Online service for the reporting of outcomes of research for funders, researchers and research institutes to enable better research impact assessment
Researchfish is an online system used by many major UK research funders (including UK Research Councils, National Institute for Health Research, Cancer Research UK) to gather information on the outputs, outcomes and impacts of research that they have funded.
Research funders gather data on the outcomes and impacts of research they have funded to define future funding strategy, better inform the public about the importance of research and present cases for continued funding of research.
What is Researchfish and how is it used?
Researchfish is an online system used by many major UK research funders (including UK Research Councils, National Institute for Health Research, Cancer Research UK) to gather information on the outputs, outcomes and impacts of research that they have funded. Full information about Researchfish and the funders that use it can be found on the Researchfish website.
Who has to use Researchfish?
Any Principal Investigator (PI) who holds a grant from a funder that uses Researchfish must report research outcomes annually through Researchfish. This includes fellowship holders and postgraduate research students. If you have never used Researchfish before, your funder will email you directly about joining Researchfish with a link to create your account and associate an award with it. You can also add a delegate to provide this information on your behalf.
It would be advantageous to link your Researchfish account to your ORCiD account, which will enable Researchfish to harvest information from that. You can either login with your ORCID account or once logged in to Researchfish, you can link your account by clicking on the ‘Connect to ORCiD’ option that appears under your name on the main dashboard and following the instructions thereafter.
PIs must continue to report on awards for five years after the award has ended.
If no outcomes have arisen from a grant during a year, the PI is still required to make a “null” submission in Researchfish during the reporting period.
If no further outcomes are expected on a particular award, this can be discussed directly with the funder and the award may be closed in Researchfish so that no further reports are expected. Please contact Alison Bendall, Research Information Officer in Research & Innovation, who will liaise with the funder.
Why is it important to use Researchfish?
Research funders gather data on the outcomes and impacts of research they have funded to define future funding strategy, better inform the public about the importance of research and present cases for continued funding of research.
Sanctions
To comply with UKRI policy, a PI with an award in researchfish having a response code 1 must complete a valid researchfish submission during the next submission period. All non-compliant PIs will lose eligibility to be either a PI or Co-I on further awards from any UKRI Council and any UKRI Council awards they hold will have their payments withheld until such time as the PI makes a valid researchfish submission.
Only students in the third or later year of their studies will be asked to submit their outcomes. Whilst the sanctions policy does not apply to students, overall institutional compliance may be considered in making future doctoral training awards and students should be encouraged to submit within the submission period.
All non-compliant PIs will lose eligibility to be either a PI or Co-I on further awards from any UKRI Council and any UKRI Council awards they hold will have their payments withheld until such time as the PI makes a valid researchfish submission.
When do I have to submit research outcomes in Researchfish?
Each funder has a slightly different annual submission period, by the end of which the researcher must have submitted up-to-date research outcomes information. You can log into Researchfish and record outcomes at any time throughout the year, but the submission period is a fixed time each year. Nearer the time of submission, you will receive an email from your funder and the University of Plymouth informing you of the dates for the next submission period.
How do I log on?
Go to the Researchfish website and click on 'My Account'. You can then login using your login details.
Researchfish guidance and contact details