Collaborative session notes:
Open session notes
Description
The Sharing Rewards and Credit (SHARC) Interest Group works to transform how open, FAIR, and shared research contributions are valued within global research ecosystems. As research increasingly depends on datasets, software, workflow design, shared infrastructures, and community stewardship, many of these contributions remain invisible to traditional assessment systems. SHARC addresses this gap by developing evidence-based, scalable, and discipline-sensitive reward mechanisms that integrate shared research contributions into evaluation practices in meaningful and sustainable ways.
With a renewed mandate, SHARC is transitioning from its earlier foundational recommendations toward practical, interoperable solutions designed for real-world implementation. This includes developing credit-signal metadata schemas, piloting reward mechanisms in institutional settings, mapping global reward systems, and creating guidance and toolkits for institutions, funders, and publishers. By engaging researchers, data stewards, repository managers, policymakers, and global Open Science stakeholders, SHARC fosters a coordinated international community capable of co-creating, refining, and implementing these tools.
During P26, the SHARC IG will present its updated charter, new objectives, evolving work plan, and emerging deliverables, including progress on its global survey (v2), tools under development, institutional pilots, and the Global Observatory of Open Science Rewards. The session will also invite community input to shape the next stages of SHARC’s work and to identify needs requiring new RDA Working Groups, particularly around interoperable credit metadata, reward mechanism design, and cross-institutional pilots supporting data continuity and research resilience.
Principal Objective
To engage the community in refining and advancing SHARC’s updated work plan as it shifts toward practical, interoperable, and operational mechanisms for recognising Open Science contributions across research ecosystems.
Supporting Objectives
1. Present updates to the SHARC Interest Group Charter, including its renewed aims, scope, and strategic direction.
2. Share progress on key deliverables such as the global survey (v2), the credit-signal metadata schema, institutional pilot case studies, toolkit prototypes, and the Global Observatory of Open Science Rewards.
3. Facilitate discussion with stakeholders on the challenges and opportunities in recognising data, software, and other shared contributions, especially in settings requiring data continuity and cross-border collaboration.
4. Identify priorities for proposed new RDA Working Groups, including areas such as credit-signal metadata standardisation, pilot deployment, and interoperable reward-system tools.
5. Strengthen collaboration with related RDA groups and global initiatives (e.g., EOSC-Future/RDA AIDV-WG, SE4RA, FAIR-aligned groups) to ensure interoperability, avoid duplication, and harmonise efforts in support of Open Science recognition.
