WG Objectives
In biomedical institutions, research assessments are highly regulated and procedurally institutionalized. Administrative reform is a crucial part of sustainable and successful research assessment reforms (RAR).
The goals of the WG are to:
- identify barriers and facilitators
- evaluate existing examples
- consolidate experiences and
- identify best practice scenarios.
Translating CoARA into organizational practice requires not only the agreement of the broader science community, but its implementation success also depends on other factors that facilitate or hinder the RAR within an organization’s administration and governance (A&G). The working group WG seeks to equip A&G with knowledge and strategies to implement changes in their respective research assessment schemes, organizational procedures and frameworks.
By addressing the A&G aspects, we gain insights into largely hidden implementation processes. Based on these insights, we expect an increased likelihood of sustainable implementation and uptake of RAR. The starting point is the (bio)medical research discipline (and related fields), assuming similar research cultures, notions of excellence and assessment practices as well as acknowledging the specifics of researchers that are both medical professionals and scientists. The WG aims to identify tailored best practice examples on the different levels of assessment (e.g., individual versus institutional, publications). It further takes the different purposes of assessment (e.g., hiring, funding, publication etc.) or the research area (e.g., basic research, clinical research) into account. All participating members agree to include ECRs as well as EDI officers from their respective institutions in the WG. Depending on the later composition, the WG might split into different subgroups e.g., one group per level or decide to prioritize between the topics.
While the WG starts out as a disciplinary WG, we aim to identify common, cross-disciplinary themes and operationalize the results in a way that they are usable and relevant to other disciplines.
The WG is open to all research institutions and those representing researchers, as well as publishers and representatives of funding organizations. We aim to assure that all WG members will benefit from their participation by jointly developing a best practice strategy for implementation of a RAR as a frame of reference helping to navigate each organization’s own implementation process.