1. Proposal for piloting the VIRTA publication information service at the European level
Janne Pölönen, Hanna-Mari Puuska and Gunnar Sivertsen

2. Overview
Background: The aim of integrating research information in Europe
Principles for a European solution
A European network for the pilot
Funding options
How to proceed

3. Overview
Background: The aim of integrating research information in Europe
Principles for a European solution
A European network for the pilot
Funding options
How to proceed

4. On the agenda, but still unsolved A report in 2010 to European Science Foundation and the British, Dutch, French, and German research councils
Two of the recommendations:
Negotiate expansions and/or a new database with the suppliers of Web of Science and/or Scopus
Integrate national and institutional documentation systems

5. On the agenda, but still unsolved A report in 2014 to European Parliamentary Research Service
The key recommendation:
Integrate national and institutional documentation systems

6. Books
Journals and series
Indexed journals
100 per cent?

7. If scholarly publication channels are properly defined, the world of scholarly journals and book publishers is not endless

8. It is possible to agree on criteria for inclusion Example: Croatia

9. It is possible to agree on criteria for inclusion Example: ERIH PLUS
Explicit procedures for external peer review.
Academic editorial board, with members affiliated with universities or other independent research organizations.
Valid ISSN code, confirmed by the international ISSN register.
All original articles should be accompanied by abstracts in English and/or another international language relevant for the field.
Information about the affiliations and addresses of the authors should be published for each article.
Minimum national level: No more than two thirds of the authors published in the journal are from the same institution.

10. National Current Research Information Systems are on the rise
Principles behind the use of institutional data in a shared national Current Research Information System
Completeness: All scholarly publications and other results from research are included
Transparency: Every institution can see and check all other institutions’ data. The national database is also online and open to society at large.
Multiple use of the data: CV’s, applications, evaluations, annual reports, internal administration, bibliography for Open Archives, links to full text, etc.

11. Commercial CRIS-solutions for institutional purposes have become widespread

12. The need for a «VIRTA» solution: Denmark as an example
Each university has a local Pure system.

13. National database – Denmark’s «VIRTA» solution
Each university has a local Pure system.
Annually, data from the local systems are exported to, and integrated in, a national database owned by the Government

14. Finland needed to solve the problem of integrating a variety of institutional CRISes and their data models
“Just as in Denmark, the bibliographic data are exported annually to a central database.”
“At the local level, the Finnish universities continue to use different commercial or non-commercial local systems.”
Sivertsen, G. (2016). Data integration in Scandinavia. Scientometrics, 106(2),

15. The VIRTA solution Previous data collection
VIRTA publication information service
Data sources
Local CRISes of HEIs
Local CRISes of HEIs, university hospitals, state research institutes
Updates
Annually
Automatically and real time (statistics compiled once a year)
Data format
CSV
XML
Corrections, supplementations
Not possible after annual data collection
Possible any time
Temporal coverage
Since 2011
All data from previous years to present can be transferred
Identification of authors
Name
Name, ORCID
Identification of duplicates, faults etc.
Identified manually
Identified automatically and real time
Services connected
JUULI, Vipunen
JUULI, Vipunen + researchers’ reporting for funding agencies, visualization services, other research services etc.

16. Nordforsk funds Nordic collaboration on standardized registers of scholarly publication channels

17. Overview
Background: The aim of integrating research information in Europe
Principles for a European solution
A European network for the pilot
Funding options
How to proceed

18. Principles for a European solution
VIRTA Publication Information Service compiles real time information on publications at the national level
VIRTA can provide a convenient and cost-efficient way of developing a European publication information database
The concept and the technical solution are expandable to compilation of data from various countries and organizations across Europe
Requires common European standardizations and definitions for data content – as already provided by CERIF (
The contents can cover all fields of research (not only SSH)

19. Principles for a European solution
Any European country or single organization can provide its data
Data transfer from national or local CRISes in a standardized format – annually or more frequently
All data freely available in a public portal
Data can be used for various purposes such as funding applications, CVs etc.
Public portal
National and local CRISes
European publication database
XML files
API
Using services (e.g. funders)
Other use, e.g. CVs

20. Overview
Background: The aim of integrating research information in Europe
Principles for a European solution
A European network for the pilot
Funding options
How to proceed

21. The COST network ENRESSH Working Group 3: Databases and uses of data for understanding SSH research
The European Network for Research Evaluation in the Social Sciences and the Humanities (enressh.eu) aims to propose best practices in research evaluation of SSH fields.
The main objective of ENRESSH working group 3 is to reflect upon the standardisation and the interoperability of current research information systems (CRIS) dedicated to research outcomes from the social sciences and humanities (SSH).
One of the goals is to develop shared procedures for building and maintaining databases and design a roadmap for a European database.

22. Overview
Background: The aim of integrating research information in Europe
Principles for a European solution
A European network for the pilot
Funding options
How to proceed

23. EU ESFRI – new Research Infrastructures of pan-European interest

24. Overview
Background: The aim of integrating research information in Europe
Principles for a European solution
A European network for the pilot
Funding options
How to proceed

25. How to proceed? Proposal (late 2016 and early 2017)
Final Plan (the first half of 2017)
Data contents - ENRESSH Working Group 3
Technical solution - CSC – IT Center for Science Ltd.
Presentation (ENRESSH Sofia meeting in February, Antwerp conference in July, other?)
Funding: EU ESFRI / NordForsk / participating countries / other
Preparation
Contents work/Publication data collection Guide - ENRESSH WG 3
Technical work - CSC – IT Center for Science Ltd.
Pilot
Countries and/or institutions participating in the pilot
Implementation of the European Publication Information Service
Other countries and institutions can join