The REF needs your expertise!

Most submissions to the REF are journal articles and books, but there are many more types of research that being output are overlooked. These ‘not-traditionally submitted outputs’ – or NTOs – don’t get recognition partly because universities don’t know how to assess them with confidence. This is where you can help!

We are inviting people to join one of the Hidden REF’s expert groups and help write assessment guidance that universities can use to assess NTOs. If you have expertise in an NTO, we would like to invite you to join one of our expert groups using the form below.

What do I need to do?

You might be an expert in software, exhibitions, patents, compositions, or a number of other types of output. Our experts will come together for online sessions to discuss how to assess different types of NTO. These deliberations will be developed into written guidance that we will share with universities and REF panels.

Expert groups will run during 2026. Please sign up using the form below and help us remove one of the main barriers to recognising all research outputs.

What’s the benefit?

Our experts will help write guidance that makes it easier to recognise their field. They will, of course, be named on the guidance so that their contribution can be recognised.

The biggest benefactor of this work will be the UK research community. With your help, we can remove one of the major barriers that prevent the recognition of all research outputs and the people who create them. This will lead to a more comprehensive REF, allowing greater insight into the research conducted in UK universities, and a better understanding of where it needs to be supported and how it can be advanced.