Introduction to Responsible Research Assessment Course

The DORA introductory course on responsible research assessment

The introductory responsible research assessment (RRA)  course aims to empower anyone to challenge existing assumptions around research quality and impact, by introducing them to the concept of responsible research assessment, its foundational principles, and how RRA aims to improve evaluation practices.

This course is free, self-paced, and designed for you to pick and choose which lessons are most relevant and useful. Each lesson includes a glossary of key terms and an annotated bibliography to help guide you if you wish to dive more deeply into different topics touched on during the lesson.

Who is this course for? This is an introductory course open to anyone, regardless of career level or discipline, seeking to learn about RRA. This course is designed for anyone working in research, research administration or leadership, research funding or policy, scholarly publishing or communication, or metrics providers who seek to drive positive change in the research system. Given that this topic is focused on those in the academic space, a familiarity with academia or higher education, research policy, and/or academic publishing is highly recommended.

What will you gain? Build a foundational understanding of RRA, gain insights into innovative tools and approaches such as Narrative CVs, and be inspired from real-world examples of successful RRA implementation from institutions worldwide.

Course content

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• understand the definition of RRA
• identify the limitations of traditional research assessment methods
• describe examples of how RRA can be applied
• identify the key actors within the scholarly system that impact research assessment. 

Important FAQs

• Registration: You must register to take this course. Registration creates a profile, which allows you to track your progress through the course and access your certificates of completion for the course. You can access your profile by logging in from the course homepage, and you can delete your profile at any time. By providing your email address, you are opting in to receive communications about the course. The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) manages the DORA data and website, and all data is subject to the ASCB privacy policy. Please contact info@sfdora.org with any questions.
• Navigation: There is no requirement to complete the course in a particular order. You can access all of the course content by clicking through the course directory, which can be found on the course homepage or within each lesson. Below are our recommendations for navigating the content based on your level of familiarity with RRA:
  • New to RRA? We recommend you take the course in the order it is presented.
  • Familiar with RRA? If you are already familiar with the key foundational concepts of RRA, we welcome you to explore the course content that seems most useful or relevant to your context.
• Knowledge checks: Throughout the lessons, you will encounter multiple choice quiz questions and open-answer reflective questions. We invite you to use them as knowledge checks and opportunities for critical thinking. They are not graded or reviewed by DORA staff.
• Supporting materials: A suggested reading list and glossary is available for each lesson. These can be found in the “materials” tab on the course homepage or a the end of each Lesson.
• Optional certificates: Certificates of completion are available to you and can be obtained by taking the optional quiz at the end of each Lesson or at the end of the Course. After taking the final quiz for a lesson and/or the course, you will be given the option to download your certificate. In order for your name to appear on the certificate, you must add your first and last name to your profile. 

Disclaimer: Please note that this course uses the term “staff” when referring to anyone who is employed by an organization. In the case of research performing organizations, this term includes faculty, lab technicians, data stewards, etc.

This course was created by the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), a nonprofit initiative working to advocate for and support responsible research assessment (RRA). Unless otherwise indicated, this content is available under a Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective organizations and may not be reused or reproduced without permission.

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