In 1986, the UK became the first country to introduce performance-based funding for universities—what it called Research Assessment Exercise (now Research Excellence Framework or REF). Since then, the system has served as a model for evaluation frameworks in several other countries, but what’s interesting is that no country has replicated the model exactly—some tried and decided against it—or has carried exercises on a scale the UK manages every few years.

In the run-up to REF 2021, the upcoming assessment cycle in the UK, we put the spotlight on the still novel concept of research impact assessment, with a special focus on REF. We briefly discuss the framework’s evolution since 1986 and the influence this framework has had on the research landscape in the UK and outside. We interviewed key members who drive impact support in four UK universities: Queen Mary University of London, King’s College London, London School of Economics and Political Science, and The University of Bath. We tried to understand what went into REF 2014 and how the universities are preparing for REF 2021. The insights from these impact officers and managers will shed some light on how universities in the UK have kept up with the requirements of REF and what is being done to educate researchers on impact. We have also picked three case studies from REF 2014 to highlight the varied impact research can have.

We hope that this issue is able to influence universities, funding bodies, policymakers, and other stakeholders to set up similar frameworks in other countries, especially in Asia where avenues for performance evaluations are lacking, and provide takeaways for research promotion and industry–academia partnerships.