Research Quality Assessment (VQR)

Up to four publications published in the period 2015-2019 may be submitted for each researcher, without prejudice to the University's restriction of presenting a maximum number of publications equal to three times the number of teachers accredited for VQR. The number of expected outputs is calculated at individual department level.

Scientific monographs and related outputs can be double-counted on the institution’s request.

Reductions in number of publications requested, in relation to institutional positions and specific situations of the reseracher (leave, length of service, etc.) are optional.

The reduction does not necessarily apply to the number of outputs by the person who is the reason for the same reduction, but the number of outputs expected by his/her department is decreased in general (initially by three times the number of researchers in the department). 

The generally admissible types of publication are outlined under Art. 5 of the VQR Call. This list may be subject to limitations for specific areas on the basis of the evaluation criteria that shall be defined by each GEV.

Co-authored publications may be presented only for co-authors who have provided "a significant contribution to research": for areas 5, 6 and 7, this form of contribution will be inferred from the position in the authors string (first/last author or corresponding author) ; for the remaining areas, the role of the author connected to the publication must be described in the datasheet accompanying the product.

The publications in co-authoring with authors belonging to multiple departments of the same University may be submitted once per Department, up to twice per University if the total number of co-authors is less than 6 and up to three times if the number of co-authors is greater than 6.

Products with up to 5 co-authors can be presented by a maximum number of 3 institutions (universities or research bodies)

Products with 6 or more co-authors can be presented according to the different scientific areas according to the procedures foreseen by the VQR Call - Art. 6, Table 4.

Research outputs must be sent to the GEVs in .pdf format in the final published version (Version of Record). In the specific case of monographs, ANVUR requires the stipulation of specific agreements with publishers for the acquisition of texts. The technical procedures for submission shall be defined by ANVUR in a future special document.

Scientific articles under evaluation that meet both the following conditions:
- they are the result of research financed mainly by public funds
- they are published in periodicals that have at least two issues per year
must be available with open access or with the embargo foreseen by current legislation (i.e. maximum 18 months from the date of first publication for the scientific-technical-medical subjects and maximum 24 months for humanities and social sciences). The version of the .pdf made available with open access does not necessarily have to be the final and published version submitted for evaluation but it may be a previous version (i.e. a pre-print or post-print) based on the publisher's policies on open access.

For the purposes of evaluating Third Mission activities, Universities shall submit for evaluation a number of case studies relating to Third Mission activities whose impact is verifiable in the period 2015-2019 and which, in terms of number, equal half of the number of its Departments.

Case studies shall be related to the following fields of action:

• Enhancement of intellectual or industrial property (patents, plant variety rights etc.)
• Academic entrepreneurship (e.g. spin-offs and start-ups)
• Intermediation and technology transfer facilities (e.g. technology transfer offices, incubators, science and technology parks, Third Mission consortia and associations)
• Production and management of artistic and cultural heritage (e.g. museum centres, archaeological excavations, musical activities, historical buildings and archives, historic libraries and newspaper libraries, theatres and sports facilities)
• Clinical trials and health protection initiatives
• Lifelong learning and open education (e.g. continuous education courses, Continuing Medical Education courses, MOOCs)
• Public Engagement, attributable to:
  i. Organization of cultural activities of public utility (e.g. concerts, theatrical performances, film reviews, sports events, exhibitions, shows and other events open to the community)
   ii. Scientific disclosure (e.g. publications dedicated to non-academic audiences, production of radio and television programmes, publication and management of websites and other social channels of scientific communication and disclosure, excluding the university's institutional website)
   iii. Initiatives for citizen involvement in research (e.g. scientific debates, festivals and coffee mornings, online consultations; citizen science; contamination labs)
   iv. Engagement and interaction with schools (e.g. simulations and hands-on experiments and other laboratory activities)
• Production of public goods of a social or educational nature and policies for inclusion (e.g. formulation of public interest programmes, participation in projects of urban development or improvement of the local area and in participatory democracy initiatives, consensus conferences, citizen panels)
• Innovative tools to support Open Science
• Activities related to the UN 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).