A collaborative project by OCLC Research and euroCRIS set out to explore how research institutions worldwide are applying research information management (RIM) practices.
There were 381 responses to the web-based survey representing 44 countries.
The report details the complexity of RIM practices and shows how institutions are frequently using several systems to support research information workflows. Both commercial and open-source platforms are becoming widely implemented across regions often coexisting with region-specific solutions as well as locally developed systems.
The growing need for improved interoperability between managing open access workflows and the curation of institutional research outputs metadata is giving rise to the increasing functional merging of RIM systems and institutional repositories. In some regions this change is being driven by regional, national, and funder requests to make publicly sponsored research findings openly available—and for institutions to track their progress toward open access goals.
Complex, cross-stakeholder teams are necessary for providing the best possible research support services.
Libraries have significant responsibilities, particularly related to support for open access, metadata validation, training, and research data management. They are particularly involved in cases where RIM practices intersect with library responsibility for one or more scholarly communications repositories, reinforcing the increasing overlap of practice and workflows between previously siloed RIM systems and repository systems.
OCLC Research and euroCRIS plan to repeat the survey in the future, developing longitudinal data and knowledge about evolving RIM practices in order to help inform the global research community.
Download the pdf here.