ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment

The San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment or DORA is like a promise or agreement made by scientists and researchers to use better ways to evaluate research. When grown-up scientists and researchers work on a new idea, they often measure the success of their work by how many times other people have read, cited, or talked about their research. However, this can create pressure on researchers to prioritize getting more attention for their work over quality research.

So, the DORA agreement was made to help evaluate research in a fairer way. Think of it like a game where everyone gets the same number of points for the same achievements regardless of whether they are playing for a big team or a small one. The idea is to change the way research is being evaluated by trying to reduce the importance placed on these popular measures of success and instead encourage using other, more meaningful ways of evaluating research.

This is important because it helps researchers focus on creating quality research and may inspire them to work on ideas that are new and may have not been considered popular before. Plus, it ensures that the research that is being evaluated is done to very high standards so that when people read about it, they can trust that it is true and worth discussing.