Databib and "re3data.org – Registry of Research Data Repositories" have announced their plan to merge their two projects into one service that will be managed under the auspices of DataCite by the end of 2015. Their joint proposal to the DataCite General Assembly has been approved in advance of the 3rd Plenary Meeting of the Research Data Alliance (RDA) in Dublin, Ireland.
The aim of this merger is to reduce duplication of effort and to better serve the research community with a single, sustainable registry of research data repositories that incorporates the best features of both projects.
re3data.org and Databib have agreed to five principles for successful cooperation. These include: Openness: the metadata and the interfaces of the joint registry will be openly accessible; Optimal quality assurance: a two-stage workflow, with a first review of submissions by an international editorial board plus a second one for consistency, will guarantee the quality and currency of records; Development of innovative functionalities: cooperative development of new functionality for the joint registry and further integration with a global ecosystem of infrastructures that meet the needs of data-driven research and open science; Shared leadership: the joint registry will be lead by two representatives (one from each project) as equal partners; and Sustainability: both projects will work together on a sustainable governance structure and a permanent infrastructure for the joint registry.
The joint registry will be operated under the name "re3data.org – Registry of Research Data Repositories" with its editorial board retaining the name of Databib. Both registries have posted a Memorandum of Understanding on their respective websites and have exchanged metadata records in advance of fully merging their platforms and processes. By the end of 2015, the merged registry will become an imprint of DataCite and be included in its suite of services.
