Grant Funding16/11:

Research Information Management

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/di_researchmanagement/researchinformation/ukriss.aspx

UK Research Information Shared Service (UKRISS) Project

Project Participant Information Sheet

Project background

UKRISS is a JISC funded project that will determine the feasibility, requirements and scope of a national research information reporting service and build a proof-of-concept infrastructure for this service. The project carries 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 involves a wide range of stakeholders including research organisations, UK funding councils and charities that fund research.

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 metadata to funders. This inevitably results in duplication and increased costs across the sector.

Phase 1 of the project comprises a feasibility study, in which we gather and analyse the requirements of the main stakeholders (funders and ROs) to determine the scope of the national service. Requirements and existing practices in research information reporting are captured across key stakeholders (including research managers, research administrators, ICT support and institutional repositories) via a series of in-depth structured interviews and questionnaires as appropriate.

Participation in requirement gathering through in-depth interviews

Participation is entirely voluntary and interviewees are asked to sign a consent form and are free to withdraw at any time without giving a reason. Selection of participants is drawn from a wide range of stakeholders within the sector that represent different needs and types of organisations.

The benefits of taking part in the requirement gathering phase are to ensure that the scope of the national service will take into account and be informed by the wide range of sector needs and be fit-for-purpose.

All information which is collected during the course of the interview will be kept strictly confidential and stored safely. Some interviews will be recorded with the consent of the participant. During the analysis of the information gathering phase all information will be anonymised as will be direct quotes. All efforts will be made to ensure that individuals or organisations will not be indirectly identified.