Paradigm shifts in research assessment for scientific publishing: emerging models in a pluriverse perspectives

In the realm of design, research publication undergoes a transformative shift in evaluation and emerging forms that prompt investigation into the distortive impact of the current assessment framework on publication diversity. The complexity of assessing research quality within institutional frameworks and career metrics hinders innovation, and globally, debates on impact factors drive a shift to qualitative, responsible evaluation. The article explores how collaborative methodologies enable new assessment practices for design communities in the Global South, challenging Western-centric peer-review norms to adopt a more pluriversal perspective. It includes an introduction problematising the status of publication assessment in the general scientific domain. The paradigm of pluriversality is then introduced as a background framework to discuss and nurture new opportunities in the assessment of scientific research and publication in the design field and adopted as a reference in two proposals, shown in the case studies.