San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)
The University of Exeter signed this Declaration in June 2020. It aims to improve the ways in which the output of scientific research is evaluated. A number of themes run through these recommendations:
- the need to eliminate the use of journal-based metrics, such as Journal Impact Factors, in funding, appointment, and promotion considerations;
- the need to assess research on its own merits rather than on the basis of the journal in which the research is published; and
- the need to capitalize on the opportunities provided by online publication (such as relaxing unnecessary limits on the number of words, figures, and references in articles, and exploring new indicators of significance and impact).
In signing the declaration the University of Exeter commits, when assessing research, to consider the value and impact of all research outputs (including datasets and software) in addition to research publications, and consider a broad range of impact measures including qualitative indicators of research impact, such as influence on policy and practice.
Also, we need to be explicit about the criteria used to reach hiring, tenure, and promotion decisions, clearly highlighting, especially for early-stage investigators, that the scientific content of a paper is much more important than publication metrics or the identity of the journal in which it was published.
We have a network of DORA Champions in our Colleges and Services who are gathering opinions and helping embed the commitments into our daily working lives.
Research culture workshop
We want our research staff to work within a thriving research culture and our commitment to improving our research culture to enable all our researchers to succeed. This commitment is reflected the following institutional agreement and awards. We are signatories to:
- The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). This is a statement on the need to improve the ways in which the outputs of research are monitored and evaluated. This agreement is held in high esteem by the funder of research and at Exeter is being complimented and promoted via a group of Responsible Metrics ‘Champions’ led by Prof. Mat Collins.
- The Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers: a long standing commitment for which we have maintained a European HR Excellence in Research award for the past 10 years.
These combined activities are increasingly being expected by research funders and considerably strengthen our research outputs, such as our REF Environment Statements. In addition, they reflect the values expressed in our new Research & Impact Strategy, allowing us to enhance and deliver a vibrant, world-class research culture.
Benchmarking where we are
During the latter part of 2020 and 2021, the Researcher Development and Research Culture team, based in Research Services, ran 30 workshops with teaching and research, and research staff, from across all university departments. The aim was to ensure colleagues were aware of our institutional commitments in relation to research culture, identify positive elements of our research culture, and where improvements can be made
Next steps
The outputs from these workshops have been analysed and reports are being drafted. Once complete, this insight will be used to refine the central Research Culture Action Plan and given to departments and colleges to formulate their own action local research culture action plans.
Please contact researcherdevelopment@exeter.ac.uk if you would like to know more.