Ginny Barbour as VIce-Chair of the Declaration On Research Assessment has led global efforts to find new ways to assess research quality. The aim has been to moderate commercially motivated efforts of commercial publishers to exploit science and publishing for their own commercial purposes. She shares her insights into the limitations of journal impact factors for diverse disciplines and how the university rankings are equally inappropriate in assessing diverse missions of universities in their broader purposes for the same reason.  Lessons for emerging efforts to enhance rigour in research assessment and research integrity from a pioneer and leader of open science in the mission of changing higher education for good.