{"id":861,"date":"2026-02-10T08:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T08:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/openutu\/?p=861"},"modified":"2026-02-10T08:47:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T08:47:30","slug":"rethinking-research-assessment-and-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/openutu\/2026\/02\/10\/rethinking-research-assessment-and-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking Research Assessment and Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A special episode of our \u201cWow, What an Impact!\u201d podcast (Vau, mik\u00e4 vaikutus!) \u201cHow to build a successful impact strategy?\u201d was aired on 19.1.2026. In the episode we talked about how research quality and impact can be assessed with our guest, Dr Giovanna Lima, Programme Manager of DORA. Listen the episode here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research impact is not just about ticking boxes or counting outputs. Instead, it is about connecting scientific knowledge with societal knowledge, recognising that different forms of knowledge complement each other and can jointly benefit society. This perspective challenges many traditional academic practices. While universities increasingly emphasise societal impact in their mission statements, evaluation systems often continue to reward narrow indicators, such as publication counts or journal-based metrics. As Giovanna points out in the episode, this misalignment sends mixed signals to researchers: impact is encouraged rhetorically, but rarely recognised in practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is DORA \u2013 and why does it matter?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DORA<\/a>, the Declaration on Research Assessment, was launched in 2012 during the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology in San Francisco to address long-standing problems in how research and researchers are evaluated. It has become a worldwide initiative covering all scholarly disciplines and all key stakeholders including funders, publishers, professional societies, institutions, and researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research assessment influences many everyday decisions in academia \u2013 from hiring and promotion to funding and publishing. DORA argues that these decisions should be based on the quality and relevance of research, rather than on simplistic proxies such as journal impact factors. Today, thousands of organisations worldwide have signed DORA, and its principles have inspired broader initiatives. For example, building on momentum created by DORA and others, and seeing the need for a community of research organizations engaged in assessment reform, a group came together to develop the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment (ARRA)<\/a> and formed the CoARA<\/a>, the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment, in 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Implementation is the real challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signing DORA is an important symbolic step, but real change happens during implementation. As Giovanna notes, institutions start from very different points: some are already experimenting with new assessment approaches, while others are at the beginning of the conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DORA supports implementation by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n