Hong Kong Principles (2020)

Five principles for assessing researchers, articulated by Moher and colleagues at the 6th World Conference on Research Integrity in Hong Kong (2019) and published in 2020, designed to incentivise responsible research practices through hiring, promotion, and funding decisions. An institution adheres to the principles if its assessment processes embody all five.

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· Last updated 22 Aug 2026

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The Hong Kong Principles for Assessing Researchers are a five-point framework for research-assessment reform, developed at the 6th World Conference on Research Integrity (Hong Kong, 2019) and published in PLOS Biology in July 2020 by Moher and colleagues. Their distinguishing argument is that assessment criteria are themselves a driver of research integrity: what an institution counts at hiring, promotion and tenure is what researchers optimise for, so the route to more trustworthy research runs through changing what is rewarded.

The five principles are: (1) assess responsible research practices, (2) value complete reporting, (3) reward the practice of open science (open research), (4) acknowledge a broad range of research activities (including peer review, mentorship, data stewardship), and (5) recognise essential other tasks like peer review and mentoring. The framework complements DORA (San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, 2012) and CoARA (Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment, 2022) by shifting incentives away from narrow bibliometrics toward integrity-aligned behaviours. They also sit alongside the Leiden Manifesto (2015), which sets out principles for the responsible use of research metrics; the difference in emphasis is that DORA and Leiden address how outputs and indicators should be used, while the Hong Kong Principles address the assessment of researchers themselves and its consequences for integrity.

References

Moher D, Bouter L, Kleinert S, et al. (2020) 'The Hong Kong Principles for assessing researchers: Fostering research integrity', PLOS Biology 18(7): e3000737 (doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.3000737).
World Conference on Research Integrity Foundation, 6th World Conference on Research Integrity (Hong Kong, 2019).

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