Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A researcher's assessment file that includes a widely reused, DOI-registered dataset and a maintained open-source software package alongside their papers.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A CV template with a single 'Publications' heading and no equivalent field for software, data or protocols does not support output diversification, regardless of how the researcher's actual work is distributed.
Editorial commentary
Output diversification is the recognition, in assessment criteria, of research contributions beyond the peer-reviewed journal article — datasets, software, protocols, preprints, policy briefs, and other non-traditional outputs — as legitimate, citable evidence of contribution in their own right, rather than treating them as secondary to a publication list.
Why this is a named commitment, not just good practice
The CoARA Agreement explicitly commits signatories to “value the diversity of researchers’ contributions and career paths in accordance with the needs of society”, which in practice requires assessment criteria and CV formats to have somewhere to record a dataset or a software package, not just a bibliography. A researcher whose primary contribution in a period was a widely reused dataset or tool, evidenced through zero traditional first-author papers, is the direct test case output diversification is meant to address.
Mechanisms that support it
Output diversification depends on outputs actually being citable and trackable: persistent identifiers for software and datasets (DOIs via DataCite, software citation via a CITATION.cff file), and narrative-CV formats (see lifetime-contribution lens) that give a candidate room to describe a non-paper output’s significance in context, rather than a CV template with only a “Publications” section. Institutions that diversify assessment criteria without also building the corresponding identifier infrastructure often find non-paper outputs quietly drop out of otherwise-automated citation and impact reports, which undermines the diversification in practice even where the policy itself is sound.
Where this connects
See CoARA for the commitment framework, quantitative-qualitative balance for how diversified outputs are weighed against traditional ones, and narrative CV for the format most institutions use to capture diversified contributions in practice.
References
- CoARA Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment, coara.org.
Also known as
Diverse outputs recognition · Output type diversity
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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