School of Evaluators: towards responsible evaluation within the framework of open science as a common good

From 3 to 7 November 2025, In CDMX, was carried out Escuela de Evaluadoras y Evaluadores FOLEC-CLACSO, within the framework of the event LATMETRICAS 2025: “Contextual metrics for scientific and technological agendas”, organized by the Institute of Research in Applied Mathematics and Systems (IIMAS) and the Interinstitutional Seminar of Interdisciplinary Studies on Science, Technology and Innovation (SEICTI) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

The School —titled Seminario intensivo sobre evaluación científica situada y responsable en el marco de la ciencia abierta como bien público y común— was coordinated by Judith Naidorf (coordinadora de FOLEC y coordinadora académica de la Escuela) y Matías Alcántara (co-coordinator of FOLEC and general coordinator of the School). This new edition consolidates FOLEC-CLACSO as a Latin American training space focused on counter-hegemonic scientific evaluation, aimed at strengthening the analytical and political capacities of researchers, managers, university authorities and actors in science policy in Latin America and the Caribbean, promoting open, inclusive and socially relevant evaluation models.

A hybrid, open and collaborative format

The School was developed in formato híbrido y gratuitoThe program combined in-person classes, synchronous online sessions, and recorded materials for asynchronous work. In-person sessions were held in the IIMAS Auditorium (UNAM), while live online sessions allowed for the participation of faculty from across the region. Recordings and supplementary materials will be available on the CLACSO platform to ensure open and sustained access to the shared knowledge. This pedagogical format aims to broaden the geographic reach and diversity of perspectives while promoting the collective construction of knowledge. Participants had access to spaces for dialogue, case studies, guided debates, and activities focused on transforming scientific and academic evaluation systems.

Five modules to rethink scientific evaluation

Over five thematic days, the School addressed the main contemporary debates on responsible scientific evaluation, articulating epistemic, institutional, technological and geopolitical perspectives.

Module 1 – Open Science and Evaluation Criteria
Monday November 3
Teachers:

• Judith Naidorf (CONICET; Universidad de Buenos Aires; FOLEC-CLACSO, Argentina)
• Saray Córdoba González (Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica)
• Arianna Becerril García (Autonomous University of the State of Mexico; Redalyc/AmeliCA, Mexico)
• Mariángela Nápoli (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina)
• Melisa Cuschnir (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina)

This module introduces the normative, political, and epistemological framework of open science as a transformative horizon for the systems of knowledge production, circulation, and evaluation. It analyzes how openness, collaboration, and transparency critically challenge hegemonic models of academic evaluation centered on individual performance and commercial metrics, promoting criteria based on cognitive justice and the commons of knowledge.

Módulo 2 – Evaluación responsable y situada
Tuesday 4 noviembre
Teachers:

• Matías Alcántara (FOLEC-CLACSO; University of Buenos Aires, Argentina)
• Judith Sutz (University of the Republic, Uruguay)
• Mauro Alonso (CONICET; University of Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Este módulo se centra en los principios y desafíos de construir evaluaciones científicas contextualizadas, inclusivas y comprometidas con el bien público y común. Desde un enfoque situado, se analizan prácticas evaluativas que reconozcan la diversidad de trayectorias, lenguas, actores y modos de producción de conocimiento, y se discuten herramientas para valorar impactos sociales y colaborativos, promoviendo la autonomía científica y la relevancia regional.

Module 3 – Metrics, openness and impacts
Wednesday November 5
Teachers:

• Ismael Rafols (CWTS, Leiden University; INGENIO, CSIC-UPV, Spain)
• Dominique Babini (CLACSO, Argentina)
• Patricia Muñoz Palma (The Reference; ANID, Chile)
• Gabriel Vélez-Cuartas (University of Antioquia, Colombia)

This module critically examines traditional metrics for evaluating academic output and their effects on epistemic diversity and the visibility of knowledge from the Global South. Alternative instruments and regional experiences—such as Redalyc, AmeliCA, and LA Referencia—will be presented, and international proposals from DORA, CoARA, and UNESCO, aimed at developing more open, contextualized, and accountable metrics, will be discussed.

Module 4 – Evaluating the evaluation
Thursday November 6
Teachers:

• Ivonne Lujano Vilchis (DOAJ, México)
• Fernanda Beigel (CONICET; National University of Cuyo, Argentina)
• Laura Rovelli (CONICET; National University of La Plata; FOLEC-CLACSO, Argentina)
• Alejandro Uribe Tirado (University of Antioquia, Colombia)

This module offers a space for meta-reflection on evaluative practices and institutions. It examines national evaluation systems, their dominant criteria, and recent transformations, and promotes the analysis of calls for proposals, scientific journals, and accreditation processes to collectively develop proposals that guide reform toward more democratic, participatory systems that are consistent with the values ​​of open science.

Module 5 – International Experiences
📅 Friday November 7
Teachers:

• Yang Liying (Chinese Academy of Sciences – CAS, China)
• Ma Zheng (Chinese Academy of Sciences – CAS, China)
• Barbara Rivera Lopez (Declaración de Barcelona; Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo – ANID, Chile)
• Christian González-Billault (DORA, Chile)

The final module proposes a comparative reflection on the internationalization of science and its implications for evaluation. Through the experiences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Data, and the San Francisco Declaration (DORA), efforts to transform global evaluation systems toward more open, collaborative models that are sensitive to contextual diversity are discussed.

Una escuela en el marco del Manifiesto de Bogotá

This edition of the School is part of the political and epistemic horizon of Bogotá Manifesto (2023), promoted by FOLEC-CLACSO together with multiple open science networks and organizations in the region.
The manifesto proposes a comprehensive transformation of evaluation systems, guided by three principles:

1. La science as a public and common good, focused on collective well-being and the resolution of social problems.
2. La socially relevant evaluationthat recognizes the diversity of knowledge, practices, and contexts of knowledge production.
3. La epistemic and technological sovereignty, which promotes open infrastructures, multilingualism and autonomy in the management of data and scientific results.

In this sense, the FOLEC School of Evaluators constitutes a key educational and political instrument to advance the materialization of these principles, acting as a bridge between the regional consensuses expressed in the Manifesto and the concrete evaluation practices in universities, agencies and research centers.

A pedagogical strategy for institutional transformation

En continuidad con la estrategia pedagógica del FOLEC, la Escuela se concibe como un collective learning laboratoryIt is geared towards translating political agreements into concrete institutional practices. Its approach combines critical analysis, collaborative work, and co-design of policy tools, integrating teachers, authorities, researchers, and evaluation professionals from across the region. From this perspective, training is not only a space for knowledge transmission but also a mechanism for cultural and institutional transformation, where the values ​​of openness, participation, and cognitive justice that guide FOLEC-CLACSO's work are put into practice.

La Escuela de Evaluadores y Evaluadoras de FOLEC reafirma el compromiso de CLACSO con una evaluación científica más abierta, inclusiva y con relevancia social, contribuyendo a la consolidación de una ciencia latinoamericana y caribeña soberana, colaborativa y al servicio del bien común.