The goal of the project is to establish an open bibliometrics database within the German Kompetenznetzwerk Bibliometrie. This will create the possibility for the fields of higher education research and science studies to use innovative and open data sources as an alternative to proprietary bibliometrics databases. The development of a freely accessible bibliometrics database will also reduce the dependence of the Kompetenznetzwerk Bibliometrie on commercial providers and promote the open science idea. At the same time, the database promises independent analysis potential with regard to such publication venues and modes that are not covered in the proprietary data.
Specifically, an open bibliometrics database based on OpenAlex is to be developed cooperatively with several partners of the Kompetenznetzwerk Bibliometrie. The joint project is pursuing four coordinated sub-goals:
- Database provision: Provision of a free and machine-readable developer instance of the bibliometric database OpenAlex as a basis for curating German publication data using an open licence.
- Database comparison: Comparative analysis of the coverage and quality of the open bibliometric database OpenAlex compared to the proprietary databases Web of Science and Scopus.
- Data curation: Development and application of technical procedures for curating the metadata of publications produced with the participation of authors from German research institutions.
- Networking and usage: Identification of national and international re-use opportunities.
The DZHW sub-project compares the databases in terms of indexed entries, curates information on funding contexts of German publications and drives national and international networking in coordination with the partners.
