REF2021 : The Home Stretch

19th February 2020
A Year in Review: 2019 4

As we approach the release of our last major phase of REF2021 development work, we thought it might be a nice time to reflect on what we’ve achieved in Elements since the publication of the REF2021 Guidance on Submissions back in January 2019.

Working collaboratively with the Elements REF Steering Group and the wider Elements REF community, we quickly identified the development priorities for 2019, focusing initially on the selection, acceptance, and attribution of REF2 research outputs.  By the end of the year, we’d delivered REF1 Researcher functionality, and are now focussing on the last stages which include the production of the REF2021 submission XML file (for upload to the REF Submission System) and validation reporting as per the REF2021 validation rules.

Visual Analytics

In the past year, we have delivered the following REF2021 functionality in Elements:

  • 4 new ‘management’ screen pages
    • Manage Unit
    • Manage Selections
    • Manage REF2 Outputs
    • Manage REF1 Researchers
  • 2 new form pages
    • REF2 Research Output (5 tabs)
    • REF1 Researchers
  • 4 stock reports
  • 6 bulk jobs (2 of which have been implemented within the wider Assessment module, for use beyond REF2021)

We have also published 39 support articles
with over 1,800 page views!

REF2021 : The Home Stretch 1

Our upcoming 5.20 release in April is expected to include the following functionality:

  • Generation of REF submission XML file
  • REF validation stock report
  • REF dashboards, enabling Unit summaries and overviews to be easily obtained
  • REF2 physical / electronic output submission management
  • Unit lock out
  • Additions to existing screens to help REF managers better monitor submission accuracy, quality, and completeness

 

Want to speak to someone on the Symplectic team about supporting REF? Contact Us!