A software platform launched in December will allow researchers in Brazil and around the world to easily find and access research data from S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s top public universities. The S\u00e3o Paulo State Research Repository Network (Rede de Reposit\u00f3rios de Dados Cient\u00edficos do Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo) is the result of an effort launched in July 2017 by eight public education and research institutions: three state universities, three Federal universities, the Brazilian Air Force Institute of Technology (ITA), and EMBRAPA Inform\u00e1tica Agropecu\u00e1ria.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis initiative is unprecedented in Latin America in its complexity and scale,\u201d says computer scientist Claudia Bauzer Medeiros of the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), who is leading the initiative. \u201cThe system will provide access to research data across the different fields of knowledge available in each institutional repository, each of which has been designed to meet the relevant institution\u2019s unique technical and administrative specifications.\u201d<\/p>\n
The platform uses a search engine available at metabuscador.sc.usp.br<\/a>. Users enter one or more search terms to search the repositories of each participating institution. In a matter of seconds, the system compiles a list of files containing research data related to the search terms. When users select the information they are searching for, they are redirected to the institutional repository hosting that information, and can access its full content unless there are ethical, privacy, or intellectual property restrictions preventing full access.<\/p>\n The goal is for the data to be shared and reused in further research or in reproducing experiments. Medeiros believes the network will not only streamline access to information, but will also lead to new partnerships, accelerate new discoveries, and bring greater exposure to the research produced in S\u00e3o Paulo State. \u201cThis is known as data-mediated collaboration, a growing global trend,\u201d says the computer scientist.<\/p>\n Universities in S\u00e3o Paulo began building institutional repositories several years back to expand access to their scholarly and research output, including papers, theses, and dissertations. The S\u00e3o Paulo State University (UNESP) repository, launched in 2013, now contains copies of 39,800 open-access articles and 37,000 restricted articles. The UNICAMP repository has amassed more than 155,000 documents since 2015. The Federal University of S\u00e3o Paulo (UNIFESP) has nearly five years\u2019 worth of research papers in its repository: 24,500 articles, 11,000 master\u2019s dissertations, and 7,000 doctoral theses<\/a>. The University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP) made its theses and dissertations accessible in 2001, and currently has more than 88,000 available titles.<\/p>\n More recently, universities have shifted their focus to making research data easier to locate by creating repositories of metadata, or data about the origin of other data. Metadata provides a description of the scientific information produced in a given study, with details on how the data was produced, when, where, and how the data can be reutilized, and who produced the data. \u201cThese efforts have been largely spearheaded by FAPESP,\u201d says computer scientist F\u00e1tima Nunes, a professor in the School of Arts, Sciences, and Humanities at USP, who is co-leading development of the new research repository network.<\/p>\n Since October 2017, the Foundation has required researchers to supplement their grant applications with a data management plan describing how their data will be collected and where it will be available. This makes the data more easily usable by researchers looking to reproduce the same experiments, and helps to make better use of public funds by maximizing the impact of research data. The movement in Brazil came after similar initiatives in Europe and the US that championed the idea that government-funded research should be publicly available without restrictions, including collected data.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Foundation\u2019s new requirements led public universities in S\u00e3o Paulo to work together on a common set of policies and guidelines for managing research information,\u201d explains Nunes. \u201cDuring the meetings we had, we came to the resolution that each participating institution would create and manage its own repository of primary research data from its own researchers.\u201d Concurrently, they began planning the development of a platform to track and compile the information in one place.<\/p>\n The USP Office for Information Technology was tasked with developing the repository network system. The platform will now provide science and technology officials with comprehensive and detailed information about the research produced in S\u00e3o Paulo. \u201cIt will also support universities in giving account to society regarding their research activities\u201d, says Medeiros.<\/p>\n