There have been many studies over the years (primarily authored by one C. Oppenheim, but also by others) demonstrating a statistically significant correlation between citation counts by academics returned for the RAE and their department's eventual RAE scores. These studies cover hard science, soft science and humanities; not sure if any studies have been done in engineering subjects though.
Charles Professor Charles Oppenheim Department of Information Science Loughborough University Loughborough Leics LE11 3TU 01509-223065 (fax) 01509-223053
