JISC

Many universities are looking to increase the efficiency of their research information management system to meet these demands while minimising costs.

Research information is often scattered across an institution: grant management in the finance office, a publications database in the research office, a repository in the library. A research information management system integrates these different systems to provide high quality information at reduced cost. Our advice and guidance can help you procure an entire system or individual modules, or increase the efficiency of your existing system.

• Nexus, a JISC Advance company, is offering the Research Management and Administration System (RMAS) to enable you to procure up to 8 research information management modules, which can be available via the cloud. Our procurement framework, which we’ve negotiated with 6 suppliers, could save your university £35k in procurement costs.
•  RMAS can help you transfer information between incompatible systems using open source tools and the European data standard for research information, CERIF.  Download How to guides from the three institutions that developed RMAS Systems Integration.
•  RMAS tools enable you to transform information into the CERIF format so that it can be shared with external agencies, as well as across and within institutions. Use our CERIF savings calculator to estimate the cost savings a CERIF-compliant research information management system could bring to your institution.
• The Integrated Research Input and Output System enables you to download grant information held by research councils into your own systems, so you can be sure that the records match and saving administrative time. A demonstration is now available. Download the user guide: usename GUEST, password guest.
•  Research funders need to match grants to consequent research papers and other outputs. Our new metadata schema for research papers held in institutional repositories includes fields for grants and funders, making it easier for institutions and funders to match outputs to funding.
• The Open Researcher and Contributor ID ORCID uniquely identifies a researcher, helping you save time on many standard research management processes.  Links between a researcher’s ORCID identifier in publications, grants and patents can be made automatically.
• Based on the results of our research, we’ve produced an infokit to take you through the stages of building an integrated research information management system.