In July 2025, EUFEPS has become an official signatory of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), joining a growing collective of organizations and individuals committed to improving how research outputs are evaluated. This move reinforces the Alliance's dedication to fostering transparency and accountability in scientific research while contributing to the broader, global effort to reform research assessment practices.
DORA: A Call for Collective Action
DORA, initiated in 2012 at the American Society for Cell Biology Annual Meeting, represents a global initiative to improve how scholarly research is evaluated. With thousands of signatories worldwide, including individuals, institutions, and organizations, DORA embodies a shared commitment to moving beyond simplistic metrics toward a more comprehensive and fair assessment of research quality and impact.
The core principles of DORA include:
- Recognizing the diverse types of research outputs;
- Promoting transparency in the assessment process;
- Encouraging the use of multiple indicators in evaluation;
- Advocating for the responsible use of metrics.
These principles aim to foster a research environment that values quality, innovation, and real-world impact over mere quantitative indicators.
The Importance of Widespread Engagement
As a leading European organization dedicated to advancing excellence in pharmaceutical sciences, EUFEPS is committed to fostering a research environment that promotes integrity, transparency, and fairness in the evaluation of scientific work.
By signing DORA, EUFEPS affirms its support for a more comprehensive and responsible approach to research assessment—one that values the quality and impact of scientific contributions over simplistic metrics such as journal impact factors. We believe that evaluating researchers and their work should be based on the content, rigor, and relevance of their research, not solely on the venue of publication.
Joining DORA aligns with EUFEPS’s mission to support scientific advancement, education, and collaboration across Europe, and underscores our commitment to the professional development of pharmaceutical scientists at all career stages. It also reflects our intention to lead by example in promoting a culture of assessment that truly recognizes scientific merit, innovation, and societal contribution.
Through this step, EUFEPS encourages other institutions, publishers, and stakeholders in the pharmaceutical sciences to reflect critically on their evaluation practices and join the growing global movement toward responsible research assessment.