Institutional repositories
Repository revolution
As institutional repositories evolve, library publishers and university presses worldwide are using the systems to publish research papers and more. What will be the impact on traditional publishing models? Rebecca Pool investigates
O
nce upon a time, the institutional repository (IR) was quite a different beast. Originally set up by universities to manage and disseminate manuscripts created by its members, the IR was, at best, tolerated, and at worst, loathed by academics who often asked ‘Why would I publish here’?
But times have changed. The internally focused, preservation archive of limited publishing scope has evolved into a platform for libraries to publish the entire expanse of an institution’s scholarship. Be it a book, thesis, journal or presentation, the modern IR can showcase content with added support for images, video, audio and more.
Latest figures from the Directory of Open
Access Repositories (OpenDoar), spearheaded by the University of Nottingham, UK, cite 2,600 IRs worldwide. And these are just registered IRs. So why the rapid evolution? A need for research transparency is a key driver. ‘There’s a growing, primarily funder-driven, movement towards greater transparency, particularly in the sciences,’ highlights Phill Jones, head of publisher outreach at Digital Science, UK-based provider of digital tools, including repositories, for researchers. ‘But funders have offered little guidance on how this should be done, and frankly, this has been a tough situation for most researchers,’ he adds. ‘Repositories have been the obvious answer to this problem.’
Indeed, a decade ago, open access (OA) repositories were already on the rise, worldwide, following calls from OA advocates to open up research information. And today, the likes of the US-based National Institutes of Health, NIH,
www.researchinformation.info @researchinfo
FEATURE
‘There’s a growing, primarily funder-driven,
movement towards
greater transparency’ Phill Jones, Digital Science
The Wellcome Trust, UK, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, US, heavily mandate that any funded paper must be deposited in a public repository at some point after publication. ‘The harsh reality is that traditionally researchers have had little interest in repositories, but increasing funder mandates have meant it’s
becoming part of their job to deposit data,’ says Jones. ‘While a few years ago the repository was met with a mixture of suspicion and horror, we now see a growing acceptance that it’s necessary.’ But beyond necessity, publishing in a repository has clear benefits. As Jones jokes: ‘The academic once thought ‘I’m not putting my data out there, someone will scoop me, reinterpret me and try their best to prove I’m wrong’. ‘But today, you could put your 3D scans of your dinosaur bones online, somebody may make 3D printable model, publish it, credit and cite you and then you both get the impact and the fame,’ he says.
Crucially, realisation that the repository can be so much more than a ‘holding space’ for research data has driven the library publishing movement forward. From straightforward green open access
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