By: CIFAR
9 Dec, 2024
CIFAR signs San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment
December 9, 2024
Declaration aims to improve the ways scientific research outputs are evaluated
In an effort to promote responsible research assessment, CIFAR has signed the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).
DORA originated in 2012 at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology, from a “pressing need to improve the ways in which the output of scientific research is evaluated by funding agencies, academic institutions, and other parties.” Signatories of DORA make a commitment to uphold recommendations on improving the assessment and evaluation of research outputs, which include being explicit about the criteria used in evaluation and considering the value and impact of all research outputs in addition to research publications for research assessment. It also asks signatories to consider a broad range of impact measures, including qualitative indicators of research impact, such as influence on policy and practices.
Since its inception, more than 1,500 institutions — including funding agencies, professional organizations, researchers, and research organizations — have become signatories. Notable signatories include Canadian funding agencies like the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and others including the University of Cambridge, University of Calgary and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“CIFAR is proud to join a strong contingent of organizations committed to upholding research excellence through improved evaluation,” says Kate Geddie, Senior Director, Research and Head, Evaluation and Impact at CIFAR. “CIFAR has been guided by DORA’s principles for many years and we look forward to furthering responsible research assessment using DORA as a continued guidepost for robust, equitable and impactful measures of research assessment.”