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It seems the research assessment exercise can leave those visited by panel members reeling in more senses than one. Martin Dodsworth, chairman of the English literature panel, said the weight of submissions he had to carry about to meetings had created a danger to the public.

"I weighed what I needed to take to one meeting and it was 21lbs," he said. "A passenger on a train to London was nearly brained by one of my colleagues when his bag full of submissions fell off a rack and squashed him."