The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies (TSV) has published the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) Action Plan, which aims to promote responsible research and researcher assessment.

TSV is committed to promoting responsible assessment by signing the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment and becoming a member of CoARA, a coalition of signatories, in 2022. The signatories are invited to develop an action plan outlining how they will implement the commitments specified in the agreement within their organisations.

The four-year CoARA Action Plan describes TSV's efforts to promote responsible research and researcher assessment in Finland and internationally. As set out in the plan, TSV is committed to supporting the entire Finnish research community in its journey towards a quality-focused assessment culture.

– The reform of research assessment requires extensive international and national cooperation. The agreement has already been signed by nearly 800 organisations and almost all Finnish higher education institutions and some state research institutes have joined the Finnish CoARA National Chapter, which is coordinated by TSV, says the Secretary General of Publication Forum at the TSV Janne Pölönen. 

The plan also details the measures already taken and the processes underway to develop assessment practices.

CoARA aims to strengthen the quality and impact of research

At the heart of the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment are activities aimed at promoting diversity, openness and inclusiveness of research and assessment practices.

The bedrock of the agreement are the ten commitments that set a common direction for the assessment reform in member organizations. Four of these are core commitments that require recognition of a diversity of contributions and research careers, and emphasize qualitative assessment supported by responsible use of quantitative assessment methods. The other two core commitments are related to avoiding journal and publication-based metrics as well as rankings of research organisations in the assessment of research.

In addition, the agreement includes six supporting commitments that enable the move towards new assessment practices and facilitate mutual learning and communication about progress. The aim is to strengthen the quality and impact of research. Action Plans support the implementation of the principles of the agreement while taking into account the characteristics of each organisation.

Action Plan continues TSV's work on responsible assessment

The action plan is continuation of TSV's efforts to promote responsible assessment.

– Responsible research and researcher assessment is one of the priorities of TSV's new strategy. The Federation promotes responsible assessment and the adoption of responsible assessment practices in broad international and domestic cooperation with the scientific and research community, says Executive Director of Federation of Finnish Learned Societies Lea Ryynänen-Karjalainen.

In addition to the CoARA agreement, TSV has signed the DORA Declaration (2020) and the Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information (2024). The Good Practice in Researcher Evaluation was one of the first national guidelines for responsible assessment in the world when it was published in 2020. It was prepared by a broad-based working group set up by the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies.

The CoARA Action Plan is a living document that organizations can update based on progress monitoring. The plan was approved by the Board of the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies on 2 September 2024.

Read more: 

• Federation of Finnish Learned Societies’ Action Plan at Zenodo web-platform
• Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment CoARA´s website
• Strategy of the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies 2024-2030 at TSV´s website