Book review: rank hypocrisies: the insult of the REF by Derek Sayer.

Publication of the results of the 2014 Research Excellence Framework evaluation of the quality of work undertaken in all UK universities last December attracted much attention, as league tables of university and department standings were constructed and estimates of the financial consequences of the achieved grades were assessed. Soon after that, a book was published savagely criticising the peer reviews undertaken at the heart of not only that exercise but also the mock exercises as they prepared their submissions. Ron Johnston reviews Derek Sayer’s critique.