Beyond impact factors? Lessons from the Dutch attempt to transform academic research assessment

A growing science reform movement has emerged over the past decade to address dysfunctions in academic research assessment, with several national and transnational stakeholder initiatives promoting and coordinating collective action. This paper offers an analytic commentary on one such effort: the Dutch national Recognition and Rewards program. Since its launch in 2019, the initiative has become one of the most advanced and coordinated national reform programs of its kind. The progress and development to date of this national reform effort is considered, drawing on several theoretical strands to make sense of developments. I make the case that the initiative has been largely effective in mobilizing formal organizational support from key stakeholders in Dutch research, but significant vulnerabilities remain, particularly regarding uncertain buy-in and implementation by rank-and-file academics—the ultimate implementers of the envisioned changes. Although some of the dynamics discussed here are specific to the Dutch context, the question of how to bridge the implementation gap between organization-led change programs and day-to-day academic research culture will be, I believe, a crucial one for equivalent initiatives globally. The paper ends with some suggestions for tackling this important challenge.