The Times, 6/5/2008

Research assessment exercises are now so secretive that academics are using the Freedom of Information Act to view assessors' reports

Academics have become so frustrated by secrecy surrounding the research assessment exercise (RAE) that they are being forced to deploy the Freedom of Information Act against their own assessors.

RAE panels, which conduct an annual evaluation of the quality of academics' work, were recently instructed to destroy documentation showing how they reached their decisions, reports Times Higher Education (May 1). This would protect them from freedom of information requests and “the associated burden”, say instructions issued by RAE managers last November.

The University and College Union (UCU) is fighting back through an emergency motion from its Higher Education Committee. It will submit a monthly freedom of information request, for all RAE panel evidence including personal notes and draft minutes.

“The destruction of panel evidence destroys any argument that the RAE is somehow an objective and scientific measure of higher education research outputs,” argues the committee's motion.

Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, agrees. “How can a complaints policy be effective if there is no trace of anything you have left behind?”

Concerns over information and secrecy have also driven a controversial website offline.

WillISeeMyTutor.com allowed prospective students to compare institutions by their staff-to-student ratios. However, its owners have been denied access to official statistics, following complaints that it skewed data.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) claims it refused to continue providing data because the site owners would not reveal their full identities. Such secrecy led Hesa to believe the organisation was not “operating on a basis of good faith”, according to a spokesman.