The UK Reproducibility Network has signed the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment (ARRA) and has joined the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment, CoARA. If rigour and transparency in research are to be better recognised and rewarded, then research assessment has to be reformed. Of course, UKRN does not itself assess research, but we will meet the commitments and timeline outlined by CoARA. In fact, the work of the “OR4” project within the Open Research Programme enables us already to meet our first deadline – to issue an action plan outlining what UKRN will do to promote and support reform of research assessment. This is set out here: https://www.ukrn.org/or4/. The OR4 project is aligned with the ARRA Principles, and the project aims to support their practical implementation in UK universities, with a particular emphasis on recognising and rewarding openness and transparency in research.
UKRN views signing the Agreement and joining the Coalition as offering a strategic opportunity for institutions to publish their commitment to research assessment reform and to build engagement with internal stakeholders. We will be encouraging UK universities to consider joining the Coalition, and looking for opportunities to engage with the wider international community through the Coalition network and through our own international advisory group (on which CoARA is represented).