JISC

Summary

The reporting of research information is a complex and expensive activity for research organisations (ROs). The UK does not currently have a national reporting infrastructure. Instead institutions are responsible for collating and submitting the required information and metadata to funders. This inevitably results in duplication and increased costs across the sector.

The Common European Research Information Format (CERIF) has emerged as the preferred format for expressing research information across Europe. CERIF has been piloted for specific applications, but not as a format for reporting requirements across all UK ROs.

The UKRISS (UK Research Information Shared Service) project will determine the feasibility, requirements and scope of a national research information reporting service and, if deemed practicable, build a proof-of-concept infrastructure for this service.

The project will carry out an extensive feasibility study, including in its remit a survey of use cases and an examination of the metadata and technical infrastructures necessary to deliver it. The study will involve a wide range of stakeholders including research organisations, UK funding councils and charities that fund research.

Specification of the data mappings to the CERIF standard necessary for a fully interoperable research information architecture will be carried out. The project includes euroCRIS as a partner.

Based on the results of the feasibility study, the project will seek to implement a proof-of-concept service which will be used to test the long-term viability and sustainability of a national service of this kind. A detailed evaluation of the service will be carried out with stakeholders to determine the benefits in terms of effort and costs in gathering research information.

The project will build on the results of previous JISC RIM projects such as RMAS, R4R, MICE and BRUCE as well as interacting with existing national and international organisations and services.

Objectives

• The project will perform a detailed feasibility study of the requirements for a national shared service for reporting of research information, which will provide an integrated approach to the gathering, analysis and dissemination of this information as required by funders.
• Based on the results of the feasibility study, and subject to its acceptance by JISC, the project will build and evaluate a proof-of-concept research information reporting service.
• The project will review the sustainability options for such a national service and make appropriate recommendations for its long-term viability.

Anticipated Outputs and Outcomes

• Identification, piloting and evaluation of reporting services that can be offered at a national level
• Estimates of the cost savings and benefits that can be accrued from providing a shared reporting service
• Suitability of shared service as a method for generating information for REF submissions
• Recommendations for integration with other national services
• Design and implementation of interfaces to the shared service that support institutions at different levels of maturity in research reporting
• Improved understanding of how the CERIF standard can be applied to meet the reporting requirements of a wide range of ROs