C'est sous forme de rapport que Linda Sīle, Raf Guns, Gunnar Sivertsen et Tim Engels nous présentent leurs recherches dont le but était d'identifier et de décrire l'état actuel des bases de données et des dépôts en Europe (et plus spécifiquement en Sciences humaines et sociales)
Étude liée aux actions du COST (European cooperation in science and technology) dans le projet ENRESSH (European Network for Research Evaluation within the Social Sciences and Humanities), son intention est de combler le manque de connaissances de ces bases et dépôts.
Après une introduction, le rapport se construit comme suit :
Approach and method : présente les approches et méthodes sous-jacentes utilisées pour l'étude. Il est également composé de définitions des concepts principaux.
Idées majeures :
"The aim of the study was to gain a systematic and comprehensive overview of national databases and repositories on social sciences and humanities research output that are currently used across Europe" p. 8
"Despite the absence of an explicit definition, the questions included in this survey were formulated having in mind a database that would be suitable for bibliometric research, research evaluation supported by bibliometric indicators, and/or the use of bibliometric indicators in performance-based research funding systems. " p. 8
"Research output (definition) Despite the absence of an explicit definition, the questions included in this survey were formulated having in mind a database that would be suitable for bibliometric research, research evaluation supported by bibliometric indicators, and/or the use of bibliometric indicators in performance-based research funding systems." p. 9
Databases and repositories for the social sciences and humanities research output : présente les découvertes faites sur les bases données et les dépôts (aspects communs et différents) ainsi qu'un résumé de leur caractéristiques.
Idées majeures :
"Responses were acquired from 39 countries [...]. In total, 23 of the identified and described databases that are currently in use were reported as national" p. 12
"Considering the responses received and the practices identified, we propose that a national database for research output should be regarded as such if it meets the following criteria : - Comprehensive, - Valid: records refer to existing research output, - Reliable: data collection and registration method provides accurate and traceable information, - Based on a legal framework."p. 14
"By ‘comprehensive’ we mean that the database is aimed at capturing the total volume of the (social sciences and humanities) research output of a country." p.14
"Table 3 Countries included in the study and their response [and name of their databases and repositories]" p. 15
"By ‘reliable’ we mean that the data collection and registration method provides accurate and traceable information of the content included in the databases and the data collection and registration method itself." p. 16
"By ‘based on a legal framework’ we mean that there is a national statute or another form of a legal framework implemented on the national level for the establishment and the maintenance of the database." p. 16
"More than half of the national databases (n=16) have been implemented after 2005." p. 17
"The types of institutions responsible for operating a national database vary across countries: some databases are operated by national libraries [...], others by national research council or agency [...], and yet others by ministries[...] or research centres [...]." p.18
"The only output type that is covered by all databases is journal articles" p. 19
"For browsing and searching, data are mostly publicly available on online platforms." p. 19
"Information on the usage was available for 14 databases. Usage of institutional database indicate a different focus if compared to the usage of national databases. Institutional databases are most often used for bibliographic reporting and facilitation of access to information (11 databases, see Figure 5). For evaluation and/or funding allocation, only 7 databases are used, while 6 databases are indicated as being used for research and monitoring." p. 22
Conclusions : présente une mise en question ainsi qu'une brève réflexion sur le processus de collecte des données pour cette enquête.
Idées majeures :
"Information on the usage was available for 14 databases. Usage of institutional database indicate a different focus if compared to the usage of national databases. Institutional databases are most often used for bibliographic reporting and facilitation of access to information (11 databases, see Figure 5). For evaluation and/or funding allocation, only 7 databases are used, while 6 databases are indicated as being used for research and monitoring." p. 23
"[...] not all study participants were equally motivated to contribute to this overview" p. 24
"The questions were formulated assuming a rather extensive background knowledge on the topic. Similarly, as noted at the beginning of the report, the main concepts of this study – “social sciences and humanities” and “research output” were considered in a naturalistic way assuming that they meant mostly the same to the study participants thus allowing us to provide an overview of databases based on a valid comparison of responses. " p. 24
Les annexes sont une immense source d'informations sur les bases de données, les dépôts et les répondants.