Proposal for a Maturity Continuum Model for Open Research Data

Abstract

As a contribution to the general effort in research to generalize and improve the practices of Open Research Data (ORD), we developed a model conceptualizing the degrees of maturity of a research community in terms of ORD. This model may be used to assess the ORD capacity or maturity level of a specific research community, to strengthen the use of standards with respect to ORD within this community, and to increase its ORD maturity level. We present the background and our motivations for developing such an instrument as well as the reasoning leading to its design. We present its elements in detail and discuss possible applications.