Working towards securing and building a trusted institutional research data repository through the CoreTrustSeal process: case of Cape Peninsula University of Technology data repository

Abstract

In support of the open science movement and as a signatory of the Berlin Declaration, the Cape Peninsula University of Technology has since 2013 developed various systems, infrastructures and workflows to support open access and good research data management practices at the institution, providing a highly functional environment. Institutional policies that include a Research Data Management Policy and an Open Access Policy, data deposit guidelines and data deposit platforms are currently in place and utilized by affiliated postgraduate students and researchers from faculties, research units and entities as well as researchers from academic support units in alignments with FAIR principles. The strategy of a requirement that postgraduate students must submit their research data together with their theses for graduation purposes has increased the advocacy and publishing of datasets and includes the supervisors as part of the review process. The purpose of this paper is therefore to highlight the initial developmental trajectory and what was achieved to date. This includes the selection of the platform through the ilifu project in the Western Cape, the implementation and strengthening of the repository review workflows to include a number of key role players to ensure the quality and integrity of the data as well as ethics approval checks, the development of the data management planning tool and a recent upgrade to include a section for POPIA compliancy, advocacy, training and processes that the institution has embarked on to secure the research data platform through proper preservation methodologies/approaches as a preservation platform was recently procured. Some challenges will be discussed and how those were addressed. The paper will also outline the process of how the institution embarked on applying to have the data repository certified as trustworthy through an international institution, the CoreTrustSeal, and will outline this near three-year journey to work towards achieving their 17 requirements.