Can someone give me a very brief idea of the requirements for the next ref?

I'm going for an interivew and I want to say how I can contribute towards it (to show I've thought about it).

When is the next one?

How many papers do you have to have?

When do the papers have to be submitted into journals by if they are to be included?

Are there any other things to think about? i.e. do we have to demonstrate impact now, and how do you demontrate it?

http://www.hefce.ac.uk/research/ref/ has details or there are summaries at lots of uni websites.

My understanding is that to be entered you need 4 papers (but I think you also need to be in a research cluster so you cna't jsut be netered on your own). I think they have to be have been published so in press doesn't count.
Impact varies by subject - for some disciplies impact stats are always very low (so 4 might be considered v high) whereas in others 8 might be considered low. There are subject teams who will assess it.

I'm sure other peopel will knwo more about it...