Recognise ORD (recORD)

Recognise ORD (recORD) brings together 12 Swiss higher education institutions (HEIs), the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences (FORS). The project aims to take a joint step forward in deciding how Open Research Data (ORD) should be recognized in the evaluation of research proposals, in the assessment of researchers in recruitment and career development, and in the assessment of research performing institutions.

• The project performs a landscape analysis of best practices in ORD recognition, based on a literature review and on a needs analysis of all partners involved. This analysis provides the input for three national full-day workshops dedicated to the use of ORD in research assessment. The aim of each workshop is to formulate, confirm or reject best practice examples. Each institution has also committed to prepare its positions and inputs for these workshops through internal preparatory discussions.
• The international context and discourse on the use of ORD in research assessment will be included through discussions with working groups of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) and with the Swiss national CoARA chapter.
• To disseminate the results of the project, a full-day event will be organized for the Swiss community and invited international guests. In addition, the SNSF plays a crucial role in transferring the results of this project into practice, in particular with regard to the evaluation of research proposals.

The aim of recORD is to take a step towards a consolidated national recommendation on how ORD practices should be recognized in research assessment in Swiss higher education institutions (HEIs). The identification of relevant existing best practices and the most pressing challenges that need to be addressed in our national context is part of the work undertaken in this context.

recORD is a one-year project that started in January 2024. Results publicly available to date:
“Recognising Open Research Data in Research Assessment: Overview of Practices and Challenges”: 
https://zenodo.org/records/11060207
 

Desired impact: Reflective, systematic and nationally coordinated consideration of ORD in already established assessment processes. Additional impulse for and general improvement of research assessment and OS aspects in research assessment through the in-depth discussion of ORD in research assessment undertaken in this project.