The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) is a global initiative intended to guide the way in which research is assessed at the point of recruitment and promotion, and in the awarding of project funding. Since 2012, all actors involved in the evaluation of research – research performing and funding institutions, individual researchers, publishers, suppliers of research metrics – can sign up to DORA.

Ghent University signed DORA in 2020, thereby committing to implement the recommendations addressed to research institutions and funders. This commitment is an integral part of Ghent University’s commitment to evaluate research in a responsible way.

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This means that Ghent University, in the evaluation of research

• does not use quantitative journal-level indicators (such as the Journal Impact Factor, JIF) to assess the quality of individual researchers’ scholarly work (in the context of project funding allocation, hiring and promotion)
• takes into account the quality and impact of various forms of research output, not just academic publications
• evaluates diverse forms of impact and uses a wide range of indicators for this purpose, including qualitative indicators
• is transparent about the criteria used