Collaborative Pathways to Responsible Research Assessment via Open Infrastructures

Reforming research assessment has shifted from asking why to focusing on how. The proposed collaborative workshop addresses that challenge, specifically, how to turn CoARA policy principles into practice using infrastructures that are open, ethical, inclusive, and sustainable, by introducing and testing the Open Infrastructure Checklist, developed by the CoARA Working Group on Open Infrastructures for Responsible Research Assessment (OI4RRA). The checklist provides actionable guidance across four key dimensions: technical strength, operational excellence, community-led governance, sustainability, ethical and accountable practices.The workshop aims to empower institutions and infrastructure providers to operationalize responsible research assessment (RRA) using a practical, principle-based checklist, while exploring how existing tools can support this transition. Participants will apply the checklist to three real-world infrastructures: OpenAIRE’s Researcher Profile, a service for showcasing diverse research contributions, beyond traditional-publications model; the GraspOS catalogue of open data, tools, services, and templates for Open-Science-aware RRA, which utilises a metadata schema that complies with a draft specification developed by OI4RRA WG; and testing the ability to gather information from the checklist for Infra Finder from IOI, a catalogue of informational entries about open infrastructure tools and services, and provide feedback.Working in small groups, participants will evaluate each of these infrastructures against the checklist in a participatory format, test the tool’s usability and adaptability, identify gaps, strengths, and opportunities. This hands-on format encourages collaboration and critical reflection. Expected outcomes include a community-refined checklist, practical insights into infrastructure readiness, and a collaborative roadmap for broader institutional adoption and cross-organizational alignment in support of RRA. Workshop Schedule: Co-Designing for Effective-World Adoption 14:00–14:20 (20 min) — Welcome & Framing-Introduction to the workshop goals and collaborative format-Why infrastructure is central to operationalizing RRA principles-Presenting the CoARA OI4RRA WGIntroduction to the Open Infrastructure Checklist: Evaluating Open InfrastructuresFour dimensions: technical strength, operational excellence, community-led governance, ethical dimensionRole of the checklist in guiding adoption -Setting expectations: from shared values to shared implementation tools14:20–14:30 (10 min) —OpenAIRE MyResearchFolio14:30–14:40 (10 min) — GraspOS Catalogue14:40–14:50 (10 min) — IOI Infra Finder15:50 - 15:05 (15 min) Q&A15:05 - 15:10 (5 min) Choose/Find your Breakout Lab15:10 - 15:30 (20 min) Introductions among the participants and setting the scene 15:30-16:15 Coffee Break 16:15–17:00 (45 min) — Breakout Labs: Hands-On Checklist Testing17:00–17:25 (25 min) — Synthesis: Cross-Tool Insights & Checklist Refinement -Group reporting and discussion 17:25–17:40 (15 min) — From Alignment to Adoption: Collective Strategy Session & Commitments17:40–17:45 (5 min) — Closing