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The financial maintenance of social science data archives: Four case studies of long-term infrastructure work

Authors : Kristin R. Eschenfelder, Kalpana Shankar, Greg Downey

Contributing to the literature on knowledge infrastructure maintenance, this article describes a historical longitudinal analysis of revenue streams employed by four social science data organizations: the Roper Center for Public Opinion, the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), the UK Data Archive (UKDA), and the LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg (LIS).

Drawing on archival documentation and interviews, we describe founders’ assumptions about revenue, changes to revenue streams over the long term, practices for developing and maintaining revenue streams, the importance of financial support from host organizations, and how the context of each data organization shaped revenue possibilities.

We extend conversations about knowledge infrastructure revenue streams by showing the types of change that have occurred over time and how it occurs. We provide examples of the types of flexibility needed for data organizations to remain sustainable over 40–60 years of revenue changes.

We distinguish between Type A flexibilities, or development of new products and services, and Type B flexibilities, or continuous smaller adjustments to existing revenue streams. We argue that Type B flexibilities are as important as Type A, although they are easily overlooked. Our results are relevant to knowledge infrastructure managers and stakeholders facing similar revenue challenges.

URL : The financial maintenance of social science data archives: Four case studies of long-term infrastructure work

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24691

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EN

Practices Before Policy: Research Data Management Behaviours in Canada

Authors : Melissa Cheung, Alexandra Cooper, Dylanne Dearborn, Elizabeth Hill, Erin Johnson, Marjorie Mitchell, Kristi Thompson

In anticipation of the then forthcoming Tri-Agency Research Data Management Policy, a consortium of professionals from Canadian university libraries surveyed researchers on their research data management (RDM) practices, attitudes, and interest in data management services.

Data collected from three surveys targeting researchers in science and engineering, humanities and social sciences, and health sciences and medicine were compiled to create a national dataset.

The present study is the first large-scale survey investigating researcher RDM practices in Canada, and one of the few recent multi-institutional and multidisciplinary surveys on this topic.

This article presents the results of the survey to assess researcher readiness to meet RDM policy requirements, namely the preparation of data management plans (DMPs) and data deposit in a digital repository.

The survey results also highlight common trends across the country while revealing differences in practices and attitudes between disciplines. Based on our survey results, most researchers would have to change their RDM behaviors to meet Tri-Agency RDM policy requirements.

The data we gathered provides insights that can help institutions prioritize service development and infrastructure that will meet researcher needs.

URL : Practices Before Policy: Research Data Management Behaviours in Canada

DOI : https://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v17i1.6779

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EN

Open research data: A case study into institutional and infrastructural arrangements to stimulate open research data sharing and reuse

Authors : Thijmen van Gend, Anneke Zuiderwijk

This study investigates which combination of institutional and infrastructural arrangements positively impact research data sharing and reuse in a specific case. We conducted a qualitative case study of the institutional and infrastructural arrangements implemented at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

In the examined case, it was fundamental to change the mindset of researchers and to make them aware of the benefits of sharing data. Therefore, arrangements should be designed bottom-up and used as a “carrot” rather than as a “stick.” Moreover, support offered to researchers should cover at least legal, financial, administrative, and practical issues of research data management and should be informal in nature.

Previous research describes generic institutional and infrastructural instruments that can stimulate open research data sharing and reuse. This study is among the first to analyze what and how infrastructural and institutional arrangements work in a particular context. It provides the basis for other scholars to study such arrangements in different contexts.

Open data policymakers, universities, and open data infrastructure providers can use our findings to stimulate data sharing and reuse in practice, adapted to the contextual situation. Our study focused on a single case and a particular part of the university.

We recommend repeating this research in other contexts, that is, at other universities, faculties, and involving other research data infrastructure providers.

URL : Open research data: A case study into institutional and infrastructural arrangements to stimulate open research data sharing and reuse

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1177/09610006221101200

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EN

Plausibility of scientific findings: institutional factors in lay evaluations

Authors : Elizaveta P. Sheremet, Inna F. Deviatko

One of the recent “crises” experienced by science is associated with a decline in its public support. We conducted two factorial surveys among university students aiming at broadening our understanding of the information cues influencing the wider publics’ judgments of science.

We found that sociological and criminological research results are perceived as less plausible compared to neuroscientific and physiological research, but as more plausible than results from genetics.

In contrast with the previous data on the importance of funding and institutional prestige cues as the indirect indicators of the research quality among academic experts, we discovered the absence of any effects of funding or institutional prestige for the selected type of general audience.

URL : Plausibility of scientific findings: institutional factors in lay evaluations

DOI : https://doi.org/10.22323/2.21050201

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EN

How can funders promote the use of research? Three converging views on relational research

Authors : Vivian Tseng, Angela Bednarek, Kristy Faccer

Although funders are generally acknowledged as important actors in the evidence ecosystem, there has been insufficient analysis of the how and why behind funders’ decisions. This article examines the decision-making of three funders in their support of relational approaches to improve the usefulness and use of research evidence.

They compare their work across the disparate policy sectors of education and environmental sustainability in order to bridge the silos that have caused unnecessary duplication of work and obstructed advancements in research utilization.

The authors (1) provide individual narratives of their funding experiences including why they prioritized relational approaches and how they supported them; (2) discuss their lessons learned for supporting and promoting relational approaches; and (3) offer recommendations to the broader funding community for strengthening and expanding these approaches.

The authors hope the paper provides useful insights into ways funders and their partners can build a stronger and better coordinated evidence ecosystem in which research regularly contributes to improved societal outcomes.

URL : How can funders promote the use of research? Three converging views on relational research

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01157-w

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EN

Incentive Policies for Scientific Publications in the State Universities of Chile

Authors : Elizabeth Troncoso, Francisco Ganga-Contreras, Margarita Briceño

Most state universities in Chile (15 out of 18) have monetary incentive policies for scientific publications, but they are based on criteria that do not necessarily aim to improve institutional performance in all disciplines.

This work compares affinities and differences of these policies in three areas: (i) type of publications encouraged, (ii) beneficiaries, and (iii) monetary amounts per type of publication. It was found that the 15 universities encourage publications with WoS indexing, 13 do so for Scopus and SciELO, and 6 are open to other databases.

Only seven institutions encourage the production of books and book chapters. As expected, the 15 universities direct the incentives to their academic staff, although with different requirements, six accept non-academic staff, and only one university considers its student body. In general, the highest monetary amounts are received by WoS publications, with differentiation by quartile or impact factor of the journal.

All in all, there is a clear need to design incentive policies in universities that are more homogeneous and take into account the “quality” and “impact” of the research they publish based on different metrics that tend to provide robust analyses in the different areas of knowledge.

DOI : https://doi.org/10.3390/publications10020020

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EN

Open access in Angola: a survey among higher education institutions

Authors : Wileidys Artigas, Eurico Wongo Gungula, Mikael Laakso

Open access (OA) to research publications is of global relevance, both in terms of provision and consumption of scholarly content. However, much of the research, practice, and models surrounding OA have been centered around the Global North.

In this study we investigate how and to what degree higher education institutions (HEIs) in Angola interact with the concept of OA to journal publications through their policies and practices, a country where the end of the civil war in 2002 marked a new start for growth in teaching and research.

This study is based on an online survey conducted in 2020 among research management units of Angolan HEIs. 23 valid institutional responses were received of 44 invitations sent (52% response rate).

The results suggest that Angolan HEIs have moderate awareness of OA but practical incorporation into academic processes has remained slow, however, this can be seen to be connected to the overall slow progress in ramping up research intensity in the country.

Seven of the responding institutions reported to be involved in publishing scholarly journals, all of them OA. Overall Angolan HEIs have few institutional repositories, and have so far placed little value on OA in the context of academic career advancement.

URL : Open access in Angola: a survey among higher education institutions

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-022-04410-w