Research excellence: what is it and how can universities achieve it?

Research metrics can be helpful but offer a very narrow view, often prizing quantity over quality. So, how can higher education institutions look beyond the numbers and take a more nuanced approach to improve the quality of their research and amplify its impact on society as a whole?

Frankenstein's monster

What Frankenstein’s monster can teach researchers about the dark side of ‘impact’

What can a 19th-century novelist tell academics about research ethics? Taking time to see the impact of research on ourselves is a good place to start measuring the social good of scholarly endeavours, writes Jennifer Allsopp

Jennifer Allsopp

University of Birmingham

A woman in a research lab looking through a microscope

Quality is the best policy in research

How to establish and promote adherence to protocols, ensure accurate and secure data handling and nurture a culture of transparency to improve the quality of research output

Srinivas Mutalik

Manipal Academy of Higher Education

Female researcher working on her laptop in a lab

Understanding ethics approval in academic research

The following strategies aim to streamline the ethics approval process, reduce delays and uphold the highest ethical standards

Marios Kremantzis, Fatema Zaghloul, Rushana Khusainova

The University of Bristol

Rubber ducks in a row illustrating reproducible research

How to publish responsible reproducible research

Scientific publishing includes not just the manuscript but also data, computer code and lab protocols. Here, Laurent Heirendt shares practical advice that your research institute can follow to publish research results that are reproducible

Laurent Heirendt

University of Luxembourg

Steps towards open research in higher ed

Open research is a tough nut to crack. Here’s how we can get started

Investment, training and incentives are required if the sector is going to rise to the challenge of truly embracing open research

Marcus Munafò, Neil Jacobs

The University of Bristol, UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN)

No one in academia can agree on what research leadership looks like

No one agrees on what research leadership is, let alone how to do it well

The academy has no common idea of what research leadership really is, why it’s important or what good practice looks like. That needs to change, says Matthew Flinders

Matthew Flinders

University of Sheffield, Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN)

Files with tabs relating to intellectual property, law and copyright

How to add value to research and manage intellectual property

Ensuring new knowledge has social, environmental or economic impact is an essential element of research – and of universities’ purpose. Here, Christophe Haunold explains the four steps to consider

Christophe Haunold

University of Luxembourg

open welcome sign on a glass door

Strategies to maximise the benefits of open research

Sharing data, publishing preprints and making research outputs freely available all have tangible benefits for individual scientists and society. Here are tips to get started

Tariq Al-Musawi

Al-Mustaqbal University

Improving research culture at universities

To improve research culture, we must change the way we measure performance

Jo Cresswell explains how universities can support more collaborative cultures by changing the way academics are reviewed, assessed and rewarded

Jo Cresswell

Dr Joanne Cresswell Coaching

Research team at university

A model for maximising the impact of small research units

Qingyan Chen explains how adopting a quasi-centralised management approach can help stimulate large-scale research

Qingyan Chen

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Advice on creating a university research culture that is accessible, transparent and reproducible

Eight ways your university can make research culture more open

Parveen Yaqoob and Robert Darby share eight actions institutions can take to foster a culture of research that is more accessible, transparent and reproducible

Parveen Yaqoob, Robert Darby

University of Reading

Image of a researcher conducting fieldwork

How to develop a code of conduct for ethical research fieldwork

A code of conduct for ethical research fieldwork developed by two researchers at the University of Oxford has been taken up by departments across the institution and beyond. The code authors, Catherine Fallon Grasham and Laura Picot, share lessons they learned along the way

Catherine Fallon Grasham, Laura Picot

University of Oxford

Strengthen research capacity: how do we do it?

What does ‘strengthen research capacity’ actually mean, and how can we do it?

Leaders of research consortia face a difficult task in carrying out research and improving research capacity, but embedding a specialist team to make recommendations provides great gains

Imelda Bates , Justin Pulford , Lorelei Silvester

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN)

A confused signpost

How I plan to get through REF results day

If the results don’t deliver what we think we’ve earned, it will be a blow, but it won’t change the fact that what we do matters, says John McKendrick

John McKendrick

Glasgow Caledonian University

Image of a researcher examining a slide through a microscope

Don’t let the REF tail wag the academic dog

Institutions should resist the temptation to use the REF as a tool for competition and self-promotion and, instead, approach the results in ways that support sector-wide efforts to improve research culture

Marcus Munafò

The University of Bristol

An image representing the possible outcomes from REF: good, bad and mixed

The good, the bad and the way forward: how UK universities should respond to REF results

How should UK universities respond if their REF results are good, bad or offer a mixed picture? New pro vice-chancellor for research Heather Widdows shares her advice

Heather Widdows

University of Birmingham

Steps that institutions can take to increase the research productivity and impact of their academic staff

Managing individual research productivity in academic organisations: seven key insights

Advice on steps institutions can take to boost the productivity and impact of researchers, based on a study by Olga Ryazanova and Jolanta Jaskiene

Olga Ryazanova , Jolanta Jaskiene

Maynooth University , ISM University of Management and Economics

Randomised control trials are crucial for good science, but we can also improve their ethics

We can make research more ethical without compromising its quality

The debate on the ethics of randomised control trials isn’t getting us anywhere – it’s time for solutions, says Stefano Caria

Stefano Caria

The University of Warwick

Researchers magnifiying their work to represent advice on increasing the impact of your work

Amplifying research: five features of successful impact generation

As UK universities await the results of REF2021 and a new cycle of impact generation starts, how can academics go about amplifying the impact of their research? Charlotte Humma and Tessa Russell share tips

Charlotte Humma, Tessa Russell

University of Sussex

Advice on shaping research around community needs

Directing research to engage and support local communities

Helen Szoor-McElhinney and colleagues describe how academics can shape their research around key community needs and encourage participation from multidisciplinary faculty, students and local people

Helen Szoor-McElhinney, Alette Willis, Liam Gilchrist

The University of Edinburgh

An academic tracking their research metrics based on online data and citations

Making research metrics work for you, part one

An introduction to individual research metrics and how to discover how your own profile and data are represented online, in part one of Ioannis Glinavos’ advice on managing metrics

Ioannis Glinavos

The University of Westminster

A picture representing the different components needed to improve research metrics

Making research metrics work for you, part two

Steps you can take to improve your research data and elevate the visibility of your work, in part two of Ioannis Glinavos’ advice on managing metrics

Ioannis Glinavos

The University of Westminster

Advice on developing and managing successful interdisciplinary research teams

How to successfully develop and run interdisciplinary research teams

John Domingue explains how to foster a culture of openness and support that encourages and helps staff teams to pursue interdisciplinary research projects

John Domingue

The Open University

Image depicting plans for a multidisciplinary research centre

The challenges of creating a multidisciplinary research centre and how to overcome them

How to overcome the challenges of setting up a collaborative research centre designed to break down institutional silos and structures

Andrew Tobin, Laura Tyler

University of Glasgow

Building equitable scientific research partnerships with the global south requires trust and equality in decisionmaking

Creating equitable research partnerships across continents

Shabbar Jaffar provides tips for successful international collaborations built on trust, appropriate recognition and inclusiveness in decision-making

Shabbar Jaffar

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

Considerations for embedding public engagement into your research projects

Enhance your research through public engagement and collaboration

How can academics shape research around mutually beneficial public engagement and collaboration? Emily Burns outlines the key considerations

Emily Burns

Queen Mary University of London

A group of researchers discussing ideas at a table

Using a business framework to advocate for international research collaboration

In this resource, Daniel Moraru uses a framework to help researchers interrogate the multi-faceted implications of international collaboration in research

Daniel Moraru

Shizuoka University