REF 2028 must promote academic freedom

These are persuasive arguments which imply a need for a long pause and radical rethinking of the REF, allowing time for a fully revised version to emerge with a core emphasis on the integrity of scholarship and the freedom of scholars. There's also the separate issue of how outcomes are assessed. It was always laughably naive to invite scholars to assess their own "impact" in purely positive terms, with no attempt to consider adverse impacts. Self-evaluation is fine, so long as we encourage honesty and discourage dishonesty. In the next REF we need to observe two basic principles of plausible evaluation: 1. look for unintended as well as intended consequences; 2. consider negative as well as positive outcomes.

Better still, scrap the REF completely!

If this carries on, published research will become a negligible feature of research assessment, which is an appalling outcome. Universities should simply refuse to participate in REF, TEF, the NSS and any similar instruments of oppression wielded by the DfE, UKRI and the OfS. It's barbarous neoliberal anti-intellectualism and not much else. And why are the UCU not on permanent strike about these oppressive conditions? They've done precisely nothing about the onward march of this dictatorial bureaucratic nightmare.