Redefining criteria for research quality in Canada
In Canada, there are multiple conversations about the reform of research evaluation, driven by the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) to which all three federal research councils are signatories. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Council has redefined criteria for research quality, dispensing with bibliometrics, citations and the h-index, in line with DORA principles: quality metrics now include good research data and data access management, equity, diversity and inclusion, and training responsibilities. The other two research councils are likely to follow suit.
Canadian researchers tend to focus on ¡®knowledge mobilization¡¯, an intentional effort to advance the societal impact of research, through co-production with user communities (ISI, 2022). Research Impact Canada is a network of over 20 universities that aims to build institutional capacity through impact literacy, or the ability to ¡®identify appropriate impact goals and indicators, critically appraise and optimize impact pathways, and reflect on skills needed to tailor approaches across contexts¡¯ in order to maximize the impact of research for the public good.
It is worth noting that very few Canadian universities have signed DORA. The main motivator to any change is likely to be embracing Indigenous scholarship, which has become a moral imperative in Canada and is in line with the pillar of open dialogue across knowledge systems in the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science.
Reproduced from Future of Research Evaluation: A Synthesis of Current Debates and Developments, published by the Global Young Academy (GYA), the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) and the International Science Council (ISC) Centre for Science Futures Scoping Group
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada