RESSH2025 conference of the international association ENRESSH (European Network for Research Evaluation in the SSH) is organized 19-21 May, 2024, in Helsinki, Finland. It brings together specialists on various topics of research evaluation and research policy with a special focus on the social sciences, humanities and the arts (SSH).
- Dates: 19-21 May 2024
- Submissions: via EasyChair
- Deadline for submissions: 31st of January, 2025
- Acceptance confirmation: 12th of March
- Registration begins: 12th of March
- Conference venue: House of Science and Letters (Tieteiden talo), Kirkkokatu 6, 00170 Helsinki
- Local organizer: Federation of Finnish Learned Societies
- Contact: janne.polonen@tsv.fi
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
The evolving landscape of research assessment is among the twenty key actions in the European Research Area 2020–2024 agenda. This priority has taken shape through the Towards a Reform of the Research Assessment System—Scoping Report, issued in 2021 by the European Commission, outlining objectives and principles for a renewed evaluation approach. In line with this, the European Council’s Conclusions on the Assessment of Research and the Implementation of Open Science of June 2022 stress the need to address limitations in current systems to better support the diversity of research outputs, foster interdisciplinary work and promote multilingualism, moving towards a more qualitative and inclusive evaluation model. The Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment (ARRA) and the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) provide a common direction for these efforts.
This shift calls for rethinking frameworks to better recognize the diverse contributions of researchers and institutions, aligning assessments with the evolving needs of science. Research assessment reform should incorporate a range of approaches, including epistemic, ethical, and legal considerations, as well as factors such as inclusiveness, open science, sustainability, and societal impact. This transformation involves not only revising measurement practices but also broadening our understanding of valuable and impactful research. Central to this effort is the role of infrastructure, which must support fair and transparent assessments aligned with open science and diverse research outputs.
We welcome abstracts for presentations and posters that explore these themes from theoretical, empirical, and practical perspectives, addressing challenges and proposing actionable solutions for the future of research assessment. Submissions related to CoARA activities are particularly welcome. We encourage diverse perspectives and approaches that critically engage with the evolving landscape of research assessment and contribute to meaningful progress in this area.
Contributions may focus on case studies, policy analyses, empirical studies, theoretical frameworks, and methodological innovations. The maturity of the contributions can range from presentations of work-in-progress to reports to papers. Abstracts will be made available prior to the conference.
TOPICS
Topics might include, but are not limited to, the following:
Diversity in research contributions
- Evaluation of interdisciplinary research
- Recognition of non-traditional career paths
- Societal impact and community engagement
Qualitative approaches and peer review
- Peer review standards and practices
- Integration of narrative CVs
- Balancing qualitative and quantitative assessments
Beyond traditional metrics
- Alternatives to journal impact factors and h-index
- Development of holistic evaluation models
- Creation of inclusive and responsible metrics
Rethinking institutional rankings
- Impact of rankings on researcher evaluation
- Institutional autonomy in setting evaluation criteria
SUBMISSIONS
There are two types of contributions to the conference:
PAPER
- Paper presentations allow for 20 minutes of presentation, followed by 10 minutes of discussions.
- Extended abstract containing:
- A clear and descriptive title
- Names and affiliations of all authors
- Keywords (5) relevant to the research
- Main body
- References (if applicable)
The extended abstract must be between 600 and 1,200 words, excluding references.
POSTER
- Poster presentations will be held during one or more dedicated poster sessions.
- Short abstracts containing:
- A clear and descriptive title
- Names and affiliations of all authors
- Keywords (3-5) relevant to the research
- Main body
The abstract must not exceed 400 words.
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
- Ginevra Peruginelli (Chair), Institute of Legal Informatics and Judicial Systems - National Research Council, Italy
- Janne Pölönen (Local Organising Chair), Federation of Finnish Learned Societies, Finland
- André Brasil, University of Leiden, The Netherlands
- Emanuel Kulczycki, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
- Francesca Di Donato, Institute of Computational Linguistics "A. Zampolli", National Research Council, Italy
- Geoffrey Williams, Professor emeritus, Université de Bretagne Sud, France
- Gunnar Sivertsen, Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education, Norway
- Jelena Brankovic, Universität Bielefeld, Germany
- Jon Holm, Research Council of Norway, Norway
- Julia Olmos Peñuela, University of Valencia, Spain
- Lai Ma, University College Dublin, Ireland
- Laura Rovelli, CLASCO/FOLEC, Argentina
- Michael Ochsner, FORS, Lausanne, Switzerland; Center for Reproducible Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland
- Mikael Laakso, Tampere University, Finland
- Mira Söderman, Federation of Finnish Learned Societies, Finland
- Nataša Jermen, The Miroslav Krleza Institute of Lexicography, Croatia
- Reetta Muhonen, Tampere University, Finland
- Tim C.E. Engels, University of Antwerp, Belgium
