Measuring research data archives

Data and data practices attract growing attention by those who measure scientific research. But, such as in scientometrics in general, many investigations look at data and data practices through the lens of output: for instance, in the form of formal and informal data citations (Gregory 2021). In this paper, we report about experiments and investigations done in a research data archive over a couple of years to gain insides in practices in and around research data archives. We discuss various methodologies, findings and reflect about opportunities and challenges when it comes to ‘measure’ how the data life cycle and the research life cycle interact. We are interested to raise awareness to the topic and to relate to similar initiatives in the field of quantitative studies of science.

Extended abstract