The DORA Declaration: Redefining Academic Excellence Beyond Metrics

OUS Academy in Switzerland
Aug 13
4 min read

In academic circles, success is too often measured by where research is published rather than by what the research actually contributes to knowledge and society. The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) is a powerful initiative that challenges this outdated culture. Instead of relying on journal impact factors as a proxy for quality, DORA promotes a more balanced and meaningful way of evaluating academic work — based on its content, not its container.

Since its launch in 2012, DORA has grown into a global movement supported by thousands of individuals, institutions, and research funders who want to reform the way scholarly output is assessed. This article explores the foundation of DORA, its vision, its founders, and highlights ten major universities that have embraced its principles to advance fairness and excellence in academia.

What is the DORA Declaration?

The DORA Declaration was born out of frustration with the overuse of journal-based metrics — especially the Journal Impact Factor — in evaluating research, hiring academics, awarding grants, and making promotions. While these metrics were originally designed to help librarians choose which journals to buy, they gradually became shorthand for academic quality, despite their many limitations.

DORA advocates for:

Assessing research on its own merits, not the prestige of the journal it appears in.
Recognizing diverse types of scholarly contributions, including datasets, software, teaching, mentorship, and societal impact.
Ensuring transparency and fairness in funding and hiring decisions.
Promoting responsible research metrics and qualitative evaluation.

The declaration includes specific recommendations for researchers, universities, publishers, and funding bodies — encouraging them to rethink their assessment criteria and support open, inclusive, and responsible research practices.

Who Founded DORA?

DORA was officially launched in 2012 during the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) in San Francisco. It was initiated by a group of scientists, journal editors, and publishers who saw the need for urgent reform in how scientific contributions are judged.

Founders and Key Contributors:

Dr. Stefano Bertuzzi Former Executive Director of ASCB, he was instrumental in initiating the dialogue that led to the DORA Declaration.
Dr. Mark Patterson Then Director of Publishing at the Public Library of Science (PLOS), he advocated for open access and article-level evaluation.
Dr. Catriona MacCallum A passionate voice for open science and fair publishing practices, she contributed significantly to DORA’s content and outreach.
Dr. Bernd Pulverer Editor at EMBO Press, who emphasized the need for transparency in editorial processes and research evaluation.
The ASCB and PLOS Teams These two organizations provided the foundation and early momentum for DORA, giving it the credibility and visibility it needed to spread globally.

DORA is now maintained by a small, dedicated team, supported by an international advisory board, and hosted by the American Society for Cell Biology.

Top 10 Universities Supporting DORA and Fair Research Assessment

The following ten universities are among those leading the change in research culture by formally endorsing DORA and integrating its principles into hiring, promotion, and funding decisions:

1. University of Cambridge (UK)

One of the world’s oldest and most respected academic institutions, Cambridge has taken concrete steps to reduce the emphasis on journal metrics in faculty evaluations. The university now includes broader criteria such as mentorship, collaboration, and community impact in its assessment frameworks.

2. University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) (USA)

As a medical research powerhouse, UCSF was one of the earliest adopters of DORA. It revised its promotion policies to focus on research quality, teaching, and patient impact, rather than journal prestige.

3. University of Cape Town (South Africa)

This leading African university has integrated DORA principles into its research and innovation strategy. It encourages local and regional research relevance and highlights the importance of community-based impact over traditional bibliometrics.

4. Karolinska Institutet (Sweden)

Renowned for awarding the Nobel Prize in Medicine, Karolinska has committed to DORA by ensuring that faculty recruitment and evaluations focus on research integrity, transparency, and diversity of contribution.

5. University of Melbourne (Australia)

The University of Melbourne has introduced narrative CVs, where researchers describe their contributions beyond publications. This shift has created a more inclusive and diverse academic culture that values quality and collaboration.

6. Leiden University (Netherlands)

Famous for its leadership in research evaluation, Leiden has been vocal in moving away from quantitative metrics. Its Centre for Science and Technology Studies is a global hub for responsible metrics, aligning closely with DORA’s values.

7. McGill University (Canada)

This top Canadian institution has updated its internal policies to reflect DORA standards. It values interdisciplinary research, knowledge translation, and open access publishing, encouraging a holistic view of academic success.

8. University of São Paulo (Brazil)

Latin America's largest university has embraced DORA to ensure that its vast output of research is assessed with attention to quality, societal benefit, and multilingual dissemination rather than citation counts alone.

9. University of Helsinki (Finland)

A strong advocate of research openness and sustainability, the University of Helsinki promotes fairness in academic hiring and evaluation, focusing on the long-term impact of research on Finnish society and beyond.

10. National University of Singapore (NUS) (Singapore)

One of Asia’s most innovative universities, NUS supports the DORA movement by nurturing a research ecosystem that rewards originality, integrity, and relevance to real-world challenges.

Why DORA Matters

The DORA Declaration is more than just a policy document — it is a symbol of the changing values in academia. It reflects a growing consensus that real excellence cannot be captured by a number. Researchers are creators, mentors, innovators, and problem-solvers. Their work should be evaluated with fairness, nuance, and context.

DORA encourages a healthier academic culture — one that rewards collaboration over competition, ethics over prestige, and substance over style. As more universities, funding bodies, and publishers adopt these values, we move closer to an academic world where every voice has a fair chance to be heard and recognized.