REF 2029 Code of Practice
Our Code of Practice will set out how we make some of they key decisions that are required in preparing the REF submission, such as:
- Who to include in the volume measure:
Being included in the REF volume measure, or not, does not have any impact on the career of the individual. More detail about how research independence decisions will be made can be found in the Code of Practice.
At Imperial, all our academic staff are expected to teach and to undertake research, and so are automatically included in the volume measure.
Some staff in the research job family are considered ‘independent researchers’ for REF purposes. There are specific criteria for research independence in this context laid down as part of the REF rules, with limited discretion for Imperial, and have no bearing on an individual’s career progression.
- Which Unit of Assessment to return each individual to:
In many cases, the UoA to which an individual is returned to will be determined by their departmental affiliation. However, some departments conduct research which can be mapped to more than one UoA, and some individuals conduct cross-disciplinary research. Faculty and UoA Leads will be responsible for agreeing UoA assignment in these cases.
- Which research outputs to submit:
Imperial will be required to submit 2.5 outputs per FTE included in the volume measure. However, not every individual included in the volume measure is required to have an output submitted, and outputs may be submitted by individuals who are not included in the volume measure, where other criteria are met. . This is a key change from REF 2021.
More information
The Code of Practice has been developed in an iterative process involving Imperial's REF committees. In February 2026 there will be a period of wider consultation with the wider community. If you would like to be involved, please register your interest in providing feedback here.
Imperial is committed to the responsible use of metrics both in general and in the context of preparing the REF submission.
The quality of outputs will be determined by a combination of internal peer review, external expert review as considered appropriate, and committees responsible for REF decision making. Imperial is a signatory to the San Francisc Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and in line with this commitment, we will not use journal level impact factors as a proxy for the quality of individual outputs.
The library provides additional resources for those interested in exploring issues surrounding the responsible use of metrics.