As part of the University of Bath’s Research Culture Action Plan launched last year, we have now reviewed and updated our principles for Responsible Research Assessment.

To embed these into our working practices, we're launching a new suite of guidance, training and support to help you if you’re involved in assessing research, supporting assessment processes, or are undergoing assessment yourself.

What is Responsible Research Assessment?

Responsible Research Assessment ensures that all research assessments are carried out using robust, transparent, and inclusive methods, which in turn helps maximise the quality and impact of our research.

It also strengthens our commitment as a signatory of the Declaration on Research Assessment and, importantly, brings Bath in line with global developments in assessment reform - see also the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment.

How it will work at Bath

Our updated principles will guide all aspects of research assessment across the institution, including recruitment, promotion, internal funding and awards.

To turn principles into practice, we’ve listened closely to colleagues and responded to the following needs:

  • training and support that’s clear and practical, yet adaptable to local contexts
  • clear expectations and implementation timescales
  • assurance that central assessment processes will be fully aligned

New training and support 

You can now visit Responsible Research Assessment for access to:

* Available to everyone but mandatory for ‘frequent assessors’, which includes Heads of Department, Associate Deans for Research, Deans, and members of Academic Staff Committee.

Implementation timescales

If you're involved in assessing research or supporting assessment processes, you’ll need to start using the updated principles and guidance in your decision making with immediate effect. This is especially important for the assessment of outputs.

We appreciate that embedding new forms, panel guidance, and processes effectively will take time, so all Faculties, the School, Departments, and teams will have an extended deadline of 31 January 2027 to review and update all local processes.

Integrating into central assessment processes

Working closely with HR and the Academic Staff Committee, we will embed the new guidance into central processes such as recruitment and promotions to ensure consistency across the University.

Specifically, academic promotions processes will be updated to reflect the guidance by September 2026, when the new criteria come into effect. 

Aligning research assessment to our values

Professor Marcus Munafò, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, said: 

Our approach to assessment should align with what we value: rigour, impact and integrity. That means moving away from quick but unreliable proxies such as journal impact factors or the h-index, and towards evidence that genuinely reflects the quality and contribution of research.  Making sure we’re assessing our work using the best available evidence, helps to ensure that we have a research environment that supports us to achieve our best, and focus on quality over quantity.

Professor Rachel Arnold, Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor Research, said:

By embedding responsible research assessment into our processes and decision making, we not only recognise and reward excellence in research, but also foster a culture that values transparency, inclusivity, and collaboration.

More information

To find out more and to access the full set of resources, visit Responsible Research Assessment.  

For questions or support, please contact the Research Culture Team at research-culture@bath.ac.uk