Blog

Today, DORA is announcing an update to its policy for organizational signatories. What is the new policy? Beginning on January 1, 2025, organizations and institutions that sign DORA will need to submit a public statement at the time of signing to be approved. Previously, organizations were asked to post a public statement when they signed…

  Publishing requires constant innovation and renewal in order for it to remain relevant. eLife has disrupted the traditional model of scholarly publishing: since its inception, innovation and academic-led publishing have been at the core of eLife‘s policies and processes. Presently, their peer review model requires submissions to be preprinted prior to peer review, followed…

DORA has hit a new milestone by reaching the 25,000 signature mark. Each of those thousands of signatures represents an individual or organization that supports the principles of the original San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, drafted in 2013. Most signatures are from individuals, with QQ percent from various organizations, including universities, departments and libraries…

Announcements Reformscape in Full Swing Since its release in January, Reformscape has been serving the research community in providing 230 documents encouraging openness & transparency. New documents and information continue to be added and are always publicly available. Upgrades have also been made to make the platform more user-friendly. You can now search for responsible…

The Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) came into being to try to end the misuse of the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) in the evaluation of research and researchers and has achieved considerable success in advancing reform of assessment practices. However, there are a number of other quantitative indicators derived from publishing activity which are used…

DORA seeks self-nominations for Steering Committee members based in Asia. DORA is a global initiative dedicated to the improvement of research assessment. Almost 25,000 individuals and organizations worldwide have signed DORA in the last decade, including research institutions, funders, and government agencies. The Steering Committee supports and shapes DORA’s mission and vision, as outlined in…

In February 2022, DORA organized the online workshop series “Using Narrative CVs: Identifying shared objectives and monitoring effectiveness” in partnership with FORGEN CoP, Science Foundation Ireland, the Swiss National Science Foundation, UK Research and Innovation, and the University of Bristol, Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research. The aim of the workshop was to develop a…

Each year, DORA reflects on progress toward responsible research assessment. How is research valued in different communities and how might that have changed in 2023? What tools are the community creating to support policy development? What types of research assessment policies are being developed to reduce the influence of journal-based metrics and recognize a broad…

Announcements Farewells, Welcomes, and Exciting News Bidding farewell to Chair Stephen CurrySince October 2017, Stephen Curry has been Chair of DORA, acting as an advocate for equitable and responsible research assessment. Read his farewell address here. Welcoming the new Co-Chairs and Vice-Chair As of November 2023, Ginny Barbour of Queensland University of Technology, and Kelly Cobey…

As of November, 2023, DORA has two new Co-Chairs, Ginny Barbour and Kelly Cobey, as well as a new Vice Chair, Rebecca Lawrence. We are so excited to welcome all three of them to the DORA team and look forward to working together to promote responsible research assessment. See each of their welcoming remarks below:…

In July 2023, Zen Faulkes took on the position of DORA Program Director. Read DORA’s welcoming announcement here. For more information about his background and passion for DORA’s mission read his opening statement below: Hello! I’m Zen Faulkes, and I began as DORA’s Program Director at the start of July. Before I say anything about…

In October 2017, Stephen Curry took on the position of Chair of DORA, acting as an advocate for equitable and responsible research assessment. During his time as Chair, he has been a dedicated advocate and champion for DORA. His contributions have been immense, including action plans aimed at increasing awareness of DORA, as well as…

The social media landscape is always changing, and DORA’s online presence is changing along with it. In addition to our presence on X (previously known as Twitter), we have expanded to several new social media platforms so that you are able to follow and interact with us on whichever one you use. Before getting to…

The Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) is pleased to welcome Zen Faulkes as the new Program Director beginning July 5, 2023. Following a competitive recruitment process, Faulkes was selected for the role by DORA’s Chair, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Wilson, ASCB Vice President of Policy, Governance and Meetings at the American Society for Cell Biology,…

Five years after making a decisive shift to become an international campaigning initiative and completing the aims of its first strategic plan, the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) is pleased to announce a new three-year strategic plan to continue its focus on implementing global research assessment reform. To meet the goals of our…

The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) is pleased to welcome Elizabeth Ochola as the newest at-large member of our Steering Committee. Elizabeth is a global health researcher at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and was selected from among 32 applicants from 12 countries following a November 2022 open call for a new…

DORA will be 10 years old in May 2023 and we are planning to mark the occasion! We’ll be holding a weeklong celebration for DORA’s 10th Anniversary and we’re inviting you to join in by organizing an event on research assessment for your local community. We want to have conversations about what DORA has done…

Each year, DORA reflects on progress toward responsible research assessment. The following list is of new developments from DORA on this front. New Developments from DORA In January, members of DORA’s Steering Committee selected the awardees for the Community Engagement Grants program, who were announced in February. DORA piloted the program as a mechanism to…

DORA at 10: Looking back at the history and the future of research assessment The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) will celebrate its 10th birthday in May next year and we want to invite the worldwide research community to help us mark the occasion. We aim to coordinate a series of events across…

DORA is pleased to announce today the publication of our Engagement and outreach policy for organizational signatories to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment. This policy aims to give a more specific answer to the question ‘How should DORA be enforced?’, which has arisen on a number of occasions when reports have been received…

DORA very much welcomes the new Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment, which was announced on 20 July 2022. Developed by the European University Association and Science Europe, the initiative has the support of the European Commission and aims to create a coalition of organizations (primarily from Europe though the Agreement is open to others) who…

It is with the sweet sorrow of parting that DORA says goodbye this week to our Program Director, Anna Hatch. Over the past four years she has been a essential part of the DORA team. All those who have had the good fortune to interact with her during that time will be aware of the professionalism, imagination, zeal…

Announcements New SPACE workshop kit DORA is proud to present a new set of resources for those seeking to share the SPACE rubric with their communities. The SPACE rubric is a tool to help institutions at any stage of academic assessment reform gauge their ability to support research assessment reform and set them up for…

DORA is excited to announce the launch of the SPACE workshop kit, a resource designed for those seeking to share the SPACE rubric with their communities. This kit is intended to equip individuals with the materials needed to run their own version of the SPACE workshop for participants from their academic association, institution, department, and…

DORA is delighted to support 10 projects in 9 countries to raise awareness for responsible research assessment and facilitate the development of new policies and practices through the Community Engagement Grants: Supporting Academic Assessment Reform program. These projects will help academic institutions establish a baseline for assessment reform, prepare for the development of new protocols,…