Open Research Data Repositories: A Content Analysis to Comprehend Data Equitable Access

The present study pertains to content analysis of open Research Data Repositories (RDRs) worldwide to comprehend the growth and development in the area. The study is original because no attempt has been made so far to do a content analysis of these open research data repositories. The study used the content analysis method of open RDRs listed on the registry of research data repositories. The dataset was analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Each unique parameter was given a unique variable for the purpose of analysis. Subsequently, the dataset was analyzed using Microsoft Excel to achieve the objectives of the study. A simple percentage method was followed in analyses and is presented through Tables and Figures. The study found that there are 1997 RDRs are open worldwide, which are indexed in the registry of research data repositories. It was also found that out of these data repositories 1509 (75.6 percent) are ‘disciplinary’, ‘institutional’ 398 (19.9 percent) and ‘others’ 90 (4.5 percent). Majority open RDRs worldwide use the World Data System (WDS) certification followed by Core Trust Seal. The study found total 70 countries in the world have 1997 RDRs and the United States is the leading country with 704 (35.3 percent) open RDRs, followed by Germany 201 (10.1 percent), United Kingdom 183 (9.2 percent), Canada 118 (5.9 percent). Scientific and statistical data formats are available in maximum (1238) open research data repositories, followed by standard office documents (1108), images (1047), plain text (935), raw data (881). It is ascertained that 1049 (52.5) RDRs are not following any metadata standard in open RDRs and 948 (47.5 percent) follow metadata standards. It was ascertained that Dublin Core is being used by (237) data repositories, followed by ISO 19115 (128), Data Documentation Initiative (DDI) (125). It was found that 963 (48.2 percent) data repositories are using unknown and in-house developed software worldwide. Majority of research data repositories contains the material relating to ‘Biology’ 715 (23.0 percent). Besides this, the study found that open data repositories have been developed in 60 languages worldwide.