Value and efficiency of the peer-review system assessed

The UK peer review system provides an international benchmark of research quality and the project is based on a continuing commitment to the principle of the project-based peer review system. The initiative, which is due to report by the end of September, will provide evidence to inform possible efficiency gains while maintaining the high quality of the system.

The Peer Review Project will include an examination of the full cost of the grant peer-review system. It will encompass the cost to institutions of researchers and administrators writing proposals, academics acting as referees and panel members, and analysing the use of staff time and cost of operations within the eight Research Councils themselves.

The Peer Review Project is one of the strands of work being undertaken in support of the Research Councils' submissions to the government's 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review.