Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment
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| Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Name | Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment |
| Formation | 2019 |
| Type | Non-profit coalition |
| Headquarters | Brussels |
| Region served | International |
| Leader title | Director |
| Leader name | --- |
| Website | --- |
Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment The Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment is an international consortium aimed at reforming scholarly evaluation and metrics. It brings together research funders, universities, foundations, and scholarly organizations to advocate alternatives to traditional citation-based indicators and to align assessment with incentives used by Wellcome Trust, European Commission, European Research Council, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and similar entities. The Coalition interacts with policy frameworks from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, World Health Organization, National Institutes of Health, and leading universities.
Overview
The Coalition promotes frameworks for evaluating researchers and research outputs that reduce reliance on Journal Impact Factor, h-index, and narrow bibliometrics while encouraging recognition of activities acknowledged by Open Researcher and Contributor ID, Directory of Open Access Journals, Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, ResearchGate, and institutional repositories. Its advocacy complements initiatives such as the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, the Leiden Manifesto, and policies from funders like National Science Foundation and UK Research and Innovation. The Coalition informs standards referenced in reports by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, European Research Council, Wellcome Trust, Gates Foundation, and national ministries.
History and Formation
The Coalition formed in 2019 amid debates catalyzed by declarations such as the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment and guidance from the Leiden Manifesto. Early meetings included representatives from institutions like Harvard University, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Max Planck Society, CNRS, Karolinska Institutet, and funders including Wellcome Trust and European Commission. Founding discussions intersected with initiatives led by Taylor & Francis, Elsevier, Springer Nature, and independent organizations such as Center for Open Science and Committee on Publication Ethics. The Coalition's formation followed international workshops hosted by European Commission directorates and consultations with national research councils including Research Councils UK and the German Research Foundation.
Mission and Principles
The Coalition's stated mission endorses assessment that values diverse outputs across contexts represented by OpenAIRE, PubMed Central, Crossref, DataCite, and arXiv. Principles emphasize transparency inspired by Committee on Publication Ethics guidelines and inclusion modeled after practices at University of Toronto, University of Melbourne, and University of California. It promotes responsible metrics aligned with recommendations from the Leiden Manifesto and the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, endorsing narrative CVs similar to those piloted by European Research Council and funders such as Wellcome Trust and NIH. The Coalition encourages acknowledgement of translational work cited in policy documents from World Health Organization and patents registered through United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Member Organizations and Governance
Members include a range of actors from philanthropic entities such as Wellcome Trust and Gates Foundation to public funders like European Commission and national agencies including National Institutes of Health, Research Councils UK, and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. Academic members include University of Oxford, Harvard University, Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Max Planck Society, CNRS, and regional consortia. Governance draws on advisory input from leaders associated with Royal Society, Academia Europaea, European University Association, Association of American Universities, and editorial organizations like Committee on Publication Ethics and International Council for Science. Decision-making processes reflect models used by International Monetary Fund boards and multistakeholder platforms such as Global Research Council.
Key Initiatives and Projects
Initiatives include piloting narrative CV formats inspired by European Research Council practices, developing indicators compatible with ORCID and Crossref metadata, and convening task forces with stakeholders from Elsevier, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, and nonprofit platforms like Center for Open Science and Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition. Projects address evaluation in grant review at agencies like National Science Foundation and NIH, promotion criteria at universities including University of Cambridge and University of California, and recognition of societal impact reflected in reports to World Health Organization and United Nations agencies. The Coalition also collaborates on training modules modeled after programs by European University Association and Association of American Universities.
Impact and Reception
The Coalition's recommendations have influenced policy statements from funders such as Wellcome Trust, European Commission, and national research councils including Research Councils UK and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. Reception among publishers—Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley—and academic societies like American Association for the Advancement of Science and Royal Society has been mixed, with endorsement by some institutions (e.g., Max Planck Society) and cautious adoption by others. Scholarly debate engages commentators from Nature, Science (journal), and policy analysts at Brookings Institution and RAND Corporation. Implementation challenges mirror those discussed in reports by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and UNESCO.
Funding and Partnerships
Funding sources combine contributions from philanthropic organizations like Wellcome Trust and Gates Foundation, grants from supranational bodies such as the European Commission and European Research Council, and institutional support from universities including Harvard University and University of Oxford. Partnerships extend to data infrastructure providers—Crossref, DataCite, ORCID, OpenAIRE—and policy networks including Global Research Council and European University Association. Collaborative workstreams sometimes involve commercial publishers Elsevier, Springer Nature, and Wiley alongside nonprofit stakeholders such as Center for Open Science.
Category:Research assessment