Testimonials from ECR Network Leaders & Evidence from their Initiatives: Responsible Research Assessment (RRA) Reforms Advocacy

This presentation by Dr Sadiat Adetoro Salau, Director, Centre for Open Distance and eLearning, Federal University of Technology, Minna, reflects a first-person account of leading research assessment reform advocacy in Nigeria, presented as a sequence of activities each paired with the lessons it produced. The presentation frames the underlying issue through DORA's definition of responsible research assessment and identifies four problems: research behaviour being shaped by assessment practices, metrics-driven publishing that pushes researchers toward high-APC commercial platforms, a publish-or-perish culture that overlooks policy contributions, non-English work, community engagement and mentorship, and the gap between open science advocacy and open science practice.

The advocacy trajectory runs from a 2024 advocacy report published on Zenodo, through a presentation at a LIBSENSE national workshop co-created with the 2024 WACREN Conference, a leadership engagement meeting with the Committee of Vice Chancellors and university librarians, and RRA sessions embedded within Open Access Books BookHub activities in 2025. The lessons are candid and transferable: written outputs need follow-up activity and repackaging into shorter visual formats; assertive advocacy invites pushback, which is itself informative; change is cultural before it is technical, since people trust familiar indicators even when they know the flaws; advocacy should not be done in silos; and RRA reform is a marathon requiring continuous engagement. The presenter closes with what the work returned to her — a new research area, greater visibility, speaking and funding opportunities, and a position in regional and international conversations.