Explainer · Plain-language
What is CoARA?
CoARA — the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment — is an international coalition of research funders, performing organisations, and other bodies that have committed to reforming how research and researchers are assessed, moving away from reliance on quantitative metrics such as the Journal Impact Factor.
The step most authors miss
Doing CRediT right? Don’t stop at the statement.
A CRediT statement credits you inside one paper. The recognition CRediT was built for happens when those roles are tied to you, persistently. Sign in with your ORCID — free — and claim your CRediT contributions on casrai.org, the home of the standard. They become a verified, portable part of your identity, not a line that disappears into one PDF.
Free: claim your contributions, then export a journal-ready CRediT statement, schema.org structured data, JATS XML, CSV or BibTeX — and preview your public profile. A membership publishes that profile publicly and verifies the journals you serve.
Why CoARA exists
Research assessment has long leaned on quantitative proxies — Journal Impact Factor, h-index, publication counts — which can distort behaviour and undervalue important contributions such as data, software, mentoring, and team science. CoARA was formed to coordinate a systemic shift towards assessment based on the intrinsic quality and broad value of research and researchers.
The Agreement and commitments
CoARA members sign up to an Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment built around core commitments: recognise the diversity of contributions and careers; base assessment primarily on qualitative judgement supported by responsible use of indicators; abandon inappropriate uses of journal- and publication-based metrics; and avoid rankings of research organisations. Members publish action plans and report on progress.
CoARA and DORA
CoARA is complementary to DORA (the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, 2012). DORA is a focused declaration urging signatories to stop using the Journal Impact Factor in hiring, promotion, and funding decisions; CoARA is a broader coalition with formal commitments and action plans. Many organisations are both DORA signatories and CoARA members.
Where CASRAI fits
Responsible assessment needs structured evidence of what researchers actually contributed — which is where contributor-role data (CRediT) and the CASRAI Dictionary's responsible-assessment and authorship vocabulary come in. Narrative CVs, championed in Europe partly through CoARA, lean on the same structured contribution data rather than bare publication counts.
Key facts
At a glance
- Full name: Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment
- Launched: 2022 (Agreement signed in Brussels)
- Origin: European Commission–facilitated process
- Members: hundreds of organisations across many countries
- Core idea: qualitative judgement + responsible metric use; drop JIF over-reliance
- Relationship: complementary to and building on DORA (2012)
Common misconceptions
What people often get wrong
Often heard: CoARA bans all use of metrics.
Actually: No — CoARA asks for responsible use of quantitative indicators to support, not replace, qualitative expert judgement; it targets inappropriate over-reliance on metrics such as the JIF.
Often heard: CoARA and DORA are rival initiatives.
Actually: No — they are complementary. CoARA builds on DORA; many organisations sign both, with DORA as a focused JIF declaration and CoARA as a broader reform coalition.
Going deeper
