Bolstering a sustainable generalist repository ecosystem through coopetition

Poster presented at the NIH Data Repositories and Knowledgebases (DRKB) Network Program Meeting February 28-29, 2024

Abstract:

In February 2022, the NIH Office of Data Science Strategy launched the Generalist Repository Ecosystem Initiative (GREI), which brings together seven generalist repositories (GRs) (Dataverse, Dryad, Figshare, Mendeley Data, Open Science Framework, Vivli, and Zenodo) to enhance support for NIH data sharing and discovery. This program recognizes that GRs play a key role in the NIH data sharing landscape to support the FAIR sharing of data and other research outputs in a trusted repository when they cannot be deposited in a discipline-specific repository.  

A key component of GREI is “coopetition” (cooperation + competition), a term used to describe the collaboration among the GRs to advance repository functionality including through common standards and consistent capabilities. The GREI repositories have collaborated on a common metadata schema built on DataCite metadata fields along with recommended controlled vocabularies and persistent identifiers (PIDs) that will advance search and discovery of data across repositories. Similarly, GREI repositories have worked together to define common metrics of data use and have published recommendations for data citations in repositories to demonstrate (re)use and impact of shared data. Data QA/QC and curation is another GREI objective and one which poses a challenge for standards and scalability as GRs accept data across all disciplines and formats. GREI is currently planning a review of QA/QC practices across repositories to understand opportunities for improvement and define good, better, and best data QA/QC practices for GRs. 

The first two years of the GREI coopetition have focused on reducing the barriers to FAIR data sharing and discovery of data within and across repositories. Through this, GREI hopes to make GRs a more valuable and sustainable part of the NIH data landscape and plans to work with the NIH community including discipline-specific repositories to continue this work in the future.