RDA and Science Policy
The RDA has shaped global science policy since 2013 through collaboration across diverse disciplines and regions, creating recognition of its transformative potential and opportunities to demonstrate real-world policy impact.
RDA’s community-driven recommendations and practical frameworks have become foundational elements of science policy at institutional, national, and international levels. These outputs provide funders and policymakers with evidence-based solutions for implementing Open Science initiatives, from national strategies to institutional reforms.
By uniting global expertise, RDA develops frameworks for critical policy areas including persistent identifiers, journal research data policies, and research evaluation. This approach transforms fragmented efforts into coordinated action, delivering practical solutions that drive meaningful policy change worldwide.
RDA compliance with the Principles of Open Science (POSI)
RDA has conducted a self-assessment of its Compliance with the Principles of Open Scholarly Infrastructure (POSI)
Resources
The Value of the RDA for Policy White Papers – Advancing Community-Led Impact on Science Policies
The Value of RDA for National Persistent Identifier (PID) Strategies – White Paper
The Value of RDA for Journal Research Data Policy Frameworks – White Paper
The Value of RDA for Research Evaluation
The Value of RDA for Policy Series demonstrates how RDA’s community-driven recommendations and outputs across three critical policy areas, National Persistent Identifier Strategies, Journal Research Data Policy Frameworks, and Research Evaluation, serve as foundational infrastructure that enables countries, publishers, and institutions worldwide to implement evidence-based science policies that enhance research transparency, reproducibility, and impact measurement.
- The National PID Strategies white paper demonstrates how the RDA’s National PID Strategies Guide and Checklist has successfully helped multiple countries develop coordinated approaches to implementing persistent identifiers across their research ecosystems, with case studies from the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, and the United States showing how these strategies streamline research workflows, improve data discoverability, and provide measurable research impact assessment.
- The Journal Data Policy Frameworks white paper demonstrates how demonstrates how the RDA’s Journal Research Data Policy Framework provides a standardised yet flexible approach that enables journals and publishers worldwide to implement consistent data sharing policies, with case studies from Slovenia, the STM Association, and the French BRIDGE project showing how the framework simplifies policy development while accommodating discipline-specific needs and cross-institutional collaboration requirements.
- The Research Evaluation white paper demonstrates how the RDA’s Evaluation of Research Interest Group facilitates the global transformation of research evaluation from bibliometric-based systems to comprehensive frameworks that recognise diverse research outputs including datasets and software, with case studies from France’s CoARA liaison, the SHARC Interest Group’s stakeholder recommendations, and Open Science NL’s €1.2M investment showing evolution toward equitable, Open Science-aligned career assessment systems.
These three policy areas constitute critical infrastructure for modern research by enabling reliable tracking and citation, establishing data sharing standards, and incentivising responsible practices. The RDA addresses these priorities through dedicated community groups developing solutions and best practices to enhance research transparency, reproducibility, and impact. This series may be expanded in the future to include additional science policy topics of interest within the community.
Events and activities
A timeline of policy-related events and activities, including white papers, organised for the community by the RDA Secretariat:
May 2025: Workshops on the ‘Value of RDA for Policy: Advancing Community-led Impact on Science Policy
| Date | Time (UTC) | Event | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, 15 May 2025 | 15:00 – 16:00 | The Value of RDA for Policy: Advancing Community-led Impact on Science Policy | White paper |
| Tuesday, 20 May 2025 | 06:00 – 7:00 | The Value of RDA for Policy: Advancing Community-led Impact on Science Policy | White paper |
Future work
Given the demonstrated value of RDA for science policy and recognising the importance of showcasing real-world impact, the RDA Secretariat has outlined plans to enhance policy engagement and impact measurement. The following proposed initiatives will be adapted based on evolving community needs and policy priorities:
- The Secretariat plans to develop enhanced implementation workshops that move beyond presenting recommendations to examining real-world contexts, identifying specific stakeholders, and providing concrete implementation steps.
- To deepen policy impact, the RDA will focus on priority policy areas including national and regional PID strategies, funder PID policies, TRUST Principles for data repositories, and the intersection of FAIR principles with AI. Read more about the RDA and AI.
- A systematic impact measurement framework could be developed to evaluate success through ‘usefulness’ and ‘influence’ rather than strict adoption, recognising that organisations are typically inspired or influenced by RDA materials to drive policy changes.
- The Secretariat will continue to facilitate community reporting through adoption stories and case studies, creating a comprehensive picture of RDA’s global policy influence and providing inspiring examples for future implementers.
- Targeted regional outreach to Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas will strengthen global representation and enrich understanding of distinct regional policy priorities through focused consultation strategies.
Relevant RDA Groups
National PID Strategies Working Group
This Working Group explores how persistent identifiers (PIDs) integrate into national policy and research infrastructure frameworks, identifying systemic benefits from their widespread adoption and developing guidance to help countries create coordinated approaches for systematically implementing PIDs across their research ecosystems to enhance efficiency and quality while delivering time and cost savings through policy pathways that leverage national research infrastructure investment.
National PID Strategies Interest Group
This Interest Group continues to facilitate information exchange and alignment between countries or regions implementing national PID strategies, building on the outputs of the National PID Strategies Working Group to support ongoing discussion and collaboration among stakeholders developing coordinated approaches for systematic PID implementation across their research ecosystems.
Research Data Policy Interest Group
This Interest Group supports the development and standardisation of research data policies for journals, publishers, and funding agencies to reduce complexity and improve consistency in data sharing requirements across the research ecosystem.
Evaluation of Research Interest Group
This Interest Group facilitates discussion and connects global reform efforts to redefine research evaluation beyond traditional bibliometric measures, advocating for the recognition of data and software as integral parts of research assessment while liaising with relevant RDA groups and external initiatives focused on research assessment reform.
Sharing Rewards and Credit (SHARC) Interest Group
This Interest Group develops recommendations on Open Science rewards and incentives for multiple stakeholders in research, emphasising the integration of sharing activities into research evaluation schemes as an overarching mechanism to transform research culture toward Open Science through collaborative efforts from individual researchers, institutions, funders, policymakers, and publishers.
Related Events
The Value of RDA for Policy: Workshop on Advancing Community-Led Impact on Science Policies through RDA | 20th May 2025
