Research organisations get closer to a consensus on assessment reform | Science|Business

"After months of negotiations, research stakeholders in the EU are getting close to an agreement on a set of principles and commitments for reforming the way research outputs are evaluated.

The European Commission has written reform of research assessment into the policy agenda of the revived European Research Area plan to create a single market for research in the EU. After gathering a first round of input in 2021, the Commission wanted to give stakeholders and member states the opportunity to lead the consultation process and reach an agreement on new guidelines for evaluating researchers. 

A draft of the agreement dated 13 May and seen by Science|Business says signatories will pledge to implement four “core commitments” and to: recognise the diversity of research careers and contributions to science; base research assessment primarily on qualitative evaluation by peers; abandon the “inappropriate uses” of journal and publication metrics; and avoid the use of international rankings of research organisations in research assessment...."