Research Culture

There is a growing awareness among the research community around the importance of research culture in fostering an environment that enables excellence, research integrity, and equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), and attractive research careers (see also the 2023 Revised Edition of the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity). ALLEA is committed shaping an ecosystem that help research and researchers thrive, and approaches the topic via various expert groups, collaborations, and projects.

ALLEA Contact 

Maria Ronald
Communications Officer
ronald@allea.org

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in research ensures that all individuals, regardless of background, have fair access to resources, positions, and advancement in their careers. In addition, diversity of our research communities ensures that a wide range of perspectives and experiences are considered, it promotes creativity, and enhances the robustness and relevance of research outcomes. It is therefore not surprising that there is an increasing demand for transparency and good practice regarding the dimensions of EDI in the membership and research agenda of scientific institutions.

ALLEA EDI Task Force

Following a decision by the ALLEA General Assembly 2023, member academies affirmed their dedication to acknowledging the importance of improving EDI in the research community. Since then, they have shared their policies and initiatives for improving EDI with a newly established ALLEA Task Force, co-chaired by ALLEA and the British Academy. Based on these data, the Task Force provided its first recommendations at the ALLEA General Assembly 2024, a summary of which can be found in a short report. The Task Force will follow up on these recommendations by continuing to provide a platform to share innovative approaches to EDI.  

  • Annette Grüters-Kieslich – ALLEA Vice President – Leopoldina and Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, Germany (co-chair)
  • Molly Morgan Jones – British Academy, United Kingdom (co-chair)
  • Achilles Emilianides – Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts, Cyprus
  • Marta Gmurek – Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
  • Hani Harb – Junge Akademie, Germany
  • Kimberly Katte – Institute of Catalan Studies, Spain
  • Alla Kirova – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria
  • Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede – Royal Swedish Academy, Sweden

Research Assessment

Carefully designed research assessment practices are key to making fair decisions on the quality and potential impact of funding applications and informed decisions on hiring and promotion of individual researchers. Current approaches tend to rely heavily on journal-based metrics and tend to overlook the diversity of skills and contributions that are key to make research thrive. This development has fuelled an unhealthy ‘publish or perish’ culture and has demonstrable negative effects on the quality of scholarly outputs, EDI of our research communities, and the trustworthiness of our research system.

ALLEA therefore strongly supports the transition to research assessment practices that are based on qualitative peer review, supported by the responsible use of quantitative indicators when appropriate. In addition, it will be vital to further stimulate the development and exchange new criteria, procedures, and tools for recognising and rewarding scientific excellence based on principles of quality, integrity, diversity, and openness.

Together, ALLEA’s resulting publications, activities, and events (see below) seek to impact on ongoing EU policy debates directly and support the research community with reforming their assessment practices. In addition, ALLEA is a member of CoARA Boost, a Horizon Europe-funded project that supports comprehensive reform aligned with the principles and commitments set forth by the European Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA).

Related Activities

Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment

Based on 10 high-level commitments, the ‘Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment’ establishes a common direction for research assessment reform. ALLEA contributed to the drafting of the Agreement and is a member of the global Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA).

The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity

There is no “one-size-fits-all” solution for research assessment, and the emphasis on researchers taking responsibility for developing criteria and procedures in their communities aligns well with the core concept of self-regulation set out in the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity.

The Future of
Peer Review

Peer review is an essential pillar of research assessment. Together with the GYA (the Global Young Academy), and STM (the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers), ALLEA has been exploring challenges and possible ways forward as part of a workshop series on ‘The Future of Peer Review in Scholarly Communications’ and a follow-up webinar on ‘Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) in Scholarly Peer Review’.

Related Events

CoARA Boost Kick-Off Meeting

CoARA Boost is a Horizon Europe-funded project designed to bring research assessment beyond its simplistic reliance on quantitative indicators.

ALLEA–GYA–STM Joint Webinar on Peer Review

ALLEA General Assembly 2022

The Future of Peer Review

Related News

ALLEA Working Group on the ERA Meets at the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters

On 11 October 2024, the ALLEA Working Group (WG) on the European Research Area (ERA) convened at the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters in Copenhagen.

ALLEA Participates in EU-Funded Project to Support Reforms in Research Assessment 

In October 2023, a consortium of European research stakeholder organisations embarked on a Horizon Europe-funded project in order to bring research assessment beyond its simplistic reliance on quantitative indicators.

Call for Contributions: Open Consultation on Innovative Outputs in the Humanities

The ALLEA Working Group E-Humanities has launched an open consultation concerning draft recommendations on recognising digital scholarly outputs in the humanities.

Reflections on the ALLEA-GYA-STM webinar on “Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility in Scholarly Peer Review”

On 17 November, ALLEA, the Global Young Academy and STM convened a moderated panel discussion about “Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) in Scholarly Peer Review". The full recording, as well as a short event report, are now available online. 

Reforming Research Assessment: ALLEA Announces Further Support to Its Academies

ALLEA signed today the European Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment and announced in a new statement to further support its Member Academies with developing assessment criteria.

Building an ERA that Fosters Freedom and Excellence

In a new statement, ALLEA sets priorities for building a new European Research Area (ERA) and for implementing the Policy Action Points developed in the ERA Transition Forum.

European Science Organisations Reach Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment

Following a six-month co-creational process involving more than 350 European organisations from over 40 countries, an Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment has been reached and made public today. ALLEA has contributed to the Agreement as part of a core group of 20 research organisations that supported the drafting team throughout the process.

ALLEA Welcomes Council Conclusions on Research Assessment and Open Science

ALLEA welcomes the adoption of the Conclusions on Research Assessment and Implementation of Open Science by the Council of the European Union on 10 June. At the same time, ALLEA continues to stress that it matters how we open knowledge, as the push for Open Access publishing has also paved the way for various unethical publishing practices.

Transforming Science: Pathways Towards Sustainability and Trustworthiness

The ALLEA symposium ‘Transforming Science: Pathways Towards Sustainability and Trustworthiness’ brought together leading scientists, policymakers and research managers in Brussels to discuss the transformations the scientific system must address to be ready for future crisis after the Covid-19 pandemic.

ALLEA Joins the European Commission Coalition on Research Assessment Reform

ALLEA has joined the European Commission’s core group working on reforming research assessment. The group will support the drafting of an agreement led by the European University Association, Science Europe and the European Commission on key issues and timelines for implementing changes.

ALLEA-GYA Event Report on Research Assessment Published

ALLEA and the Global Young Academy (GYA) have published a report covering the key takeaways of their webinar ‘Research Assessments that Promote Scholarly Progress and Reinforce the Contract with Society’. The event brought together science and policy stakeholders to rethink current research assessment models.

Shaping the Future of Peer Review

ALLEA, the Global Young Academy (GYA), and STM (International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers) published today the summary of a series of cross-sectoral workshops on the future of peer review in an open, digital world.

Related Publications

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the European Academies

Recognising Digital Scholarly Outputs in the Humanities

ALLEA Statement for an ERA of Freedom and Excellence