Free Access to National Repository for Academic Texts (UA0086)

17. Introduce the National Repository of Academic Texts

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan: Ensuring free access of users to the National Repository of Academic Texts [155]

The system of information support to research, development, technical and innovative activities in Ukraine is suboptimal, and the effective technical, organizational solutions, policies and legal framework do not enable convenient access to academic texts, including to those that were produced at the state and local budget expense.

Only a part of information resources is accessible online, while a lot of information can only be accessible in local points (libraries, archives, etc.). At the same time, the institutions that operate online (repositories, storages, e-libraries, etc.) have certain limitations in terms of access to information. They are often focused on some narrow topic or a certain group of users (for example, students of a University where the respective repository is functional). They have crucial differences in terms of interface, search engine and verifiability. It complicates access to R&D information and thus, compromises the efficiency of its use.

Creating the National Repository of Academic Texts will simplify the search and online access to information on R&D, education and innovations.

Milestones:

1. Developing the ToR for creating the National Repository of Academic Texts
2. Developing and implementing a technical project of the National Repository
3. Launching a start-up package of National Repository (phase 1)
4. Establishing the system of local repositories
5. Shaping the ecosystem of the tools to support to academic integrity

Start Date: December 2018

End Date: December 2020

Context and objectives

Current technologies and policies in Ukraine do not enable convenient access to academic texts like Ph.D. dissertations, including to those produced by state and local public funding. [156] Only some information resources are accessible online, and are often focused on a narrow topic or a certain group of users (e.g., students of a university). Many are accessible in libraries or in dispersed local or sectoral repositories lacking a unified format and data exchange, like the Vernadsky National Library Electronic Resources [157] and the Electronic Kyiv-Mohyla Academy Institutional Repository. [158] Some academic texts can be lost due to a reorganization or change in funding, [159] and many pre-2014 academic texts are available only in paper. [160]

The government intends to ensure free access to a centralized National Repository of Academic Texts (the Repository). According to a UkrINTEI representative, the Repository will enable a permanent storage of academic information and establish a unified entry point to its databases. [161] Due to increasing public access to academic texts, this undertaking clearly relates to OGP values of access to information and technology and innovation.

Prior to the action plan, the government adopted several regulations to lay the groundwork for this commitment. Two decrees from 2017 and 2018 outline a general structure for the Repository and specifies an administering agency and its functions. [162] The latest decree from 19 October 2018 specifies preliminary technical characteristics and requires UkrINTEI to develop final technical characteristics of the Repository. [163]

The new Repository could bring positive results. [164] In particular, it will simplify access to information on research and development (R&D), education, and innovation. [165] The Repository could help promote academic integrity if, as the RPK expert suggested, anti-plagiarism software is used. [166] Taking into account these possibilities, this commitment has a potential for at least a minor impact on academic transparency.

Next steps

To provide full transparency of all academic texts, the IRM researcher recommends integrating all available local repositories into the central repository and to create a comprehensive registry of academic texts.

To achieve the potential of the Repository for ensuring integrity in academic writing, MES and UkrINTEI could develop or acquire advanced anti-plagiarism software with the capabilities of comparing multi-lingual texts and analyzing images.

17. Introduce the National Repository of Academic Texts

Completion: Substantial

UkrINTEI launched the National Repository of Academic Texts. ^[131] The repository allows registered and unregistered users to search, read, and download full-text PhD dissertations (among other resources) in PDF format. ^[132] Although local repositories are not fully integrated into the National Repository yet, ^[133] three higher education institutions made preliminary agreements to test the interaction between the local repositories and the National Repository of Academic Texts. ^[134] The ecosystem of academic integrity instruments, such as plagiarism-checking online tools, has not yet been developed. So, the repository refers only to external legislation and guidelines on academic integrity and plagiarism-checker tools. ^[135]