A Content Analysis of Indian Research Data Repositories Prospects and Possibilities

Abstract

The study aims to trace the development of Indian research data repositories (RDRs) and explore their content with the view of identifying prospects and possibilities. Further, it analyses the distribution of data repositories on the basis of content coverage, types of content, author identification system followed, software and the application programming interface used, subject wise number of repositories etc. The study is based on data repositories listed on the registry of data repositories accessible at http://www.re3data.org.The dataset was exported in Microsoft Excel format for analysis. A simple percentage method was followed in data analyses and results are presented through Tables and Figures. The study found a total of 2829 data repositories in existence worldwide. Further, it was seen that 1526 (53.9 %) are open and 924 (32.4 %) are restricted data repositories. Also, there are embargoed data repositories numbering 225 (8.0 %) and closed ones numbering 154 (5.4 %). There are 2829 RDRs covering 72 countries in the world. The study found that out of total 45 Indian RDRs, only 30 (67 %) are open, followed by restricted 12 (27 %) and 3 (6 %) that are closed. Majority of Indian RDRs (20) were developed in the year 2014. The study found that the majority of Indian RDRs (17) are‘disciplinary’. Further, the study also revealed that statistical data formats are available in a maximum of 31 (68.9 %) Indian RDRs. It was also seen that the majority of Indian RDRs (28) has datasets relating to ‘Life Sciences’. It was identified that only 20% of data repositories have been using metadata standards in metadata; the remaining 80% do not use any standards in metadata entry. This study covered only the research data repositories in India registered on the registry of data repositories. RDRs not listed in the registry of data repositories are left out.