Creative contagion or missing story? – examining the REF archives for evidence of provision for creative practice in doctoral study

Purpose This study aims to investigate whether there is evidence that tailored provision for creative practice was spreading across disciplines in the UK during the period 2014–2020. In doing so, the author examined the potential and limitations of the archives of a national research assessment exercise as a source for understanding perceived priorities in doctoral provision during a period of recent history. Design/methodology/approach This study examined descriptions of doctoral provision in the research environment statements that formed part of the publicly available submissions to the, 2021 research excellence framework (REF). Aligning with meta-research and historical discourse analysis approaches, the study involved a close reading and critical analysis of a small sample of documents across four different disciplinary areas. Findings In creative disciplines, tailored support was identified for creative practice in practice research. There was a lack of discussion of such provision in other disciplines, including in education research where arts-based methods are used. This study demonstrates the limitations and challenges of using the REF archives to understand the history of doctoral provision. Only qualified interpretations can be made about actual institutional practice, revealing more about perspectives on the relative importance of different facets of doctoral provision. Originality/value The research is novel in investigating the potential of discipline level REF research environment statements as sources for research into discourse on doctoral education. In identifying evidence for tailored provision and the missing stories of this spreading to other disciplines, it challengesthe author to consider the support requirements for creative practice appropriate to the doctoral education contexts.