The Brazilian Reproducibility Network is now a signatory of DORA

The Brazilian Reproducibility Network (BrRN) is a multidisciplinary initiative committed to promoting transparent, reliable, and reproducible research practices. We understand that the way research is assessed shapes the incentives of the scientific system, influencing researchers’ behaviors and priorities. In this context, BrRN became a member of CoARA (Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment) in 2024 and, starting in 2026, is also a signatory of DORA (San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment), sharing the commitment to fair, responsible, and coherent research assessment aligned with the values of open science and scientific reproducibility.

DORA is a global initiative that encompasses all academic disciplines and major stakeholders—including funders, publishers, professional societies, institutions, and researchers—in advancing the development and promotion of responsible practices in the assessment of academic research.

The BrRN recognizes that traditional evaluation practices, sometimes limited to journal metrics and citation counts, can distort incentives, restrict the diversity of contributions, and undermine the quality, integrity, and social impact of research. Although the evaluation of research, researchers, or institutions is not our core activity, we affirm our commitment to acting as an agent of change at both national and international levels, actively contributing to the debate on responsible research assessment, fostering spaces for dialogue, encouraging approaches with a qualitative emphasis, and collaborating with initiatives aligned with the same principles.

As part of this commitment, in September 2025, BrRN representatives participated in the event “Localising the Global: Towards Responsible Research Assessment in Brazil”, organized by DORA in partnership with the Metrics Project and the University of São Paulo (USP). The event brought together representatives from leading research institutions in the State of São Paulo to discuss how to make research assessment fairer, more transparent, and aligned with the principles of open science. During the event, we presented the recommendations developed by the BrRN and addressed to CAPES, aimed at valuing open and reproducible science in the evaluation of graduate programs.

In addition to being present in spaces for debate on the topic and engaging with policymakers capable of implementing changes in research assessment systems, the BrRN also encourages and supports its members to:

• Encourage research assessment approaches that value the quality, robustness, transparency, and reproducibility of scientific results;

• Recognize and promote the plurality of academic contributions, including open data, code, protocols, preregistrations, negative reports, peer review activities, training, societal engagement, and open science practices;

• Discourage the inappropriate use of metrics as substitutes for qualitative evaluation of scientific merit;

• Contribute to the development, dissemination, and adoption of good practices in responsible research assessment, in dialogue with researchers, institutions, funding agencies, publishers, and other actors in the scientific system.

By becoming a signatory of DORA, BrRN takes another step in reaffirming its conviction that more responsible assessment systems are essential to strengthening trust in science, fostering more equitable research environments, and encouraging scientific practices that maximize the public benefit of knowledge.