November 3, 2026
We are pleased to announce the launch of the Repository Metadata Collection and Curation Practices survey, a joint initiative of the Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information and COAR (The Confederation of Open Access Repositories).
The survey is being carried out in the context of the Barcelona Declaration’s working group on Metadata of Research Outputs in Repositories.
 |
Repositories play an important role in the open research information landscape. They preserve and provide access to scholarly resources, while the metadata they collect and share helps make those resources discoverable and reusable. This information also supports researchers, institutions, funders, service providers and policy makers in activities such as reporting, monitoring, research assessment and the development of new services.
The survey will gather comparable, high-level information about how repositories collect, curate and make metadata available. By bringing together experiences from different repository settings, it aims to identify common practices, challenges, and effective approaches that can inform work across the community.
“Repository records contribute to open research information and can be enriched through links to other metadata sources. This survey will help us understand how repositories use and curate information from these sources, and how this work can support a more connected information ecosystem. The Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information and COAR have a shared interest in improving the quality of metadata in repositories, and we are excited to launch this survey as a collaborative project.”
Bianca Kramer, Executive Director Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information
“Good quality metadata is critical for maximising the value of the content in open repositories. This survey will provide us with a better understanding of current practices and surface innovative techniques for populating and curating metadata that can be adopted by others.”
Kathleen Shearer, Executive Director, COAR
The survey focuses on institutional, national, disciplinary, federal and other repositories that collect scholarly outputs. It is intended for repository managers, librarians, technical leads, curators and others familiar with repository workflows and metadata practices.
Repository professionals are warmly invited to share their experience. Each response will help build a clearer picture of how metadata is collected and curated across different repository settings and regions
Your perspective can help inform future work to strengthen repository metadata practices across the community. The findings may also help you reflect on your own practices, learn from approaches used by other repositories and identify possible areas for improvement.
The survey is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese and will remain open until 15 December 2026. If your organisation operates more than one repository, please submit a separate response for each repository.
Share your repository metadata practices!