5.29

REF name updated

We have updated the name of the REF2028 module to REF2029 to reflect the changes from UKRI. The renaming includes all items related to REF2029, such as the review template, the UoA, etc.

UoA on Person

It is now possible to specify on Persons to which Unit of Assessment (2029) they belong. You can also use the information from this Unit of Assessment field to create the reports needed for an overview of which persons are in which UoAs. 

Bulk upload of Reviews

It is now possible to upload of multiple Reviews per Research output. Pure creates a Review for each combination of Research output ID and UoA. We have also added a the optional Review ID column to the upload spreadsheet. If the Review ID column is present, Pure uses it to find the corresponding Review and adds it to the respondents from the spreadsheet. With this change, it is possible to create Reviews in Pure and populate them with information from the spreadsheet.

Visibility of co-author review requests

We have updated permissions on Reviews so that review requests made on outputs are only visible to the requestor and not any of their co-authors on the same record.  Visibility settings and permissions for Editors or Administrators are otherwise unchanged. 

5.28

REF 2029 module

We're releasing the first iteration of the REF2029 module. This will contain the Review templates and the Reviews, as well as the Unit of Assessments. With this new module, it will be possible to bulk import existing Reviews, by using the provided template. You will find the template in the REF2028 module. It is very easy to import reviews once the template is completed, just drag and drop the spreadsheet to the corresponding area and Pure will import the reviews, or report any errors that need to be fixed. 

We will be adding more functionality to the REF2028 module once we know more about what is needed. 

Review functionality

Flexible review process: recall, edit, and re-open reviews

Reviewers can now edit their previously submitted responses before the review editor finalizes the review. Review editors can now re-open completed reviews, allowing further comments to be added. For audit purposes, the date and time of re-opening the review is available in the comments section.

Show/hide final grades to the author or applicant

Review editors can now show or hide final grades on templates and in the review editor of the relevant content types. If final grades are turned off, they are also hidden from other users in the review overview screens. To prevent overriding these settings, Review editors can lock them on the review templates.

The role Editor of Reviews is now based on content type

To maintain different review contexts, the Editor of Reviews role is now specific to content types. For example, it is now possible to grant the role of Editor of Application Reviews (with permissions to only create and manage reviews on the Application content type), or the Editor of Research Output Reviews role (with permissions for Research output reviews). This ensures Editors of one content type are unable to view the reviews of the other, although it is possible to grant both roles to the same user.

5.27

UK:REF - Review type for continuous assessment

As part of the 5.27 release we are introducing a new content type in Pure - the Review Content type. This type has been adapted, based on input from the UK continuous assessment special interest group (SIG) to allow users of the REF module to create and distribute reviews for comment and scoring on research outputs and can be used for assessing the quality of outputs for consideration as part of a future REF exercise. 

At this point, we consider this the initial release and will continue to revise and develop the functionality in further Pure versions. From Pure 5.27.0, users will be able to

• create review templates,
• create reviews (directly as Editors of Reviews, and indirectly via author request),
• add reviewers as required,
• send and notify reviewers,
• and then process, score and finalise reviews once responses have been received.

Functionality specified by the SIG for batch features, including the upload of existing review information held locally, and the bulk selection of new outputs for review are still under development and will be made available as soon as possible. We will continue to develop additional features based on feedback received and against the SIG user stories. 

We intend to carefully monitor feedback of this new feature and have agreed to work closely with the Continuous Assessment SIG to consolidate feedback and to help with the prioritisation of any additions of corrections to the functionality as delivered.  Please contact either Nicolaj Lock (N.Lock@elsevier.com) or James Toon (j.toon@elsevier.com) for more information if required.