CoSeC has been confirmed by Hidden REF as one of their official supporters in their campaign to transform research culture.

The Hidden REF began as a one-off national competition in 2020 with the goal of celebrating all research outputs and everyone who is involved in their creation. It has since become a widely recognised campaign which is changing research culture by increasing awareness of the vital role of non-traditional outputs (NTOs) and Hidden Roles in the UK and beyond. 

If there is a reliance on publications as the only metric of research success, many of the non-traditional outputs and hidden roles that are essential to research are in danger of being overlooked. Non-traditional outputs are vital to most research and often embody fundamental methods or technologies. Yet their importance is not recognised, which creates a disincentive to invest time and resources in NTOs. This then adversely affects the reliability, reproducibility, effectiveness, transparency, and productivity of research.

Hidden Roles are part of the same paradox. They are often staff who are employed in the production or management of NTOs. They have vital skills and experience but are undervalued because they are not named in publications and the NTOs they work with are not adequately recognised. This undervaluation makes Hidden Roles less attractive compared to other industries, creating unnecessary barriers to recruiting and retaining skills that are essential to research.

Research culture needs to change so that success is correctly associated with all the outputs and roles on which research relies. Alongside fellow supporters such as the Alan Turing Institute and the Software Sustainability Institute, CoSeC will support the vision of Hidden REF by raising awareness of the importance of NTOs and Hidden Roles and help to generate an environment that is fair and effective at conducting research.

“Those working within CoSeC at UKRI STFC and STFC Scientific Computing’s National Laboratories have a unique career path in the UK research environment. This has allowed them to dedicate their time and expertise to ensuring that the research software that underpins and drives key UK research and innovation is well developed, robust and maintained. It is no longer a question whether this is key to our ability to conduct research, very clearly, it is. What the Hidden REF aims to achieve is a fundamental and tangible improvement to how these research outputs are now considered in terms of their value and worth. This is the key step needed to enable Research Technical Professional career pathways across the wider Research and Innovation landscape and one which, if successful, will help unlock the UK’s economic potential around computational research. The Hidden REF exercise aligns closely with the goals and ethos of CoSeC and we are very happy to be involved and to help with it.”

Dr Stephen Longshaw, Director of CoSeC