CORE: a Community-driven Open Research Ecosystem for a complete overhaul in academia. This project is to develop such a novel online system of web interface and databases for CORE.
The need for evaluation reform in academia is imperative for continued scientific and other types of innovation. The ideal environment for innovation is open, diverse, democratic, tolerant, and motivating. How can we create and maintain such an environment? One possible solution is to introduce a Rigorous Evaluation System for STEM and possibly other research fields. Three types of research activities—original research, indirect contributions (for example, participation in the evaluation system), and funding / other resource requests—would be evaluated using quantitative, continually refined metrics. The rigorous, community-based evaluation system would reward the quality, not the quantity, of accomplishments. Community members would earn credits for their research and other activities, and as they accumulate experience and credits, they could advance in their role in the community. High-risk, high-reward research projects would have a better chance of being funded. By implementing a sophisticated credit- and role-based incentive mechanism, we could establish a new self-sustaining ecosystem for the entire scientific community. Rigorous science requires rigorous evaluation, and scientific innovation won’t develop efficiently until such a system is built.