The European initiative CoARA (Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment), promoted by Europe Science and the European Universities Association (EUA) with the support of the European Commission, brings together a large number of organisations involved in one way or another in the research process and/or its assessment. A participatory process took place during the first months of 2022, which ended with an agreement containing common principles and commitments to drive forward a systemic reform of research evaluation. This agreement was published in July 2022. In November 2022 the UAB joined the agreement, and the signatory organisations include AQU, ANECA, CRUE, CSIC, CERCA and more than thirty Spanish universities.
The key point of the agreement is that the system of evaluation of research, research staff and research organisations should recognise the diverse outcomes, practices and activities that maximise the quality and impact of research. This requires the introduction of qualitative aspects in evaluation, for which peer review is central, always supported by the responsible use of quantitative indicators. In fact, the scientific community itself has strongly questioned the current research evaluation system because of the limitations, biases and dependence on the metrics used. In any case, and in order to move towards a new evaluation system, the agreement includes some principles, commitments and timelines for reforms and lays the groundwork for a coalition of organisations willing to work together to implement the changes, ultimately forming communities of practice where experience and learning can be shared. With the support of the coalition, organisations will decide on the steps to be taken to implement the commitments and the pace of their reform process, which may vary according to their context (national, disciplines, research structures, etc.), their strategic objectives and the mission of each organisation.
At the UAB, promoted by the Vice-Rector for Research, Dr Assumpció Malgosa, a steering committee has been set up that includes both technical staff and academic representatives from different areas of knowledge. This steering committee has several objectives:
To generate a space for debate and reflection on the methodologies and indicators for the evaluation of the academic career and the social impact of research.
Align the institutional strategy of the UAB with the policies promoted at European level.
Specifically in the framework of participation in the European CoARA initiative:
to elaborate an action plan for the implementation of the CoARA principles
to implement the CoARA Boost pilot project, funded by the European Commission, aligned with the action plan.
to actively participate in CoARA activities. In this sense, the UAB is part of three CoARA working groups and the National Chapter.
The three working groups in which it takes part are:
“Towards Transformations: Transdisciplinarity, Applied/Practice-Based Research, and Impacts” (Dr. Teresa Sordé)
“Multilingualism and language biases in research assessment”
"Early-and-mid-Career Researchers (EMCRs) – Assessment and Research Culture" (Dr. José Luis Molina)
The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) has received funding from the CoARA Boost call to pilot new ways of evaluating research with the project 'Piloting new approaches and metrics for research assessment: A first step for a real transformation'.
Over the past decade, UAB has actively initiated a transformation process, connecting education, research and innovation to society and societal challenges. The project aims to fulfil the mission of immersing the UAB community in the main principles of the Coalition, invigorating a participatory awareness-raising process, and building the necessary capacities to develop new research assessment processes for closer alignment with the CoARA agreement, with the ultimate goal of promoting the quality and impact of UAB research.
Beyond the main objective of identifiying new approaches and criteria for the research assessment, the pilot, also pursues the goals of engaging UAB community to discuss and co-create the future steps of the university in the matters aligned with CoARA, as well as to begin the process of training researchers in their roles as researchers and also as evaluators, to progressively acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for this new paradigm shift in the evaluation of research.
Recognise the diversity of contributions to, and careers in, research in accordance with the needs and nature of the research
Base research assessment primarily on qualitative evaluation for which peer review is central, supported by responsible use of quantitative indicators
Abandon inappropriate uses in research assessment of journal- and publication-based metrics, in particular inappropriate uses of Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and h-index
Avoid the use of rankings of research organisations in research assessment
Commit resources to reforming research assessment as is needed to achieve the organisational changes committed to
Review and develop research assessment criteria, tools and processes
Raise awareness of research assessment reform and provide transparent communication, guidance, and training on assessment criteria and processes as well as their use
Exchange practices and experiences to enable mutual learning within and beyond the Coalition
Communicate progress made on adherence to the Principles and implementation of the Commitments
Evaluate practices, criteria and tools based on solid evidence and the state-of-the-art in research on research, and make data openly available for evidence gathering and research
