Purpose: Data papers are a promising genre of scholarly communication, in which research data are described, shared, and published. Rich documentation of data, including adequate contextual information, enhances the potential of data reuse. This study investigated the extent to which the components of data papers specified by journals represented the types of contextual information necessary for data reuse.Methods: A content analysis of 15 data paper templates/guidelines from 24 data journals indexed by the Web of Science was performed. A coding scheme was developed based on previous studies, consisting of four categories: general data set properties, data production information, repository information, and reuse information.Results: Only a few types of contextual information were commonly requested by the journals. Except data format information and file names, general data set properties were specified less often than other categories of contextual information. Researchers were frequently asked to provide data production information, such as information on the data collection, data producer, and related project. Repository information focused on data identifiers, while information about repository reputation and curation practices was rarely requested. Reuse information mostly involved advice on the reuse of data and terms of use.Conclusion: These findings imply that data journals should provide a more standardized set of data paper components to inform reusers of relevant contextual information in a consistent manner. Information about repository reputation and curation could also be provided by data journals to complement the repository information provided by the authors of data papers and to help researchers evaluate the reusability of data.
Institutional repositories are "digital collections that capture and preserve the intellectual output of universities" (Crow, 2002). While still in their initial stages of development, much attention has been paid to the technical and administrative components. This paper examines the usability of the interfaces of two of the most commonly used institutional repository systems: DSpace and Eprints. By using heuristic evaluation and usability testing, eighteen undergraduate students were tested using a between subjects experimental design. Measures included time for completing tasks, the number of errors, and users' satisfaction from post-test questionnaires. Results of the study indicated that DSpace users spent less time completing tasks and made fewer errors than Eprints users. Overall satisfaction of DSpace was also higher than Eprints. Based on this analysis of problem areas, the study suggests guidelines for institutional repository interfaces.
We examine common and unique metadata requirements and their levels of description, determined by the data deposit forms of 20 repositories in three disciplinesarchaeology, quantitative social science, and zoology. The results reveal that requirements relating to Creator, Description, Contributor, Date, Relation, and Location are common, whereas those regarding Publisher and Language are rarely listed across the disciplines. Data-level descriptions are more common than study-and file-level descriptions. The results suggest that repositories should require detailed studylevel descriptions and information about data usage licenses and access rights. Moreover, repositories should determine metadata requirements in a standardized and consistent manner.
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