An open repository or open-access repository is a digital platform that holds research output and provides free, immediate and permanent access to research results for anyone to use, download and distribute. To facilitate
open access
Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...
such repositories must be
interoperable
Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader de ...
according to the
Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting
The Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) is a protocol developed for harvesting metadata descriptions of records in an archive so that services can be built using metadata from many archives. An implementation of OAI- ...
(OAI-PMH).
Search engines
Search engines, including web search engines, selection-based search engines, metasearch engines, desktop search tools, and web portals and vertical market websites have a search facility for online databases.
By content/topic
Gene ...
harvest the content of open access repositories, constructing a database of worldwide, free of charge available research. Data repositories are the cornerstone for FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) data practices and are used expeditiously within the scientific community.
Open-access repositories, such as an
institutional repository
An institutional repository (IR) is an archive for collecting, preserving, and disseminating digital copies of the intellectual output of an institution, particularly a research institution. Academics also utilize their IRs for archiving published ...
or
disciplinary repository
A disciplinary repository (or subject repository) is an online archive, often an open-access repository, containing works or data associated with these works of scholars in a particular subject area. Disciplinary repositories can accept work f ...
, provide free access to research for users outside the institutional community and are one of the recommended ways to achieve the
open access
Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...
vision described in the
Budapest Open Access Initiative
The Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) is a public statement of principles relating to open access to the Scientific literature, research literature, which was released to the public on February 14, 2002. It arose from a convening in Budape ...
definition of open access. This is sometimes referred to as the
self-archiving
Self-archiving is the act of (the author's) depositing a free copy of an electronic document online in order to provide open access to it. The term usually refers to the self-archiving of peer-reviewed research journal and conference articles, as ...
or "green" route to open access.
Benefits
The benefits of open-access repositories are:
* Opening up outputs of the institution to a worldwide audience;
* Maximizing the visibility and impact of these outputs as a result;
* Showcasing the institution to interested constituencies – prospective staff, prospective students and other stakeholders;
* Collecting and curating digital output;
* Managing and measuring research and teaching activities;
* Providing a workspace for work-in-progress, and for collaborative or large-scale projects;
* Enabling and encouraging interdisciplinary approaches to research;
* Facilitating the development and sharing of digital teaching materials and aids, and
* Supporting student endeavours, providing access to theses and dissertations and a location for the development of e-portfolios.
Software
The most frequently used repository software for open repositories according to
OpenDOAR
OpenDOAR: Directory of Open Access Repositories is a UK-based website that lists open access repositories (including academic ones). It is searchable by locale, content, and other measures. The service does not require complete repository detail ...
are
Digital Commons
Digital Commons is a commercial, hosted institutional repository platform owned by RELX Group. This hosted service, licensed by bepress, is used by over 600 academic institutions, healthcare centers, public libraries, and research centers to show ...
,
DSpace
DSpace is an open source repository software package typically used for creating open access repositories for scholarly and/or published digital content. While DSpace shares some feature overlap with content management systems and document manag ...
and
EPrints.
Other examples are
arXiv
arXiv (pronounced as "archive"—the X represents the Chi (letter), Greek letter chi ⟨χ⟩) is an open-access repository of electronic preprints and postprints (known as e-prints) approved for posting after moderation, but not Scholarly pee ...
,
bioRxiv
bioRxiv (pronounced "bio-archive") is an open access preprint repository for the biological sciences co-founded by John Inglis and Richard Sever in November 2013. It was hosted by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) until March 11, 2025, whe ...
,
Dryad
A dryad (; , sing. ) is an oak tree nymph or oak tree spirit in Greek mythology; ''Drys'' (δρῦς) means "tree", and more specifically " oak" in Greek. Today the term is often used to refer to tree nymphs in general.
Types
Daphnaie
Thes ...
,
Figshare
Figshare is an online open access repository where researchers can preserve and share their research outputs, including figures, datasets, images, and videos. It is free to upload content and free to access, in adherence to the principle of open ...
,
Open Science Framework
The Center for Open Science is a non-profit technology organization based in Charlottesville, Virginia with a mission to "increase the openness, integrity, and reproducibility of scientific research." Brian Nosek and Jeffrey Spies founded the or ...
,
Samvera,
Ubiquity Repositories and
invenio
Invenio is a software framework for large-scale digital repositories that provides the tools for managing digital assets in an institutional repository and research data management systems. The software is typically used for open access reposi ...
(solution used by
Zenodo
Zenodo is a general-purpose open repository developed under the European OpenAIRE program and operated by CERN. It allows researchers to deposit research papers, data sets, research software, reports, and any other research related digital art ...
).
See also
*
Current research information system A current research information system (CRIS) is a database or other information system to store, manage and exchange contextual metadata for the research activity funded by a research funder or conducted at a research-performing organisation (or agg ...
*
Digital library
A digital library (also called an online library, an internet library, a digital repository, a library without walls, or a digital collection) is an online database of digital resources that can include text, still images, audio, video, digital ...
*
Digital asset management
Digital asset management (DAM) and the implementation of its use as a computer application is required in the collection of digital assets to ensure that the owner, and possibly their delegates, can perform operations on the data files.
Termino ...
*
Library publishing
Library publishing, also known as campus-based publishing, is the practice of an academic library providing publishing services.
Concept
A library publishing service usually publishes academic journals and often provides a broader range of publis ...
*
Open-access archives
Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...
*
Open access around the world
*
List of academic databases and search engines
This page contains a representative list of major databases and search engines useful in an academic setting for finding and accessing articles in academic journals, institutional repository, institutional repositories, archives, or other collecti ...
*
ROARMAP
The Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR) is a searchable international database indexing the creation, location and growth of open access institutional repositories and their contents. ROAR was created by EPrints at University of Southa ...
References
External links
*
Open repositories
{{DEFAULTSORT:Open Archive
Online archives
Open access (publishing)
Communication
Academic publishing
Research