Does not compute: why I'm proposing a moratorium on academics' use of the term "outputs"

The word "outputs" is now ubiquitous in UK academia, particularly in a REF context that requires authors to think of their publications in such terms. To Kirsten Bell this is jarring, with a term previously more commonly associated with the language of computing or economics, where outputs are measured and monetised, clearly not suitable to academia. It's ultimately ideas that academics trade in, a reality obscured by the concept of “outputs” and its connotations of mechanical production and expulsion. It’s time for a moratorium on the casual use of the term “outputs” amongst academics.