Submission periods are key to the process of collecting accurate and usable outputs/outcomes information via the Researchfish platform. The action of PI's clicking the Submit button confirms that their reported information is up to date, accurate and gives the Funder permission to use the data submitted. 

Clear communications are essential in running a successful submission period:

• Start communications early to allow sufficient time to notify your researchers (at least 2-3 months prior to your submission period).
• View our communication Funder Top Tips and RO Top Tips documents for key items to include when communicating with your researchers.
• View our Communication Templates Document which can be used alongside Researchfish Top Tips Documents, Funders Internal Comms and Implementation plan.
• Point researchers to our publicly available help site where researchers can access the most up-to-date user guide and videos. 

Steps for setting up your submission period:
Pick a date:

• Create your own submission period start and end dates or align your next one with a multi-funder submission period.
• Optimal duration for a submission period is 4-6 weeks.

Refresh your data:

• Either update your award details manually in the platform, or for bulk updates via the RHT uploader (please see section below for more information on RHTs).

Researchfish platform set up:

• Create your submission period in the platform, add your awards and assign any
  additional questions (if applicable to your organisation)

Invitations:

•  Send out invitations via the Researchfish platform to anyone who has not yet accepted,
  as well as for new awards, to grant your PIs access to their awards ahead of the
  submission period start date.

* If you think you might be interested in using the new Outcome Prioritisation functionality, please see the section titled
'Available Soon: Outcome Prioritisation'

Please contact your Customer Success Manager or our specialised Client Support Team via
rfclientsupport@elsevier.com if you have any queries about preparing for your submission
period or would like any assistance with your communication plans.

Note: If your organisation is aligning to the upcoming 2026 UK Multi-Funder Submission period and is planning to make updates to Award details in Researchfish in bulk via an RHT Template, we advise that you submit your RHT (Respondent Hierarchy Table) by 20 November 2025. This guideline is to accommodate Research Organisations’ (ROs) wishes to review and submit any final updates to funders about award or PI details before the submission period opens.

View the RHT guidance.

We encourage funders to make use of the 'Other Location' field in the Researchfish platform if the award is based at more than one research organisation. If you do this for awards based at more than one RO, then it will allow all the ROs to see and upload outputs for the award (as long as you have indicated that the award details can be shared with ROs). You can add this either through the platform, or by sending a separate data update request after your RHT has been processed.

It is possible to manually add and update award information on the Researchfish platform. However, you can use an RHT when changes/updates need to be made to your awards in bulk.

You can find the template & submit for upload when you are ready on the RHT uploader page.

Many funders cofund awards with other funders. In the past funders either asked the researcher to report separately to each funder (increasing researcher reporting) or relied on the lead funder to collect this information and then share the data afterwards; but with the introduction of co-funding support, a single Researchfish award can now be associated with multiple funders. This streamlines reporting for researchers, reducing the burden of reporting the same information to each funder separately and ensuring reporting consistency.

Check out the co-funding user guide for more information.

Please send any queries to rfclientsupport@elsevier.com.

Do we have the most up to date and correct contact details for your organisation?

All organisations that use the Researchfish platform are asked to provide contact details for their organisation on the “Our Community” page of the Researchfish platform. The information on this page is used by other organisations that subscribe to Researchfish, researchers and our staff to contact you regarding Researchfish related queries, and is of significant importance during submission windows.

Instructions on how to update details held on the Researchfish Our Community Page can befound in the Funder User Guide in the section “Our Community”.

Please send any queries to rfclientsupport@elsevier.com.

Thank you to those who attended the Researchfish Interoperability Webinar held by Product Manager, Colin Millerchip with support from Chief Analyst, Gavin Reddick. For more information about the increased interoperability between ROs and Researchfish, and specifically how all ROs can now upload publications, datasets, software, audio, video, and images even if they don’t know the funder and grant attribution, see the product documentation.

Watch the Researchfish Interoperability Webinar recording.

As a reminder, to be able to add outputs that don’t have funder and grant attribution information, you need to make use of the Researcher Record functionality. If you have not yet created Researcher Records, then you will need to allow time for this process.

To make the most of the RO interoperability uploader, it is important to start using the tool well ahead of the next multi funder submission period. Early engagement allows for thorough preparation, helping to ensure a smoother and more efficient submission process.

For more information, please see the existing product documentation or feel free to reach out to your Customer Success Manager or our Client Support Team via rfclientsupport@elsevier.com.

Please note, as in previous years, the outcomes uploader tool will be turned off for the last 4 weeks of the UK Multi Funder Submission Period.

Our next closure dates align with upcoming UK Bank Holidays which are:

• Thursday 25th of December
• Friday 26th of December

Please note that there will be limited Researchfish support available during the above dates, however, please don't hesitate to reach out to our specialised Client Support Team via rfclientsupport@elsevier.com and we'll address your query as soon as possible.