Responsible Use of Research Metrics Module Launch
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Presentation by Dr Michelle Doran, National Open research Coordinator of the National Open Research Forum at the official launch of the Responsible Use of Research Metrics Module on 31 March 2025, at the Museum of Literature Ireland.
Responsible Use of Research Metrics Module Launch
- 1. Responsible Use of Research Metrics Module Launch Museum of Literature Ireland 31 March 2025 Michelle Doran, National Open Research Coordinator M.Doran@ria.ie
- 2. Key Factors Enabling the Cultural Shift to Open Research Source: UNESCO 2021
- 3. Open Science Policy and Research Assessment UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science (2021) (V) Fostering a culture of open science and aligning incentives for open science • Reviewing research assessment and career evaluation systems in order to align them with the principles of open science. • Promoting the development and implementation of evaluation and assessment systems that: • build on efforts such as DORA • give value to all relevant research activities and outputs • take into account evidence of research impact and knowledge exchange • take into account diversity of disciplines • take into account different stages of careers • Making sure that the practice of open science are taken into account as a scientific and academic recruitment and promotion criterion. Source: UNESCO 2021
- 4. Open Science Policy and Research Assessment In order to avoid unresolvable tensions on scholars, the most fundamental challenge for the advancement of open science today is the need to align the values and priorities used to assess scholars and institutions, for the purposes of funding or career progression, with the values and principles of open science as defined in the 2021 UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science. Source UNESCO 2023
- 5. Open Science Policy and Research Assessment ERA Actions 2022-2024 include: Action 1: Enable the open sharing of knowledge and the re-use of research outputs, including through the development of the European Open Science Cloud Action 3: Advance towards reform of the assessment system for research, researchers and institutions to improve their quality, performance and impact
- 6. Open Science Policy and Research Assessment European Council Conclusions on Research Assessment and Implementation of Open Science (2022) To accelerate the implementation and the impact of OS policies and practices across Europe, action must be taken in three areas, including research assessment. • Research assessment practices should promote early knowledge- sharing. • Researchers should be rewarded for applying Open Science principles. • Reform should follow principles that include moving to a more balanced approach between the quantitative and the qualitative evaluation of research, recognising all forms of research outputs and processes, and taking into consideration diverse career pathways.
- 7. Open Science Policy and Research Assessment
- 8. Open Science Policy and Research Assessment Recognise the diversity of research activities and practices, with a diversity of outputs, and reward early sharing and open collaboration. Consider tasks like peer review, training, mentoring and supervision of Ph.D candidates, leadership roles, and, as appropriate, science communication and interaction with society, entrepreneurship, knowledge valorisation, and industry-academia cooperation. Consider also the full range of research outputs, such as scientific publications, data, software, models, methods, theories, algorithms, protocols, workflows, exhibitions, strategies, policy contributions, etc., and reward research behaviour underpinning open science practices such as early knowledge and data sharing as well as open collaboration within science and collaboration with societal actors where appropriate. Recognise that researchers should not excel in all types of tasks and provide for a framework that allows researchers to contribute to the definition of their research goals and aspirations
- 9. Open Science Policy and Research Assessment Proposal for a Council Recommendation on the ERA Policy Agenda 2025-2027 1. PRIORITY AREA: DEEPENING A TRULY FUNCTIONING INTERNAL MARKET FOR KNOWLEDGE Open science - Enabling open science via sharing and re-use of data, including through the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC); Research infrastructures - Strengthening sustainability, accessibility and resilience of research infrastructures in the European Research Area; Gender equality, equal opportunities for all and inclusiveness - Strengthening inclusive and intersectional gender equality in the ERA; Researchers’ careers and mobility and Research assessment and reward systems - Making research careers more attractive and sustainable as well as reforming research assessment; Knowledge valorisation - Upscaling knowledge valorisation capacities and activities; Global engagement - Global Approach to R&I. Source European Commission 2025
- 10. Ireland’s National Action Plan for Open Research 2022-2030 Ireland’s National Action Plan for Open Research 2022-2030 sets out a vision, objectives and actions for the next chapter of Ireland’s transition towards Open Research. The action plan has three overarching themes and objectives: • Establishing a culture of open research • Achieving 100% open access to research publications • Enabling FAIR research data and other outputs See https://norf.ie/national-action-plan/
- 11. 1. Establishing a Culture of Open Research
- 12. 2. Achieving 100% Open Access to Research Publications In the transition to full open access, assessment of research and researchers should move beyond journal-based and particularly impact-factor- based measurement. This helps to diversify the scholarly landscape by recognising the value of diverse publication types and incentivises authors to fully leverage the potential of digital technology.
- 13. 3. Enabling FAIR Research Data and Other Outputs
- 14. Actions to Establish a Culture of Open Research • Upskill researchers and relevant professional support staff in open research • Strengthen the system-wide recognition and reward of open research practices • Align research assessment with the principles of open research • Support institutional and community networks for open research • Encourage initiatives to facilitate open research in funding programmes and awards
- 15. Call to Action!
Editor's Notes
- #1: Good morning, thank you, congratulations NORC, NORF NORF, Government of Ireland, DFHERIS, HEA, DRI, RIA. This morning, I am going to explore how reforming research assessment is a key driver in fostering a culture of open research.
- #2: Open research, also known as open science or open scholarship, is defined by UNESCO as an inclusive construct that combines various movements and practices aiming to make multilingual scientific knowledge openly available, accessible and reusable for everyone, to increase scientific collaborations and sharing of information for the benefits of science and society, and to open the processes of scientific knowledge creation, evaluation and communication to societal actors beyond the traditional scientific community. This definition of Open Science forms part of the 2021 UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science and has been endorsed by UNESCO's 194 member states. To achieve the objective of the Recommendation, member states are recommended to take concurrent action in 7 areas.
- #3: Area 5, "fostering a culture of open science and aligning incentives for open science", recommends that Member States engage actively in the removal of barriers for open science, particularly those relating to research and career evaluation and award systems. It recommends 9 actions, including: Reviewing research assessment and career evaluation systems in order to align them with the principles of open science. Promoting the development and implementation of evaluation and assessment systems that build on efforts such as DORA give value to all relevant research activities and outputs take into account evidence of research impact and knowledge exchange take into account diversity of disciplines take into account different stages of careers Making sure that the practices of open science are taken into account as a scientific and academic recruitment and promotion criterion.
- #4: The 2023 UNESCO Open Science Outlook I which aims to assess the state of open science at the global level in line with the 2021 Recommendation on Open Science identifies the need to align research assessment with the values and principles of open science as the most fundamental challenge of open science today.
- #5: On a European level, the ERA Policy Agenda 2022-2024 included two actions on Open Science & Research Assessment and each of these actions were widely endorsed by EU member states and each of these actions were widely endorsed by EU Members States.
- #6: Council conclusions of June 2022 stressed that research assessment should include a range of research outcomes and processes and promote early knowledge sharing and collaboration, and emphasised that applying open science principles should be appropriately rewarded in researchers’ careers. It acknowledges that Europe needs to reform research assessment practices and address this in a joined up, inclusive and collective way including a broad range of actors. Reform should follow principles that include moving to a more balanced approach between the quantitative and the qualitative evaluation of research, recognising all forms of research and innovation outputs and processes, taking into consideration diverse career pathways and all research and innovation activities and the specificities of the various research disciplines, ensuring that ethics and integrity are of the highest priority and are not compromised by counter-incentives and ensuring diversity, gender equality, and actively promoting women in science. In 2022, the Council welcomed the European initiative to facilitate the establishment of a broad coalition of willing stakeholders. It encouraged Member States to promote research assessment reform at national and regional levels, and encouraged organisations engaged in research, incl. research funders and research performing organisations (RPOs), to join the Coalition and to promote related guidance and support at national level.
- #7: In the recently published Proposal for a Council Recommendation on the European Research Area Policy Agenda 2025-2027, the Commission hightlighted the five main achievements of the ERA Policy Agenda 2022-2024 the first of which is the creation of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA). CoARA's mission is to enable a systematic reform of research assessment within a set timeframe, based on a common set of principles and commitments
- #8: Through the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment, CoARA's 832 signatories commit to a common vision, which is that the assessment of research, researchers and research organisations recognises and rewards the diverse outputs, practices and activities that maximise the quality and impact of research. Open Science is of course one of the main motivators for this Agreement as current forms of assessment (in particular inappropriate uses of journal and publication based metrics) are an obstacle to fully embedding and rewarding open science. The National Action Plan for Open Research encourages institutions to sign the agreement. To date, there are 13 Irish signatories to the Association, 10 HEIs, 2 funders and the Irish Research staff association.
- #9: Published in February of this year, the proposal for a council recommendation on the ERA Policy Agenda 2025-2027, identifies Open Science and research careers as structural policies. Structural policies are long-term ERA policies that are not confined to individual policy agendas and are embedded in national and European policy.
- #10: The National commitment to open research is articulated in the goals and actions set forth in Ireland’s National Action Plan for Open Research 2022-2030. In turn, the National Action Plan for Open Research builds on a number of national policies and international recommendations including the National Principles on Open Access (2012), the European Commission Recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information (2018), the National Framework on the Transition to an Open Science Research Environment (2018), and the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science (2021). The launch of the Action Plan in November 2022 inaugurated an ambitious national policy designed to meet three strategic objectives by 2030: to establish a culture of open research, to achieve 100% open access to research publications, and to enable FAIR research data and other outputs. Implementation of Ireland’s National Action Plan is being overseen by the National Open Research Forum (NORF).
- #13: A diverse range of research activities and outputs will be recognised and rewarded in research assessment and evaluation, including data sharing.
- #14: By fostering a more responsible and holistic approach to research assessment, we are strengthening the integrity, visibility, and value of Irish research – within institutions, nationally, across Europe and globally. The Responsible Uses of Research Metrics module aligns directly with Ireland's National Action Plan for Open Research. By embedding responsible research evaluation into training and practice, we ensure that both research and the researchers who conduct it are recognised for their contributions to society, policy, innovation and beyond. It is abundantly evident that the team behind the module are passionate about reforming research assessment and want to ensure that the resource has the success that it deserves.
- #15: To the end, I want to finish my presentation with a call to action. That is to not only use the module but to promote among your respective institutions and communities, and most importantly – put it into practice.