Open Infrastructures for Responsible Research Assessment: Principles, Framework, and Checklist for Research Organisations

This publication presents the final, community-validated framework for leveraging Open Infrastructures for Responsible Research Assessment (RRA). Developed by the CoARA Working Group on OI4RRA, the framework defines the principles, characteristics, technical requirements, and governance practices that ensure open infrastructures are transparent, inclusive, technically robust, and ethically grounded. Together, these elements provide a practical foundation for assessment systems that are fair, context-aware, and globally relevant. In this unified release, the framework is complemented by the OI4RRA WG Checklist, a practical evaluation tool that translates the framework’s principles into actionable criteria for Research Performing and Research Funding Organisations.

What’s new in this version

• Incorporates extensive feedback gathered during the public consultation period (10 February – 14 March 2025).
• Adds implementation guidance and alignment with CoARA commitments.
• Streamlines terminology for consistency with international RRA discourse.
• Integrates the OI4RRA Checklist as a companion tool, enabling organisations to assess the readiness, openness, and suitability of candidate infrastructures.

Key messages

• Transitioning from proprietary, closed systems to community-owned open infrastructures is essential for safeguarding scholarly sovereignty and equity.
• Adopting the framework helps institutions embed responsible, context-sensitive assessment practices that recognise the full spectrum of research contributions.
• A forthcoming OI4RRA Readiness Checklist (derived directly from this framework) will enable organisations to perform a rapid gap analysis of candidate infrastructures.
• The included OI4RRA Checklist, derived directly from the framework, enables organisations to conduct rapid gap analyses, compare infrastructures, and identify risks such as black-box algorithms, vendor lock-in, or inadequate governance.
• Together, the framework and checklist accelerate the sector-wide transition and adoption toward transparent, interoperable, and ethically designed infrastructures fit for RRA.

Intended audience

Research-performing and funding organisations, infrastructure providers, librarians, policy-makers, and stakeholders aiming to advance responsible research assessment through open, community-governed infrastructures.