1. Statement of commitment

Organisations must have a clear and easily accessible statement on their externally-facing website, highlighting their commitment to implementing the principles as part of a fair and responsible approach for research assessment. This must be in place by January 2021.

The statement does not necessarily need to be published on a stand-alone webpage. For example, it could form part of an existing webpage which addresses the organisation’s broader approach to research evaluation, open research or enhancing research culture.

Alongside this statement, organisations are encouraged to:

specify how the principles are aligned to the organisation’s overarching vision, mission and values

be explicit on whether they: have signed up to or endorsed DORA, and/or equivalent declarations are actively considering signing up to one or more of these declarations have decided not to sign up to a declaration but will adopt equivalent or enhanced principles and procedures.

explain the key steps they are taking to implement and embed the principles, linking through to relevant policies, guidance and the implementation plan

provide detailed materials, guidance and resources to staff through an internally-facing website as appropriate (while considering making these publicly available wherever possible as exemplars of good practice).

2. Implementation plan

Organisations must develop a plan for implementing the principles (where such a plan is not already in place) or have a clear process in place for developing a plan with a specified delivery date, by January 2021. This should incorporate elements from each of the subsections below.

Strategy and leadership

The development and delivery of the implementation plan should be resourced sufficiently and have clear ownership and buy-in across the organisation.

Organisations should consider:

making sure one or more senior leaders take ownership for championing the principles and their implementation, as part of broader efforts to enhance research culture

establishing a cross-organisation working group with a suitably diverse and representative membership – including across research disciplines and career levels – to develop the implementation plan and oversee its delivery

seeking input and feedback from staff across the organisation during the development and roll out of the implementation plan, where appropriate

designating one or more staff members to take forward the agreed implementation plan as a key part of their role

establishing a way for staff to report confidentially if the principles have been breached, and for appropriate remedial action to be taken by senior leaders (which may be through an existing whistleblowing process).

Hiring and promotion practices

Organisations should develop their recruitment, promotion and career-advancement policies and practices in ways that reflect their commitment to the principles.

This might include:

making sure that the criteria used for recruitment promotion and other decisions on career advancement are clear and transparent, and specifically reference the principles

developing clear guidance for staff involved in recruitment and promotion decisions which: explicitly caution against the inappropriate use of publication metrics encourage them to value a full and diverse range of research outputs and contributions.

encouraging candidates to highlight a broad range of research outputs and other contributions, in addition to publications

asking candidates to highlight a limited number of key achievements (which may be based on one or several outputs), and to provide a narrative description of their significance and the role they played in the research

prohibiting the use of language in job advertisements which refers directly or indirectly to journal title as a proxy for quality (for example ‘a track record of publication in leading journals’)

discouraging the inappropriate use of lists of ‘target journals’ for researchers that are based on perceived prestige associated with the journals concerned.

Communication, advocacy and raising awareness

Organisations should make sure that their staff are aware of their organisation’s policy and expectations in relation to the principles, and have the guidance and support needed to implement them.

This might include:

highlighting ongoing work through the organisation’s communication channels – such as websites, newsletters and social media

running seminars or workshops to engage staff across the organisation in discussions about the principles and responsible and fair research assessment more broadly, and the associated opportunities and challenges

incorporating information about the principles in staff inductions and in specific training for group leaders and others involved in recruiting and promotion

identifying ‘champions’ across the organisation who can act as advocates of good practice and work with colleagues to identify and address any challenges and concerns.

3. Approach for monitoring and sharing learning

Organisations are required to have a process in place by January 2021 to monitor their progress in implementing the principles and ensure this progress is reviewed over time.

Wellcome will only require organisations to provide assurance that they have such a process in place. We will not require detailed reporting against specific metrics and we recognise that the ability to collect particular types of information will vary between organisations. As noted above, we will also explore how we can bring organisations together to help them develop effective monitoring frameworks and share good practice.

Organisations should consider: