Libraries as research enablers: A content analysis of research excellence framework environment statements

IF 2.5 3区 管理学 Q2 INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE Journal of Academic Librarianship Pub Date : 2025-03-15 DOI:10.1016/j.acalib.2025.103039
Claire Pike , Barbara S. Lancho Barrantes
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Abstract

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) assesses the research quality of UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). One element of this assessment, the environment statement, allows discipline-specific Units of Assessment (UoAs) to detail aspects of their HEIs wider research environment. As academic libraries play a crucial role in facilitating research, it would be expected that recognition of this would be acknowledged within these environment statements. To test this, a content analysis of all 3769 environment statements submitted to REF2014 and REF2021 was conducted. It found that only 63.4 % of UoAs mentioned the library in their environment statements. Moreover, environment statements in non-STEM disciplines were approximately twice as likely to mention the library than those in STEM disciplines. Interestingly, while the acknowledgment of ‘traditional’ support services remained consistent over time, acknowledgement of ‘non-traditional’ services (e.g., open research support, and research data services) increased significantly between REF2014 and REF2021 across all disciplines. Therefore, while academic libraries are often recognised by their HEIs as contributing to the institutional research environment, this is by no means universal. Instead, recognition depended on discipline and has shifted over time. These findings have important implications for understanding and prioritising library research support.
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来源期刊
Journal of Academic Librarianship
Journal of Academic Librarianship INFORMATION SCIENCE & LIBRARY SCIENCE-
CiteScore
5.30
自引率
15.40%
发文量
120
审稿时长
29 days
期刊介绍: The Journal of Academic Librarianship, an international and refereed journal, publishes articles that focus on problems and issues germane to college and university libraries. JAL provides a forum for authors to present research findings and, where applicable, their practical applications and significance; analyze policies, practices, issues, and trends; speculate about the future of academic librarianship; present analytical bibliographic essays and philosophical treatises. JAL also brings to the attention of its readers information about hundreds of new and recently published books in library and information science, management, scholarly communication, and higher education. JAL, in addition, covers management and discipline-based software and information policy developments.
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