TSV has taken first steps toward implementing its CoARA Action Plan
Federation of Finnish Learned Societies (TSV) has signed the international Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment and joined the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA). The Action Plan paves the way to reform.
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 communicating regularly on the progress made on adherence to the Principles and implementation of the commitments.
Public consultation on FIN-CAM assessment tool has concluded
FIN-CAM (Finnish Career Assessment Matrix) is a national assessment tool aimed at facilitating a comprehensive, systematic, and transparent evaluation of the various aspects of a researcher’s work, merits, and competencies across different assessment contexts. FIN-CAM supports the implementation of the Recommendation for the responsible evaluation of a researcher in Finland.
Development of FIN-CAM aligns with the first core commitment of the CoARA Agreement, which seeks to acknowledge the diversity of contributions to, and careers in, research. TSV coordinates the working group appointed by the Steering Group for Responsible Assessment of the Researcher in charge of the development work
The draft was available for feedback until 7th February. We invited comments from both organizational representatives and individuals. You can find and explore the draft in the link list below.
Updated User Guide for the Publication Forum Classification
Since 2010, 23 field specific Publication Forum (JUFO) expert panels coordinated by TSV have produced a classification of publication channels (e.g. journals, conferences, book publishers) to support institutional funding allocation recognizing the diversity of outputs and languages. As stated in the User guide published since 2012, JUFO classification is not meant for the evaluation or comparison of individual researchers.
The User guide updated in December 2024 takes into account the Recommendation for the responsible evaluation of a researcher in Finland and the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment (ARRA). The updated User guide explicitly prohibits the use of the classification in the evaluation of individual researchers, such as in recruitment or rewarding.
By updating the User guide, TSV promotes the implementation of CoARA Agreement’s third core commitment to abandon inappropriate uses in research assessment of journal- and publication-based metrics. According to the TSV Action Plan, Publication Forum will also review the quality classification with view to possible revision of the criteria and structure of the classification.
Webinar on Finnish CoARA Cascade Funding projects
The Finnish National Chapter, coordinated by TSV, hosted a webinar on 23 January to highlight projects funded through CoARA’s first call for Cascade Funding. During the webinar, representatives from Oulu University, Tampere University, Häme University of Applied Sciences, and Centria University of Applied Sciences shared their projects, which aim to transform assessment processes within their institutions and to promote change through training. These institutions are members of the Finnish National Chapter.
With funding in place, these initiatives are set to drive meaningful change and inspire innovations in research assessment in the coming months. The webinar also supported CoARA’s 8th commitment to exchange practices and experiences to enable mutual learning within and beyond the Coalition.
More information:
Coordinator on Responsible Assessment Mira Söderman, mira.soderman[at]tsv.fi
Read more:
Federation of Finnish Learned Societies – CoARA Action Plan (Zenodo)
Recommendation for the responsible evaluation of a researcher in Finland
National Recommendation for the responsible evaluation of a researcher
Comment on the FIN-CAM assessment tool designed for the responsible assessment of researchers! (9.1.2025)
User guide for the Publication Forum classification 2024
