Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA)
Background: This global coalition of research organizations, funders, assessment authorities, professional societies and associations was established in December 2022. More than 500 signatories agreed to common principles to improve research assessment practices.
Mission: CoARA’s vision is to enable a systemic reform of assessment of research, researchers and research organisations that recognise the diverse outputs, practices and activities that maximise the quality and impact of research.
Community over Commercialization:
“CoARA is a coalition for knowledge exchange around complex topics of research assessment. Our mission is to turn a coalition of the willing into diverse communities of practices around research assessment. Signatories of CoARA commit to implement the 10 shared core principles, as set in the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment, within an agreed timeframe. Through the exchange of information and mutual learning between all those willing to improve research assessment practices.”
“Getting started with such enormous reform in research assessment, it was clear that the most suitable format was a coalition approach. Research assessment is so ingrained in the broader and global scholarly ecosystem that it is impossible to do in isolation for an institution or a national funder. It had to be a cross-sector community effort, harmonising the work of many actors (research performing organisations, individual researchers and research teams, funders, open infrastructure providers, policy actors etc.). Our currently more than 500 (and growing!) members form the highest-level decision-making body of CoARA..”
“Keeping the essentially global, transnational nature of research in mind, enabling a systemic change is impossible without the involvement of research and research-related institutions in the broadest possible scope. Therefore, widening the Coalition’s membership in Europe and beyond is a strategic priority for CoARA.”
“Reflecting the bottom-up nature of the endeavor, CoARA does not charge any membership fees. Participation in the coalition is free of charge. Members just dedicate their time and effort. Introducing membership fees would introduce distortions in participation in the reform. It should not be a condition of whether an organization could financially afford to participate in the conversation.”
“Importantly, CoARA is building a coalition in the widest possible sense with one important caveat: it is composed of non-commercial players. The CoARA governance document clearly sets rules for participation and who can become members: universities and their research centers, research infrastructures, associations, academies, learned societies, associations of researchers, funding organizations, authorities for research assessment, and relevant not-for-profit organizations. These rules keep big commercial players out of the coalition. The collective effort to reform research assessment should not be privatised for one’s own financial gain. It is essential that the control over the reform remains in the hands of those who are primarily affected by the changes and who are best positioned to innovate it: research communities themselves.”
- Erzsébet Tóth-Czifra, head of programme, CoARA Secretariat