CoARA Three Year Action Plan to Transform Research Evaluation Practices
Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) recently released its Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) Action Plan, published in September 2024. This document outlines TU Dublin's strategy for reforming research assessment over the next three years. TU Dublin is the first Irish university to publish their action plan which was co-authored by Lindsay Dowling, and Dr. Mary Deasy and endorsed by the University Executive Team.
It focuses on five main strands: Establish, Implement, Monitor, Revise, and Experiment. These elements are designed to promote responsible research assessment practices, aligning with CoARA's broader goals for improving research culture and integrating responsible metrics into research evaluations. This approach emphasises continual review and adaptation as part of a living document.
Dr. Brendan Jennings, Vice President, Research & Innovation at TU Dublin, highlighted the significance of the action plan, noting its potential to positively transform the university's research community and ecosystem. He emphasised that the new approach would support broader types of research contributions, foster open science, and enhance transparency and reproducibility in research, benefiting not only the academic and research community but also the broader public.
CoARA is an international initiative that seeks to reform traditional research evaluation methods, moving beyond narrow metrics like journal impact factor and h-index. Instead, CoARA promotes 10 key principles that emphasise more inclusive and qualitative approaches to research assessment. These principles encourage assessing diverse contributions such as datasets, software, societal impact, and peer review, ensuring a fairer and more comprehensive evaluation of research outputs.
TU Dublin is involved in three of the CoARA working groups:
- Evaluating Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) research globally
- Mariia Perelygina, Strategic Research Proposal Coordinator; Research Support Services
- Responsible metrics and indicators
- Aoife Quinn Hegarty, Research Indicators Librarian
- Ethics and Research Integrity Policy in Responsible Research Assessment for Data and Artificial Intelligence (ERIP)
- Steve Meaney, Head of Research Ethics and Integrity
The goal is to create a more equitable and impactful research ecosystem at TU Dublin that supports both innovation and public engagement.
For further inquiries, contact the CoARA National Chapter Member:
Open Research Support Unit Lead
Additionally, TU Dublin’s CoARA National Chapter Members includes Dr. Brendan Jennings.