UKRI takes action on Technopolis review of peer review findings

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has recently published a news item about their use of Technopolis Group’s findings in trialling interventions in the peer review process.

UKRI has adopted the Technopolis Group report as a key evidence base for interventions designed to make peer review processes more efficient, relevant, and of higher quality, while promoting greater diversity in the range of projects and researchers funded.

Review of Peer Review

The report conducted by Technopolis UK and published last year presented the findings of a study commissioned by UKRI to review interventions to the peer review processes used in R&I award funding.

The study assessed 38 interventions, which range from small process ‘tweaks’ such as increasing and decreasing the number of reviewers per application and shortening application sections, to more fundamental changes such as partial randomisation and complete bypass of peer review.