coara

The Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment is an initiative launched by research funding organizations, scientific associations, universities, and research institutions to reform research assessment. The goal of the initiative is to move away from traditional metric-based assessments (such as citation counts or journal impact factors) toward richer, more responsible, and more inclusive assessment practices. The main commitments and guidelines for member organizations are set out in the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment, which was published in July 2022. The signatories to the agreement have committed to developing action plans to change assessment practices.

Commitments of the Agreement:

  1. Recognise the diversity of contributions to, and careers in, research in accordance with the needs and nature of the research
  2. Base research assessment primarily on qualitative evaluation for which peer review is central, supported by responsible use of quantitative indicators
  3. Abandon inappropriate uses in research assessment of journal- and publication-based metrics, in particular inappropriate uses of Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and h-index
  4. Avoid the use of rankings of research organisations in research assessment
  5. Commit resources to reforming research assessment as is needed to achieve the organisational changes committed to
  6. Review and develop research assessment criteria, tools and processes
  7. Raise awareness of research assessment reform and provide transparent communication, guidance, and training on assessment criteria and processes as well as their use
  8. Exchange practices and experiences to enable mutual learning within and beyond the Coalition
  9. Communicate progress made on adherence to the Principles and implementation of the Commitments
  10. Evaluate practices, criteria and tools based on solid evidence and the state-of-the-art in research on research, and make data openly available for evidence gathering and research

There are two ways to join the coalition, either as a signatory of the Agreement or as a full member of CoARA. Gdańsk University of Technology signed the Agreement on 2 May 2023 and became a full member of CoARA.