The status of open access repositories in the field of technology: insights from OpenDOAR

Abstract

Purpose Open-access repositories (OARs) are essential for openly disseminating intellectual knowledge on the internet and providing free access to it. The current study aims to evaluate the growth and development of OARs in the field of technology by investigating several characteristics such as coverage, OA policies, software type, content type, yearly growth, repository type and geographic contribution. Design/methodology/approach The directory of OARs acts as the source for data harvesting, which provides a quality-assured list of OARs across the globe. Findings The study found that 125 nations contributed a total of 4,045 repositories in the field of research, with the USA leading the list with the most repositories. Maximum repositories were operated by institutions having multidisciplinary approaches. The DSpace and Eprints were the preferred software types for repositories. The preferred upload content by contributors was “research articles” and “electronic thesis and dissertations”. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to the subject area technology as listed in OpenDOAR; therefore, the results may differ in other subject areas. Practical implications The work can benefit researchers across disciplines and, interested researchers can take this study as a base for evaluating online repositories. Moreover, policymakers and repository managers could also get benefitted from this study. Originality/value The study is the first of its kind, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to investigate the repositories of subject technology in the open-access platform.