At this year’s DH Benelux 2025 in Amsterdam, the OPERAS Innovation Lab presented its latest work on building a practical and inclusive framework for evaluating innovative research outputs in the social sciences and Humanities (SSH). Developed in collaboration with DARIAH-EU and based on international research assessment principles (such as DORA and CoARA), the framework is a response to a persistent gap in how we recognise non-traditional scholarly contributions like digital monographs, multimedia publications, software, or platforms.
Drawing on four case studies (see our studies here) and community feedback from a validation workshop held during the OPERAS Conference 2024 in Zadar, the framework proposes ten qualitative assessment criteria – ranging from novelty, utility, and user engagement, to impact, sustainability, and reusability. These criteria aim to capture the value of innovative projects as a whole, not just the content they produce.
The framework is going to be applied to pilot projects and use cases within the GRAPHIA project, allowing for its iterative refinement and dialogue with other initiatives, such as CoARA. It aligns closely with Open Science values, encouraging transparency, peer engagement, and the recognition of diverse scholarly outputs beyond traditional peer-reviewed formats.
With our framework, we aim to contribute to the broader movement for reforming research assessment systems across Europe, helping institutions and funders better support and reward SSH innovations that promote interdisciplinarity, societal relevance, and knowledge diversity.
Read more about the framework in OPERAS Innovation Lab guidelines: Zenodo – 10.5281/zenodo.14221728
See the full conference abstract: https://zenodo.org/records/15356832