A Practical Guide to Implementing Responsible Research Assessment at Research Funding Organizations

“A Practical Guide to Implementing Responsible Research Assessment at Research Funding Organizations” provides action-oriented guidance, resources, and examples. It is designed for a broad audience, from funders exploring responsible research assessment (RRA), to those starting to implement it, to those refining strategies and existing practices. Recognizing the diversity of funders and the contexts in which they operate, the Guide is intended to be used flexibly.

Evidence shows that RRA-aligned approaches can improve the quality, efficiency, and impact of funded research by strengthening reliability, reducing waste, and enabling faster, broader impact, and thus presents a strategic opportunity for all types of funders. Developed in collaboration with the Global Research Council RRA Working Group and Science Europe, the Guide includes contributions from funders and partners from across the global research ecosystem, including DORA’s Funder Groups and participants of a satellite workshop at the CeRRA High-Level Conference on Reforming Research Assessment in Copenhagen (December 2025).

For those short of time, the Guide is accompanied by tailored summaries:

• Informational Briefs for funding leaders and program staff, offering a distilled summary of the Guide and potential action points, freely available here
• Quick-Reference Sheets offering concise summaries of the key elements of the Guide, freely available here

We have also created two Slides Decks: one providing an overview of the Guide, its aims, and a summary description of its content; and a second aimed at funder Program staff looking to develop RRA-aligned interventions, freely available here.

The RFO Practical Guide is a sister volume of a similar volume for Research Performing Organizations, which has been created as part of Project TARA, supported by Arcadia.

This publication is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial CC BY-NC. This information may be freely used, copied and adapted for noncommercial purposes, provided that the source is acknowledged.

Authors are ordered alphabetically by surname.