Protocol for building the Modular Assessment Configurator: governance, architecture, and responsible use

This protocol sets out how the Modular Assessment Configurator (MAC) is to be built as a governed, modular, transparent, and human-reviewed instrument for responsible research assessment. The Configurator is a configuration, reflection, evidence-mapping, self-evaluation, and governance environment. It is not a ranking tool, a scoring machine, or an automated decision system. The protocol places the Configurator under the governance of CoARA-ERIP, defines it as a federation of modules developed in parallel by a technical core group of three equal leads, and sets out its layered architecture, its responsible-use rules and non-configurable safeguards, its work packages, a deliberately limited first demonstrator, a phased development sequence, its governance bodies, and a register of risks. Partner roles are stated as proposed functions and imply no formal commitment. The protocol gives practical form to the framework for assessing digital contributions and to the tools described in the CoARA-ERIP Workstream 3 report.