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 the globe that will look back at what the declaration has achieved and forward to how, together, we can address the remaining challenges in reform of research assessment.
Published on May 16, 2013, the declaration was a bold attempt to address the pervasive use of inappropriate proxy measures of quality for hiring, promotion, tenure, and funding decisions. The declaration is a set of recommendations that individuals and organizations sign to show their commitment to reform assessment practices to better recognize scholarly work. Over the past decade, over 19,600 individuals and over 2,600 organizations across 159 countries have signed DORA, demonstrating an ever increasing level of awareness, passion, and effort toward reforming the way we think about the valuation of scholarly work.
A lot has changed in ten years. DORA has evolved from a declaration of recommendations into a global initiative that works with and in the community to raise awareness and support the development of best practices in research assessment. To showcase DORA’s growth and work over the past decade, and to share where we’re going for the next decade, we are proud to announce plans for DORA’s 10th Anniversary Celebration (#DORAat10) in May 2023.
The program will be comprised of two parts. DORA will organize two plenary sessions to bring together international experts to discuss progress and future goals. But we are also inviting members of the worldwide community to organize local events that we will build into a week-long program of celebration and reflection.
Plenary sessions: “DORA at 10: A look at our history and the bright future of responsible research assessment”
We will hold two plenary sessions to capture as many time zones as possible and ensure opportunities for community participation worldwide. During each plenary, we will discuss the state of the field, our past decade of work, and the future of DORA and responsible research assessment. Following introductory statements from DORA’s Chair or Vice-Chair, and a keynote address by a renowned speaker, we will hold a panel discussion with experts from across the globe.
The sessions will be held on May 16, 2023 to commemorate DORA’s publication date. Registration for the plenaries will open in January, 2023.
- Asia-Pacific Plenary: May 16, 2023. 12AM UTC (time conversion here)
- Africa, Americas, Europe Plenary: May 16, 2023. 12PM UTC (time conversion here)
A weeklong, worldwide program of events
DORA’s success is critically dependent on the work of many people in many different parts of the world. To elevate those contributions and to encourage further action, we want to include a roster of local or regional events in our 10th Anniversary Celebration. We would therefore like to invite YOU to organize an event on research assessment along with us! Held over the week of May 15-19, 2023, #DORAat10 aims to feature events that highlight reform efforts, innovation in evaluation, research into evaluation systems, or whatever aspect of responsible research assessment YOU think is important.
We will be delighted to promote these events on our website, and so we will be calling for event submissions from organizers who will lead virtual, hybrid, or in-person events about responsible research assessment. The call for submissions will be launched formally in January, 2023 – but please get your thinking caps on now!
Sign up for DORA’s newsletter at sfdora.org and follow us @DORAssessment for all of the latest 10th Anniversary updates and announcements!
