Research Evaluation and Metadata Infrastructures in Canada: Early Findings from the REREV Project

Growing technological infrastructures are rapidly increasing the volume and interconnectedness of data regarding research activities and outcomes, such as collaboration, funding, location, and impact. Despite these global trends, empirical research on how digital infrastructures affect research evaluation and organizational decision-making remains limited. This presentation shares early findings from a new Canadian study based on interviews with university, government, and funding agency leaders, conducted in parallel with studies in the UK, France, and Germany. Results suggest the Canadian research ecosystem has been relatively resistant to adopting research analytics compared to other developed countries. Contributing factors include the absence of a national research assessment regime, political commitments to multilingualism, and an emphasis on knowledge mobilization and other hard-to-quantify research outcomes.