High Level Group on Reforming Research Assessment
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| High Level Group on Reforming Research Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Name | High Level Group on Reforming Research Assessment |
| Formation | 2019 |
| Type | Advisory body |
| Purpose | Research assessment reform |
| Region | European Union |
| Parent organization | European Commission |
High Level Group on Reforming Research Assessment The High Level Group on Reforming Research Assessment was an advisory panel convened to redesign evaluation systems across European research institutions and funding agencies, responding to concerns about incentive structures in scholarly publishing, career progression, and research integrity. It engaged with actors such as the European Commission, national ministries, universities, funding councils, learned societies, and international initiatives to produce policy guidance that intersected with reform efforts in science, publishing, and higher education. The group’s work influenced debates involving bibliometrics, open science, and research culture across the European Research Area, interacting with stakeholders including the Horizon Europe programme, the European Research Council, and national research assessment exercises.
Background and Establishment
The group was established within the context of European policy dialogues that included the European Commission, the European Research Council, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as actors addressing research quality and incentives. Its creation followed consultations that involved the Royal Society, the League of European Research Universities, the European University Association, the Wellcome Trust, and the Max Planck Society, and drew on reports from bodies such as the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment signatories and the Leiden Manifesto proponents. National agencies including the UK Research and Innovation, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Agence Nationale de la Recherche, and the Spanish National Research Council were referenced in preparatory analyses that highlighted tensions exposed by assessment regimes like the Research Excellence Framework and the Austrian Science Fund policies.
Mandate and Objectives
Mandated by the European Commission and staffed with experts from institutions such as the European University Institute, the group aimed to advise the European Research Area and related programmes about criteria for evaluating researchers and research outputs. Objectives referenced terms from initiatives like OpenAIRE, Plan S, the Directory of Open Access Journals, and the Committee on Publication Ethics to align assessment with incentives for reproducibility, transparency, and societal relevance. The mandate required coordination with national ministries of science and education, major funders including the European Investment Bank, and scholarly organizations like the Academia Europaea and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Key Recommendations and Principles
The group articulated principles that echoed concepts from the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, the Leiden Manifesto, and statements by the International Science Council and the Global Young Academy. Recommendations emphasized qualitative peer review alongside responsible use of metrics, endorsement of diverse output recognition similar to practices at the Wellcome Trust and the National Institutes of Health, and support for open research infrastructures such as Zenodo, ORCID, and the European Open Science Cloud. The group proposed aligning hiring and promotion criteria with values championed by the DORA signatories, the Royal Society, and the British Academy, and recommended that funders like the European Research Council and national research councils adapt grant evaluation frameworks used by bodies such as the National Science Foundation and the Austrian Science Fund.
Working Methods and Reports
The group operated through consultations, workshops, and draft reports drawing on expertise from representatives affiliated with the Max Planck Society, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the Karolinska Institutet, and the University of Oxford. Outputs included consensus statements, implementation toolkits, and policy briefings that referenced platforms such as Scopus, Web of Science, Crossref, and the Open Citation Corpus. Reports were circulated to stakeholders like the European University Association, the League of European Research Universities, government ministries in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Poland, as well as research funders including the Wellcome Trust and the Gates Foundation for alignment with international best practice.
Impact and Implementation across Europe
Adoption of the group’s recommendations influenced reform trajectories in national assessment systems overseen by agencies such as the Research Council of Norway, the Swedish Research Council, the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education, and the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation. Universities including University College London, the University of Cambridge, the University of Bologna, the University of Barcelona, and the Humboldt University of Berlin referenced the principles in promotion guidelines, while funders including the European Research Council and the Wellcome Trust adjusted application criteria to recognize diverse outputs. The recommendations also intersected with open access mandates promoted by Plan S consortia, the SPARC Europe advocacy network, and repositories like HAL and PubMed Central Europe.
Criticism and Controversies
Critics from institutions such as the Institute of Physics, certain representatives of the Royal Society, and national evaluation experts questioned feasibility and enforcement, pointing to tensions illustrated by the Research Excellence Framework and the UK REF debates. Some commentators argued that metrics providers like Clarivate and Elsevier would resist changes that reduced dependence on citation indices such as the Journal Impact Factor, while observers from the European Court of Auditors and policy think tanks raised concerns about accountability, comparability, and unintended consequences for early-career researchers at institutions like the University of Warsaw and the Charles University. Debates continued involving stakeholders including the Global Young Academy, the Science Europe association, and various national academies about timelines, monitoring, and harmonization across the European Research Area.