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Begin forwarded message: > From: Iryna Kuchma <[email protected]> > Date: July 22, 2013, 4:58:50 PM EDT > To: boai-forum <[email protected]> > Subject: [BOAI] SPARC Honors Creators of The Declaration On Research > Assessment (DORA) > Reply-To: [email protected] > > [Forwarded message from Andrea Higginbotham] > > SPARC Honors Creators of The Declaration On Research Assessment With SPARC > Innovator Award > > Washington, D.C. – July 22, 2013 > > Evaluating good research and recognizing accomplished researchers is an > important component of science, but, critics claim that there has been too > much emphasis placed on using the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) as a proxy to > assess impact. > > The JIF is a quick and easy way to assess the average number of citations in > a journal. However, many in the scientific community feel that it has been > applied inappropriately to measure articles and individual researchers, and > has come to dominate publishing decisions and academic personnel matters in a > way that skews scientific judgments. > > Taking a strong first step on the road reversing this trend, in May of this > year, 237 individuals and institutions signed the San Francisco Declaration > on Research Assessment (DORA), which calls for an improvement in the way the > output of scientific research is evaluated. > > The declaration poses a simple but bold proposition: that journal-based > metrics should not be used as a surrogate measure of the quality of > individual research articles, to assess an individual scientist’s > contributions, or in making hiring, promotion or funding decisions. > > Since it was issued, the statement has resonated in diverse corners of the > scientific community and more than 8,700 individuals and 340 organizations > have pledged their support to the campaign by signing the online declaration. > > Among those leading the DORA efforts: > > David Drubin, editor-in-chief of The American Society for Cell Biology’s > journal, Molecular Biology of the Cell (MBoC), and professor of cell and > developmental biology at the University of California at Berkeley; > > Stefano Bertuzzi, executive director of the ASCB; > > Bernd Pulverer, head of scientific publications for the European Molecular > Biology Organization; > > Mark Patterson, Executive Director of eLife in Cambridge, England; > > and Mike Rossner, former executive director of The Rockefeller University > Press > > For their work in trying to change the broad use of the Journal Impact Factor > as the sole measure used to assess research and researchers, SPARC recognizes > the creators of DORA with its July 2013 Innovator Award. > > While reliance on journal metrics has been a community concern for some time, > the DORA organizers said the issue came to a head as funding for research has > stagnated in many countries and competition has intensified to get into > prestigious journals. They contend the current system of evaluation is > embedded but there is a general view that reliance on metrics has gone too > far. The movement started within cell biologists, but the supporters now > include social scientists, mathematicians, and chemists from both the U.S. > and around the world. > > The July 2013 SPARC Innovator Profile is online at > www.sparc.arl.org/initiatives/innovator. > > The SPARC Innovator program recognizes advances in scholarly communication > propelled by an individual, institution, or group. Typically, these advances > exemplify SPARC principles by challenging the status quo in scholarly > communication for the benefit of researchers, libraries, universities, and > the public. SPARC Innovators are featured on the SPARC Web site semi-annually > and have included The Health Research Alliance, The World Bank, PLOS One, > Biological Anthropologist Ventura R. Pérez, Mike Rossner, executive director > of The Rockefeller University Press (RUP) in New York, The Optical Society of > America, and others. SPARC Innovators are selected by the SPARC staff in > consultation with the SPARC Steering Committee. > > For further information or a list of previous SPARC Innovators, please see > the SPARC Web site at www.sparc.arl.org. > > ### > > SPARC > Today membership in SPARC (and our partner organizations SPARC Europe and > SPARC Japan) numbers nearly 800 institutions in North America, Europe, Japan, > China, and Australia. SPARC also is actively affiliated with major library, > academic and advocacy organizations through our active coalition work. > SPARC’s advocacy, educational, and publisher partnership programs encourage > expanded dissemination of research. SPARC is on the Web at www.sparc.arl.org. > > > > > > ---------- > > Andrea Brusca Higginbotham > Communications Manager, SPARC > 21 Dupont Circle, Suite 800 > Washington, DC 20036 > (202) 296-2296 ext 121 > [email protected] > www.arl.org/sparc > > Open Access Week 2013 > October 21-27 > http://www.openaccessweek.org/ > > > > > > > -- > To unsubscribe from the BOAI Forum, use the form on this page: > http://mailman.ecs.soton.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/boai-forum
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