Introduction to the Research Outputs Database

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Introduction to the Research Outputs Database

• Ian Rowlands

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Research Outputs Database (ROD)
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Overview

• ROD history and background
• Basic description of ROD
• How ROD is produced
• ROD membership benefits
• The wider research context

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ROD history and background

• Original concept piloted in 1993 as a tool for
  monitoring research outputs funded by The
  Wellcome Trust
• ROD extended to full scale and benefits shared to
  a wider community through the formation of a ROD
  Club
• Transferred to City in December 2000

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Basic description of ROD (1)

• Bibliographic descriptions of all significant
  peer-reviewed research outputs in scientific
  areas of interest to the Trust and ROD Club
  members
• Geographical scope is limited to outputs with a
  UK/Irish corporate address and covers
  1988-present (437,886 records)

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Basic description of ROD (2)

• RODs value as a policy tool derives from the
  merging of basic data with
• funding acknowledgements
• measures of citation impact
• research level data
• and from data cleaning routines and integrity
  checks

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How ROD is produced

• Bibliographic data obtained from SCI/SSCI under
  licence from ISI
• Papers inspected (recorded) in libraries,
  primarily BL and RSM
• Postcodes in UK addresses checked
• Dedicated server running Oracle 8i software

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ROD data overview

• (Viewed here in MS Access)
• Powerful routines used to clean up ISI data
  RODs relational structure ensures a high level
  of data integrity

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Adding funding acknowledgements

• Funding bodies are recorded as trigraph codes.
  Thesaurus control ensures that funding bodies are
  accurately described, and permit sophisticated
  analysis.

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Funding acknowledgments

• Double data entry and validation procedures
  ensure the accuracy and integrity of funding data

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ROD Club membership benefits

• Annual lists of supported research outputs
  (previous years available)
• Consultancy (free allowance included in basic
  subscription)
• Access to ROD research through free copies of
  reports and papers and participation in ROD
  seminars

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ROD Club membership
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The wider research context

• Department of Information Science (2001 RAE 5A)
• Centre for Information Behaviour and the
  Evaluation of Research (ciber)
• expertise in bibliometrics, research evaluation,
  cybermetrics, health informatics, user studies