Knowledge Production and the REF: The Construction of Academic Excellence in Economics

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The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a UK-wide assessment scheme for the quality of Higher Education (HE)research. REF results inform both the allocation of public research funds and rankings in national and internationalleague tables, thus playing a major role in determining HE institutions' direct and indirect income. Following the strongprogramme within the Sociology of Knowledge, I conceptualise the REF as an active constructor of 'academicexcellence', rather than an objective measuring tool. Existing qualitative research confirms that the REF process itselfimpacts what is considered valid knowledge in the social sciences in general, and Economics in particular. Furtherquantitative research focusing on the case study of Economics has associated the REF and its predecessor (the'Research Assessment Exercise') with a narrowing of the Economics discipline at the disadvantage of heterodox schoolsof economic thought. However, there is an important gap in the literature when it comes to qualitative empirical work onhow 'economic excellence' is constructed through the REF and to what extent these constructions are biased againstHeterodox Economics. The aim of my proposed research is to bridge this gap through conducting a discourse analysis ofboth REF guidelines and interviews with academics involved in multiple stages of the REF.