Assess the real cost of research assessment

'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the United Kingdom, scientists were waiting nervously to see how many glittering prizes the government would stuff into their stockings. Those prizes -- the results of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise, to be announced on 18 December -- will go some way towards determining which researchers in UK universities have a happy New Year. The scale and importance of this assessment of publicly funded research is unique to the United Kingdom. The winners enjoy high-quality ratings for their academic departments and the guarantee of a hefty chunk of cash to support their research. A poor rating can see a department starved of money or even closed down.