More than 350 research organisations aim to join a coalition to reform the research assessment to increase the quality and impact of research.
As the culmination of a years-long process to update how scientists and their work are evaluated, an Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment was published on 20 July 2022. This document was the result of a co-creation exercise led by the stakeholder community in coordination with the European Commission. Earlier in July, on 8 July, the final version had been presented at the Stakeholder Assembly, where more than 350 organisations from over 40 countries participated, after having expressed their interest in joining the coalition. From Switzerland, the Bern University of Applied Sciences, Frontiers, HES-SO, the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Swiss Reproducibility Network, swissuniversities and the University of Zurich expressed their interest in being part of the coalition.
In the lead-up to the publication of the above agreement, the Competitiveness Council adopted on 10 June Conclusions ‘on Research Assessment and the Implementation of Open Science’. In it, the EU Member States endorsed the already ongoing process towards the creation of a coalition to reform research assessment. The idea to establish a coalition goes in line with the ERA Action 3 on Research Assessment of the ERA Policy Agenda for 2022-2024 (see SwissCore article).
The agreement lays out a vision for an assessment of research that moves away from a narrow quantitative citation-based framework. Instead it seeks to recognise the broad set of factors which should be taken into account when weighing the quality of research. Indeed, diverse outputs, practices and activities contribute to the quality and impact of research. This recognition requires basing assessment primarily on qualitative judgement, for which peer-review is central, supported by responsible use of quantitative indicators. The agreement also comprises principles, commitments, and timeframes to work together to reform research assessment and implement its changes as appropriate to each field of research and type of researcher and research organisation.
The drafting of the agreement has been led by representatives from the European University Association (EUA), Science Europe, the European Commission, and by Dr Karen Stroobants as an individual expert. A core group of 20 research organisations, representing the diversity of the research community across Europe, contributed to the drafting process in depth. In addition, a wide range of research actors and organisations provided feedback, representing a broad diversity of views and perspectives. Moreover, the EU Member States and Associated Countries were consulted on the agreement in the framework of the ERA Forum and the European Research Area Committee (ERAC).
The research landscape has changed considerably in the last years; therefore, a reform of the assessment of research projects, research institutes, and individual researchers is needed to increase research efficiency, impact, and social responsibility. The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), an initiative that focuses on opposition to journal impact factors, was published nearly a decade ago. Since then, there has been an ongoing debate leading to the Leiden Manifesto in 2015 and the Hong Kong Principles in 2019 to support a more comprehensive research assessment in opposition to the dominance of bibliometric indices.
Criticism of the current research assessment has especially intensified in the context of Open Science, particularly during the current Covid-19 crisis, as traditional bibliometric indices based on individual competition rather than on collaboration are considered as one of the major difficulties in the implementation of Open Science practices. Open Science continues to be an essential concern of the European Union. Still, the Commission is aware that to advance further in Open Science, there is a need to reform the current research assessment system, one of the keystones in building a new culture around Open Science. Consequently, the reform of research assessment is a high priority at the EU level, but also supported at the international level. Though, the goal of the current research assessment reform is much broader, taking into account the quality and impact, but also the diversity, inclusiveness and collaboration (including Open Science).
In a next step, the coalition will be endorsed by research stakeholders; namely, European or international not-for-profit organisations involved in research assessment are invited to join the coalition, by signing the agreement. The gathering of signatures to the agreement will be organised on 28 September 2022 at the Research and Innovation Days, but early indications of signature of the agreement are welcome. The first meeting of the General Assembly of the coalition is planned for late autumn 2022.