When I first saw the word “DORA”, I automatically thought of Dora the Explorer, an American animated television series that focuses on a Latina girl named Dora Marquez who embarks on quests escorted by her talking purple backpack and anthropomorphic monkey companion named Boots. Each episode is based on Dora’s travels and the various obstacles and conundrums they must solve to the delight of young television viewers.

Another “DORA” recently surfaced and the intended audience is the scientific research community (declaration went public on May 17, 2013).  The acronym stands for “Declaration of Research Assessment” and as of the writing of this post, has signatures from 310 organizations and 8,106 individuals who support this initiative.  Like Dora the Explorer, the originators are also embarking on a quest to change the way in which the output of scientific research is evaluated by funding agencies, academic institutions, and other parties – to find a better way to assess the impact of scientific research.The declaration began as a conversation at an American Society for Cell Biology meeting that took place in 2012 in San Francisco. Journal editors, researchers, as well as other interested individuals came together to discuss the output and results of scientific research with a focus on the misuse of the Journal Impact Factor (JIF).

Eugene Garfield first mentioned the idea of a JIF in Science in 1955 and with the support of the National Institutes of Health, his vision was realized with the 1961 publication of the Science Citation Index. The JIF was intended to help librarians with collection development and show a measure of  journal performance.  It continues to be a good resource to use for researchers, especially those just starting out in their careers who want to make good journal selections when submitting their manuscripts for publication.

 DORA contains a number of important themes which include:

• “the need to eliminate the use of journal-based metrics, such as Journal Impact Factors, in funding, appointment, and promotion considerations;
• the need to assess research on its own merits rather than on the basis of the journal in which the research is published; and
• the need to capitalize on the opportunities provided by online publication (such as relaxing unnecessary limits on the number of words, figures, and references in articles, and exploring new indicators of significance and impact).”

It is obvious that the recommendations outlined in DORA have struck a chord within the scientific community as the number of individuals signing and sharing their thoughts about the declaration continues to grow at a steady rate.  

In closing, I would like to point readers to an editorial written in Science (17 May 2013) where the Editor-in-Chief, Bruce Alberts shares his thoughts about why DORA matters.  If you agree, perhaps you will add your name to the growing list of supporters.

Donna Gibson
Director of Library Services