Repositories and Research Management

Research Information Network Report

Communicating knowledge: How and why UK researchers publish and disseminate their findings (PDF)

Research Management

Improving research quality is often a key strategic driver for academic institutions and much effort is frequently placed in the administrative processes which gather and submit information about research for quality assesment exercises. The institutional repository is well placed to add value to this process of collecting information about research, in particular being able to offer a detailed and systematic method of collating bibliographic information about research publications.

The RSP has found that discussions are often ongoing within an institution about whether to invest in a centralised current research management system, or CRIS, in order to better manage the substantial amount of research being undertaken. While repository cannot normally fulfil the role of collecting information about the entire research process, it is well placed to be involved in the discussions about introducing such a system. Integrating the repository with any research management system will ensure a long term future for the repository within the institutional information management landscape.

In addition to the potential research management benefits of the repository it should also be emphasised that placing research in an open access repository has been shown to increase the visibility and impact of the work. This is likely to become a measure of research quality for the future. Although much of the detail has yet to be agreed it is already clear that the new Research Excellence Framework (REF), which replaces the RAE, will place a much higher emphasis than hitherto on bibliometric indicators of quality. It is consequently essential that institutions make early plans for collecting, recording and monitoring research publication data.