Americas Launch of Practical Guide for Research Funding Organizations

DORA is excited to announce the launch of "A Practical Guide to Implementing Responsible Research Assessment at Research Funding Organizations" (available at https://sfdora.org/resource/rfo-pract.... Co-developed with the Global Research Council (GRC) and Science Europe, the Guide is designed to support research funding organizations (RFOs) looking to shape and deliver responsible research assessment (RRA) practices. It reflects a collective effort and draws upon learning from the DORA community and funding experts worldwide. To celebrate this milestone and gather global perspectives, we hosted three virtual launch events across the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Africa & Europe regions. This session, co-hosted by Kelly Cobey (DORA Co-Chair, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Canada), featured Olival Freire Jr. (CNPq, Brazil), Emily Ford (Open Research Funders Group, United States), and Ana Denicola (Universidad de la República, Uruguay). The panelists shared insights on implementing RRA in their regions, common challenges, and the role of collaborative initiatives. The session was co-hosted by Shawn McGuirk (GRC RRA WG Co-Chair, NSERC, Canada), who introduced the GRC's new Responsible Research Assessment Self-Assessment Tool for Funders (available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3.... Across the three launch events, several common themes emerged: the critical need for engaged leadership, the importance of training peer reviewers to assess broader criteria, the necessity of connecting RRA to interconnected movements like open science and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), and the challenge of navigating cultural resistance within the research community. The conversations highlighted that while funders operate in vastly different landscapes, global coordination and shared learnings are vital for driving systemic change. The Guide aims to support RFOs on this journey: a resource providing practical activities, examples, and tools to help organizations identify problems, explore solutions, and bring their communities together for discussion. We invite you to: • Use the Guide and the GRC Self-Assessment tool to inform your RRA efforts. • Share it with your colleagues and institutions. • Provide feedback to DORA as the Guide is intended to evolve. • Get in touch if you would like DORA to introduce the Guide to your community or if you are interested in developing a local community of practice ([email protected]). • Share your own examples of RRA implementation to help others learn. Thank you to all the panelists, hosts, participants, and contributors who made the Guide and these launch events possible, to our partners at the Global Research Council and Science Europe. We look forward to continuing the conversation and working together to advance responsible research assessment globally!