The University of Bath has reinforced its commitment to assessing the quality of its research fairly and transparently by becoming a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).

The Declaration recognises the need to improve the ways in which research is assessed when making funding, recruitment and promotion decisions. It draws attention to the problems of relying on traditional journal-based metrics and reinforces our commitment to centre assessment on qualitative indicators and expert judgement, set in context, with the responsible use of reliable data.

The University of Bath has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to using indicators sensibly and responsibly in research assessment from an individual to institutional level. We were one of the first UK institutions to draw on best practice and establish our own set of principles that outline our approach to research assessment, which draw upon on the Leiden Manifesto for Research Metrics and the Metric Tide.

Professor Sarah Hainsworth OBE, Pro-Vice- Chancellor (Research) said; “By signing DORA, we reinforce our commitment to assessing research in a way that truly reflects its value to society, knowledge, and the global research community. A fair and transparent framework for research assessment fosters an inclusive research culture and enables our researchers and research staff to thrive.”

The University’s pledge to adopt DORA’s recommendations is part of a broader commitment to continually review and reform research assessment, and foster a more inclusive, transparent, and fair research environment.

Further work to improve the University’s research assessment practice includes a review of our promotions criteria. This project was instigated by the Vice-Chancellor Professor Phil Taylor and is being led by Human Resources. A wider review of our approach to research assessment is also underway and we plan to share new institutional principles on research assessment this summer.

We will then be working with colleagues responsible for assessing research, whether that be for hiring, promotions or other activity, to embed the new principles and provide training and support. These and other critical priorities to improve our research culture environment are set out in our Research Culture Action Plan which was launched in January 2025.

DORA is a worldwide initiative covering all scholarly disciplines and sets out a series of recommendations for all key stakeholders including funders, academic institutions, publishers and researchers. By signing DORA, the University of Bath joins over 2,500 organisations and institutions worldwide in taking a stand to transform how research is evaluated.

If you have any questions on how to begin to adopt DORA before we share new institutional research principles this summer or feedback on responsible research assessment, please contact Lucy Millington (Research Culture Project Coordinator) or Hayley Shaw (Research Culture Manager).

You can find out more about DORA at www.sfdora.org