We're looking at signing DORA at Portsmouth and we have a question about Work Load Allocation (WLA).

A couple of our departments use journal metrics within their WLA. In some cases, these journal metrics are used instead of peer review and are the sole way an article is assessed to determine WLA.  To me at least, this doesn't seem to be in the spirit of DORA.

However, it's been suggested by some that it's OK because DORA doesn't specifically mention WLA. e.g. with this statement -

They're arguing that the phrase "an individual scientist’s contributions, or in hiring, promotion, or funding decisions" doesn't specifically mention WLA.  

I'm interested whether anyone else has had a similar question and how you dealt with it?  Is anyone else interpreting DORA to exclude WLA as it's not specifically mentioned?  

Best wishes,

Emily

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