Study on reform of research assessment says progress is uneven across countries and institutions

A study on reforming the assessment of research has found that progress has been uneven across countries and institutions, reflecting geographical and organisational disparities as well as structural barriers arising from national legislative frameworks.

The study, published by the European Commission on 25/06/2026, looks at progress towards implementing the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment (ARRA), an initiative designed to improve evaluation by looking at a broader range of measures than impact and publication counts.

The European Commission published a study by independent experts on 25/06/2026, providing an overview of progress towards 2026 on the ARRA, drawing on action plans and interviews with signatories of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA).

The report, which was drawn up by independent experts, says that the reform has moved beyond the stage of simply setting objectives and is now in a phase of implementation and consolidation. Although the level of engagement is extensive and growing (with over 800 members of CoARA), the pace and nature of engagement varies depending on the type of organisation and the country.

It adds that there is strong alignment with the general principles of the reform, particularly regarding support commitments like resources, training and communication. However, the practical implementation of the evaluation practices themselves varies more widely:

• Commitment one on diversity of contribution has been addressed very widely, but interpreted in various ways, ranging from a simple expansion of the types of publications recognised to a systemic view of careers.
• Commitment four on avoiding rankings is the one least frequently addressed specifically in the action plans.

The report also concludes that progress is limited not so much by a lack of organisational will as by systemic dependencies. Many reforms depend on national legislation, the criteria of funding bodies or parallel institutional processes, such as HR systems.

ARRA and CoARA are European-led initiatives that seek to improve how research quality and researcher contributions are evaluated, moving beyond narrow metrics toward more qualitative, responsible and diverse forms of assessment. Their work directly supports broader EU research policy objectives related to research excellence, openness, integrity and innovation within the European Research Area (ERA).