DORA Initiatives Meeting: Reformscape

Each quarter, DORA holds a Community of Practice (CoP) meeting for National and International Initiatives working to address responsible research assessment reform. This CoP is a space for initiatives to learn from each other, make connections with like-minded organizations, and collaborate on projects or topics of common interest. Meeting agendas are shaped by participants. If you lead an initiative, coalition, or organization working to improve research assessment and are interested in joining the group, please find more information here.

During this quarters’ initiatives meeting, our very own Haley Hazlett, Program Manager, presented about Reformscape, a searchable collection of assessment criteria and standards from academic institutions. Reformscape is a tool developed by the TARA team at DORA and has been molded and improved over the past two and a half years by including community discussions and user testing. Reformscape is meant to inform institutions on how reform occurs by providing information on reform policies, processes, action plans, announcements etc. for multiple disciplines and levels of career. The tool has been active since January, 2024, and will continue to grow and expand in information, materials and geographics.

During the round table discussion we heard updates from multiple organizations including the following:

• HELIOS Open organized a workshop in which 50 senior leaders (presidents, VPs, provosts etc.) joined in Miami to discuss modernizing tenure and promotion procedures.
• The Southern African Regional Universities Association (SARUA) is creating a community of practice for responsible research assessment at academic institutions in South Africa mentioning their interest in the participation of experts to help drive the discussion.
• The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) has published guidelines on research assessment, developing an evaluation framework for research, training and mentoring.

Suggested Reading List:

• Project TARA
  • https://sfdora.org/project-tara/

• Reformscape link
  • https://sfdora.org/reformscape/
• Reformscape FAQ
  • https://sfdora.org/reformscape/reformscape-faq/
• Reformscape Glossary
  • https://sfdora.org/reformscape/glossary/

• HELIOS Open
  • https://www.heliosopen.org/testimonials-1
• NSERC
  • https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/NSERC-CRSNG/Policies-Politiques/assessment_of_contributions-evaluation_des_contributions_eng.asp 
• Transforming Evidence Funders Network
  • https://transforming-evidence.org/projects/transforming-evidence-network

• Global Research Council
  • https://globalresearchcouncil.org/about/responsible-research-assessment-working-group/

Casey Donahoe is DORA’s Policy Associate