The Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) is a global initiative to encourage the development and promotion of best practices in evaluation of researchers and the outputs of scholarly research.

Research assessment shapes research careers, institutional decisions, and academic cultures. The Declaration affirms a university-wide commitment to societal impact, with validation of multiple forms of output from UCalgary research, scholarship, and innovation activities. DORA also emphasizes the university’s accountability to rigorous assessment and reporting of impact both internally and externally. DORA-aligned research assessment will promote clearer processes of assessment and will enable researchers to be recognized for diverse outputs and impact practices that matter to them, their scholarly field, and to key users of their work allowing them to communicate their impact more clearly to funders, collaborators, partners or philanthropists.

Read: The full DORA declaration
See: Additional Resources | DORA

DORA Implementation at UCalgary

The University of Calgary signed DORA in January 2021, joining thousands of institutions and individuals globally. Major Canadian funders such as NSERC, CIHR, SSHRC, Canadian Foundation for Innovation and Genome Canada have also signed DORA.

The University of Calgary adheres to the principles of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and strives to responsibly and inclusively evaluate the research quality, significance, and impact of current and prospective academics. We do this by explicitly considering the value and impact of various activities, outputs, and scholarly contributions that are appropriate to the field or discipline and to key beneficiaries when assessing research and scholarship activities.

UCalgary Policies, Plans and Resources

GFC Academic Staff Criteria & Processes Handbook (2024)
Faculty Guidelines
Research and Innovation Plan
Academic Innovation Plan
Academic Selection Toolkit
University of Calgary - DORA Case Study (2025)

Good Research Assessment Practices at UCalgary

Guided by DORA

Responsible assessment

Bibliometric indicators are not used or considered in isolation but rather in combination with qualitative methods for demonstrating evidence of achievements. More specifically, journal-based metrics are not used for research assessment of individuals (if relevant to that Faculty) and instead discipline-appropriate quantitative and qualitative indicators such as document-level indicators, peer recognition, advancement to the discipline, innovation, creativity, and/or impact on society and community are considered.

Transparent assessment

Transparency of the research assessment process through an open and clear overview of how quality and impact are considered. For academic staff, the GFC Academic Staff Criteria & Processes Handbook and Faculty Guidelines provides clear descriptions of appropriate venues, methods, communication outlets, and when collaborations with academic and non-academic actors are recognized.

Inclusive assessment

Agreed-upon criteria for assessment will depend on the selection decision and also consider the individual’s scholarly context (their scholarly field, time demands to reach full development, community engagement demands, and the probability of use/ impact on key intended partners and users). See our narrative CV page for tips on how to highlight an individual’s strengths for assessment decisions, as well as the "Collecting and Communicating Evidence of Impact" section below.

Joining DORA is another step toward more meaningfully evaluating research output and impact. Our scholars are increasingly engaged in new forms of knowledge creation, and as a university we have emphasized the need to better demonstrate the impact of our research. Including an assessment of impact along with more traditional metrics will help us to fully recognize the value of their work.

Dr. Marcello Tonelli
Professor, Cumming School of Medicine,
Former Associate Vice-President (Research)