SSI Director of Strategy, Simon Hettrick, was featured in a new Nature article titled The Human Costs of the Research-Assessment Culture. The article explores the impact of the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) on the lives of those involved in research. The REF significantly influences academic research, with work deemed "REF-able" being crucial for funding and career progression. While the REF aims to ensure high-quality research, critics argue that it creates a competitive, stressful environment that prioritises safer projects and overlooks non-traditional outputs like software.

The article highlights Simon Hettrick's work advocating for recognising the contributions of research software and other non-traditional outputs in research. The hidden REF, which is part of this effort, was launched in 2020 to raise awareness of the research outputs and roles that are vital to research but overlooked by traditional research evaluation.

If you want to find out more, visit the Hidden REF website or follow the Hidden REF on LinkedIn, BlueSky or X. And if you are interested in taking part in the Hidden RED competition, the deadline is Friday 13 September.