What replaces Researchfish? On 18 September, Elsevier announced it is working towards releasing its source code as open source in August 2027, after the hosted service closes. This is a total game changer: funders could operate their own version, appoint a supplier, share a service or reuse selected components. The release remains planned rather than guaranteed.
A new Project Partner feature, planned for November 2026, will allow funders to collect information about the support that project partners actually provided.
Funders need to establish where grantees will report when the current shared service ends. Institutions reporting to several funders could face different portals, deadlines and requirements. Both announcements matter to that transition. These are the five questions I would ask your funders now.
What will we need to report in 2027, including partner contributions?
UKRI’s next scheduled window is 1 February to 11 March 2027, closing at 4pm UK time. Confirm each funder’s dates, awards covered and use of Project Partner. Elsevier says the feature will retain original commitments alongside updates, separating cash and in-kind contributions, their delivered value and whether support arrived, remains expected, changed or did not proceed. Ask what evidence and valuation approach your funder expects.
Who will preserve your records and check their transfer?
Releasing source code does not preserve your organisation’s data. Ask who will export and check award records, outcomes, additional questions and partner contributions. The Researchfish closure FAQ states that data will be deleted 12 months after each funder’s contract ends or by 31 July 2027, whichever comes sooner. Confirm your deadline, how transfer completeness will be checked and how you will access records afterwards.
Are you considering open-source Researchfish, and who would run it?
Ask whether your funder is considering its own installation, a supplier-managed service, a consortium or another Researchfish alternative. Open source does not itself provide an operated service. Any approach needs ownership, governance, hosting, maintenance, security and support. Ask who is responsible, how ongoing costs will be funded and when the decision will be communicated.
What happens between closure and the next service being ready?
August 2027 is the planned code release date. A working service also requires implementation, migration and testing. Ask where to record outcomes during the transition, how they will transfer and what happens if implementation is delayed. Confirm deadlines, support and how reporting problems caused by the transition will be handled.
How will the next approach reduce repeated reporting?
Ask what transfers, which integrations continue and what needs re-entering. Will funders coordinate requirements, remove questions and involve researchers and research managers in testing? Keep partner contributions distinct from collaborations and further funding.
A replacement must collect from awardees, aggregate portfolio results, map to each funder’s outcome categories, migrate records cleanly and satisfy security review. Ask vendors specifically how awardees outside your workforce get accounts, submit outcomes and receive support; how permissions separate organisations; and what external access costs.
How Hivve can help
We can help organisations keep collecting and managing impact evidence while funders assess these options. Our ImpactTracker enables teams to capture impact data and evidence throughout projects, review portfolio progress and generate reports.
ImpactTracker supports evidence capture, while exports help reuse information and reduce deadline preparation. Our new AI assisted report generator can produce drafts in minutes based on your research outputs.
ImpactTracker can be the tool you use to maintain a usable record of what your research achieves and the evidence behind it.
Our ImpactTracker impact taxonomy and metadata cover the vast majority of reporting requirements already described in Researchfish. Book an appointment with us so we can show you how Hivve can support your reporting needs and ride with you through the Researchfish sunset.
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