The reform of research and researcher assessment serves several cross-cutting goals related to e.g. attractiveness research careers, equality and inclusiveness, open science and knowledge valorisation. Finland is one of the pioneer countries in the assessment reform. The University of Oulu works actively in all national forums and in CoARA in order to harmonize the new assessment principles. The goal of the University of Oulu is that the assessment of research and researchers recognize all types of research outputs, practices and activities, and take into account different career paths and personal circumstances when assessing the quality and impact of research. The University of Oulu signed the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment and joined the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment in 2022 and was the first university of the signatories to publish a CoARA Action Plan.
As such a reform takes time and is not immediately translated into new practices, we see that the new ERA action is needed to develop and share practices, monitor the progress, identify challenges at different levels and additional support measures that may still be required. In addition to the expected results of ERA Action 3, the University of Oulu wants to highlight the need to harmonize the new assessment principles and methods. Although organizations must have freedom of action, sharing best practices and harmonizing principles is of paramount importance for the success of the reform.
Assessment practices in Finland are already quite responsible, but one notable challenge in the reform is long-established practices and assessment culture which stresses quantity (especially of publications) over quality. In addition, the national funding model for the Finnish universities places an emphasis on the quantity of publications.
Oulun yliopiston kommentti
Janika Luukinen
26. januari 2024 klockan 13.36.57
The reform of research and researcher assessment serves several cross-cutting goals related to e.g. attractiveness research careers, equality and inclusiveness, open science and knowledge valorisation. Finland is one of the pioneer countries in the assessment reform. The University of Oulu works actively in all national forums and in CoARA in order to harmonize the new assessment principles. The goal of the University of Oulu is that the assessment of research and researchers recognize all types of research outputs, practices and activities, and take into account different career paths and personal circumstances when assessing the quality and impact of research. The University of Oulu signed the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment and joined the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment in 2022 and was the first university of the signatories to publish a CoARA Action Plan.
As such a reform takes time and is not immediately translated into new practices, we see that the new ERA action is needed to develop and share practices, monitor the progress, identify challenges at different levels and additional support measures that may still be required. In addition to the expected results of ERA Action 3, the University of Oulu wants to highlight the need to harmonize the new assessment principles and methods. Although organizations must have freedom of action, sharing best practices and harmonizing principles is of paramount importance for the success of the reform.
Assessment practices in Finland are already quite responsible, but one notable challenge in the reform is long-established practices and assessment culture which stresses quantity (especially of publications) over quality. In addition, the national funding model for the Finnish universities places an emphasis on the quantity of publications.