclusive) from the start of their period of absence may be included as Category A staff in the submission. To be eligible any staff recruited specifically to cover their duties should not also be listed as Category A staff.

Submitting research outputs to HEFCE

Some categories of output will be submitted in electronic format. These categories are likely to be journal articles, chapters in books and published conference proceedings. The method may involve the School depositing items on a protected website or giving access to institutional repositories of publications. Details will accompany the pilot version of the data collection software (August 2006). The School's Library is currently collecting research papers and depositing them in Research Online (the School's repository). It will be the responsibility of the relevant department/centre to collect hard copies of research outputs.

RA2 Other Relevant Details

RA2 includes a free-text field for ‘other relevant details’. The Guidance on Submissions sets out some examples of the kinds of information which could be recorded in this field, and the Panel Criteria Generic Statement includes further examples of what information this field could contain. However, each main and sub-panel has set out what information it expects should be given in this field, so departments must refer to the guidance given by their main and sub-panel, as set out below. Additionally, each sub-panel has set the word limit for this field, which may vary between units of assessment. More (Word).

Reports Commissioned for Government Bodies etc: Eligibility in RAE 2008.

The funding bodies have deliberately defined research output broadly: any form of publicly available, assessable output embodying research as defined for the RAE may be submitted, as may confidential outputs that are not publicly available. Provided that the outputs meet the RAE definition of research (in Annex B of the Guidance on Submissions) and the author's contribution can be verified, you may plan on the assumption that these will be eligible. If this type of report is included in a submission as a research output, the author's contribution should be explained in the 'Other relevant details' field of RA2. Any submission may be subject to audit so it is vital that evidence is available to confirm the author's contribution. More (Word).

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