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DORA Policy

Research Assessment

DORA Policy Statement

Synergy Publication is proud to align its publishing, review, and editorial policies with the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). We believe that scientific output must be evaluated on its own merits, rather than on the impact factor of the journal in which it is published.

DORA Signatory • Since 2024
The Paradigm Shift
Traditional Approach
Judge by journal impact factor
Only positive results valued
Coercive self-citation
Citation counts as proxy for quality
DORA-Aligned Approach
Judge by article-level merit
All rigorous research valued
No coercive citation practices
Quality over citation metrics
Our Pledges

Our Commitments under DORA

To support a fair and modern academic evaluation framework, we implement the following practices:

Commitment 01

Focus on Article-Level Metrics

We provide and highlight article-level metrics to showcase the specific impact of each study, rather than promoting journal-wide impact factors.

Page Views Downloads Altmetrics
Commitment 02

Methodological Inclusion

We encourage the publication of negative results, replication studies, and exploratory papers, recognizing that all rigorous research contributes to the scientific record.

Negative Results Replication Studies Exploratory Papers
Commitment 03

Fair Referencing

We do not impose restrictions on reference lists or force authors to cite articles published in our own journals to artificially inflate citation metrics.

No Coercive Citation No Reference Limits No Self-Citation Pressure
Commitment 04

Broad Assessment

We instruct our editors and peer reviewers to judge manuscripts based on scientific quality, methodological soundness, and clarity — ignoring citation counts or historical metrics.

Scientific Quality Methodological Rigor Clarity of Presentation
Call to Action

Guidelines for Authors & Institutions

We encourage institutions and funding bodies to evaluate researchers based on the content of their publications and the specific scientific contributions they make, supporting the principles of open, ethical, and qualitative assessment.

Open
Transparent evaluation criteria
Ethical
Fair assessment practices
Qualitative
Content over metrics
D O R A

San Francisco Declaration on
Research Assessment

Assess research on its own merit, not on where it is published.

Article-Level Metrics Methodological Inclusion Fair Referencing Broad Assessment