科学研究的社会影响评估正在成为全球科研评估改革的前沿。英国2014年实施的REF评估首次在国家科研评估框架中引入科研社会影响评估，对科研社会影响评估的范围、内容、形式和方法等进行了诸多尝试，形成了基于9个社会影响维度的统一评估框架与完整评估链，探索了多元专家依据证据指标集对结构化案例进行评估的主客观综合评估方法，开发了针对科研社会影响案例的“后分析”技术，对扩大英国大学科研的全球影响力起到重要支持作用。
Research impact assessment is becoming the forefront of global research assessment reform. The implementation of 2014 REF in the UK had attracted great attention for it was the first national research assessment framework which tried to introduce research impact assessment reform. This reform had endeavored to work out the definition of the research impact assessment to form a unified assessment framework based on nine social impact dimensions，to explore the comprehensive evaluation methods by diverse experts reviewing structured cases based on a set of evidence and indicators，and to develop post-REF analysis to promote the expansion of the global impact of UK’s research.
