Challenges and Chances for Innovation for the Institutional Repository Landscape in Germany: Results from an Interview Study

Introduction: Institutional repositories (IRs) support the Open Access (OA) transformation and are a key cornerstone for publishing and accessing scholarly information. Currently, they undergo changes and are required to transition to a modern information infrastructure. This study surveys the challenges of this transition for IRs in Germany from the perspective of library and information science. Methods: For this study, we conducted 15 expert interviews with repository managers from the German IR community who are employed at academic libraries. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The sample of interviewees was compiled using a standardized list and the method of purposeful sampling.  Results: We identified five core challenges: Preprints in IRs as means of rapid scholarly communication, the possibilities of effective information management through IRs and current research information systems (CRIS), self-archiving in IRs and the green OA route, the importance of collaborating text and data repositories for Open Science, and the challenges associated with monitoring publication output and costs through IRs. Discussion: We discussed the five core challenges regarding recent developments within the library and repository community, such as the Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information, a recent policy-based attempt to harmonize secondary publication rights in Europe, or community projects aimed at providing transparency to publication costs in higher education. Conclusion: IRs’ core mission is to publish, reference, and monitor scholarly output. In doing so, they face challenges that require concerted action by the scholarly and library community in four areas: Providing responsible policies, ensuring demand-based standardization, implementing interoperable IR technology, and establishing resilient workflows.

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