Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)
At its June 2022 meeting, the SFUFA Executive voted unanimously to become signatories of DORA, the Declaration on Research Assessment.
We agree with the declaration’s key principle, that there is a need to improve the ways in which the research and the outputs of scholarly research are evaluated. We share the declaration’s concern with over-reliance on problematic metrics such as impact factors, and endorse the following recommendation for institutions:
“For the purposes of research assessment, consider the value and impact of all research outputs (including datasets and software) in addition to research publications, and consider a broad range of impact measures including qualitative indicators of research impact, such as influence on policy and practice.”
We encourage departments, schools, and non-departmentalized faculties (and areas within them) to consider these issues when drawing up their methods of assessment for tenure and promotion.
The declaration and more information about it can be found at: