Eager: informate: improving networks for organizational repositories through metadata augmentation, transformation and evolution

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $116,450 Project Grant to Metadata Game Changers LLC on Aug 1, 2023 under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CFDA 47.070) program. This funding supports a project titled "EAGER: INFORMATE: IMPROVING NETWORKS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL REPOSITORIES THROUGH METADATA AUGMENTATION, TRANSFORMATION AND EVOLUTION" that seeks to analyze the scientific communication ecosystem, including how federal research funding impact is measured in the U.S. Key activities include characterizing data from the CHORUS alliance of scientific publishers, enhancing connections between funder and researcher identifiers, and comparing content between CHORUS and federal agency repositories. This work aims to help federal agencies better understand the capabilities of the global research infrastructure and identify new metadata sources and impact assessment approaches.

Abstract

This project seeks to analyze the interaction of many components of the scientific communication ecosystem, characterized for purposes of this project as the global research infrastructure (GRI). Core questions for analysis include how the scientific field measures the impact and benefits of research funding in the U.S. This is a challenging task, requiring careful analysis and characterization of data and tools for collecting and presenting IT, and understanding the breadth and capabilities of the entire infrastructure. Several key aggregate data repositories will be utilized for this early concept research, notably centering on the chorus alliance of scientific publishing information. Chorus provides analysis ready extracts from the GRI, and currently acts as an interface between publishers and 12 federal agencies, providing a proxy for the broader infrastructure. The project will 1) characterize available chorus data, focusing on sources and connections, 2) determine connectivity for funder and researcher identifiers and organization affiliations, 3) search for and find currently missing identifiers for organizations, 4) discover collaborations across funders, organizations, and datasets in journal article metadata, and 5) compare chorus and agency repository content to understand the contributions and limitations of both sets. This project will help federal agencies understand the capabilities of the global research infrastructure and jump start understanding of new metadata sources and impact assessment. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.