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Abstract:
The growth and increasing complexity of global science poses a grand challenge to scientists: how to best organise the worldwide evaluation of research programmes and peers? For the 21st century we need not just information on science, but also meta-level scientific information that is delivered to the digital workbench of every researcher. Access, usage and citation metrics will be a major information service that researchers will need on an everyday basis to handle the complexity of science.

Scientometrics has been built on centralised commercial databases of high functionality but restricted scope, mainly providing information that may be used for research assessment. Enter digital libraries and repositories: can they collect reliable metadata at the source, ensure universal metric coverage and defray costs?

This systematic appraisal of the future role of digital libraries and repositories for metric research evaluation proceeds by investigating the practical inadequacies of current metric evaluation before defining the scope for libraries and repositories as new players. Subsequently, the notion of metrics as research information services is developed. Finally, the future relationship between a) libraries and repositories and b) metrics databases, commercial or non-commercial, is addressed.

Services reviewed include Leiden Ranking, Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, Ranking Web of Repositories, COUNTER, MESUR, Harzing Publish or Perish, Hirsch Index, CiteSeer, Citebase, SPIRES, SSRN CiteReader, RePEc LogEc and CitEc, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar.

Scientometrics, webometrics, research evaluation, research assessment, citation metrics, usage metrics, access metrics, digital library, digital repository, open access

Abstract:
Online, open access is the superior model for scholarly communication. A variety of scientific communities in physics, the life sciences and economics have gone furthest in innovating their scholarly communication through open access, enhancing accessibility for scientists, students and the interested public. Open access enjoys a comparative advantage across the science and humanities and it is therefore only logical that functional innovation and structural improvements should be similar in the natural and social sciences. A variety of innovative moves in the natural and social sciences are portrayed and analysed, demonstrating correspondence of the innovative logic across the disciplines even as solutions vary.

Open access is technologically feasible and economically efficient. Moreover, open access has become vital to secure the continued advancement of knowledge. It may be expected that public and philanthropic funding will flow in the future only if public visibility and academic impact of the research results can be demonstrated.

Social Science, Cultural Studies, Scholarly communication, electronic publishing, STM publishing, publishing

Abstract:
Open source, open content and open access are set to fundamentally alter the conditions of knowledge production and distribution. Open source, open content and open access are also the most tangible result of the shift towards e-Science and digital networking. Yet, widespread misperceptions exist about the impact of this shift on knowledge distribution and scientific publishing. It is argued, on the one hand, that for the academy there principally is no digital dilemma surrounding copyright and there is no contradiction between open science and the knowledge-based economy if profits are made from nonexclusive rights. On the other hand, pressure for the `digital doubling' of research articles in Open Access repositories (the `green road') is misguided and the current model of Open Access publishing (the `gold road') has not much future outside biomedicine. Commercial publishers must understand that business models based on the transfer of copyright have not much future either.
Digital technology and its economics favour the severance of distribution from certification. What is required of universities and governments, scholars and publishers, is to clear the way for digital innovations in knowledge distribution and scholarly publishing by enabling the emergence of a competitive market that is based on nonexclusive rights. This requires no change in the law but merely an end to the praxis of copyright transfer and exclusive licensing. The best way forward for research organisations, universities and scientists is the adoption of standard copyright licenses that reserve some rights, namely Attribution and No Derivative Works, but otherwise will allow for the unlimited reproduction, dissemination and re-use of the research article, commercial uses included.

Cyberscience, cyberinfrastructure, open source, scientific publishing, guild publishing, trade publishing, peer review, open access, copyright, knowledge-based economy, Creative Commons, Science Commons

Abstract:
The European Research Area and the European Higher Education Area are still under construction. Their foundations, however, are visible and already affect what the next generation of researchers can and cannot do. While it is unclear when, and to what standard, construction will be completed, the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers clarify the expectations of policy makers and major stakeholders. One significant scenario is the rise of the post-doc as principal investigator. This would signal profound change in the governance and funding of research since hitherto the post-doc has been understood primarily as an assistant (to a professor's chair or on a research project).

It is outlined which new knowledge and skills PhDs and post-docs need to advance their career and projects more independently - in science and engineering as well as the social sciences and humanities. Potential changes in funding and status are discussed as well as changing relations with supervisors and mentors. Because of European flagship awards for post-docs as well as mobility fellowships, a significant number of post-docs are already principal investigators. Details of these flagship post-doc awards and fellowship are outlined. The report then discusses what doctoral students and post-docs might do individually and collectively to follow in the footsteps of the pioneers. A list of the most valuable online resources is provided.

Postdoc, Early Stage Researcher, Principal Investigator, Tenure, European Charter for Researchers, European Research Council

Abstract:
The current system of so-called institutional repositories, even if it has been a sensible response at an earlier stage, may not answer the needs of the scholarly community, scientific communication and accompanied stakeholders in a sustainable way. However, having a robust repository infrastructure is essential to academic work. Yet, current institutional solutions, even when networked in a country or across Europe, have largely failed to deliver. Consequently, a new path for a more robust infrastructure and larger repositories is explored to create superior services that support the academy. A future organization of publication repositories is advocated that is based upon macroscopic academic settings providing a critical mass of interest as well as organizational coherence. Such a macro-unit may be geographical (a coherent national scheme), institutional (a large research organization or a consortium thereof) or thematic (a specific research field organizing itself in the domain of publication repositories).

The argument proceeds as follows: firstly, while institutional open access mandates have brought some content into open access, the important mandates are those of the funders and these are best supported by a single infrastructure and large repositories, which incidentally enhances the value of the collection (while a transfer to institutional repositories would diminish the value). Secondly, we compare and contrast a system based on central research publication repositories with the notion of a network of institutional repositories to illustrate that across central dimensions of any repository solution the institutional model is more cumbersome and less likely to achieve a high level of service. Next, three key functions of publication repositories are reconsidered, namely a) the fast and wide dissemination of results; b) the preservation of the record; and c) digital curation for dissemination and preservation. Fourth, repositories and their ecologies are explored with the overriding aim of enhancing content and enhancing usage. Fifth, a target scheme is sketched, including some examples. In closing, a look at the evolutionary road ahead is offered.

Scientific information, publication repositories, institutional repositories, digital libraries, research infrastructure, deposit mandate, interoperability, open access

Abstract:
The Entrepreneurial University is a failed idea. This is not to disparage the entrepreneurial activities of faculty, graduates and students. Neither is it to criticise industry sponsored research and co-authorship. University research and higher education have a role in innovation. However, if entrepreneurialism is institutionalised as a policy of governments and universities, all manner of things start to go wrong. Not only do participants suffer from disappointed expectations, as expected returns fail to materialise but also, more importantly, universities that 'go entrepreneurial' ultimately destroy the science commons essential to the university's continued existence.

A systematic critique of the concept of the Entrepreneurial University is offered and key data is reviewed. Simultaneously, a broader research programme on university autonomy and finance is advanced.

Includes coverage of the theory and practice of the Entrepreneurial University such as research funding, intellectual property rights, technology transfer. Discusses the Bayh-Dole Act and evaluates the experience of the University of California.

Research university, research funding, university autonomy, university income, Entrepreneurial University, university patents, technology transfer, science commons

Abstract:
The internet and the rise of e-Science alter the conditions for scholarly communication. In signing declarations against open access mandates, society publishers indicate that they feel most threatened by the emergence of institutional repositories and the self-archiving mandates that these make possible. More attention should be paid to the impact of e-Science, the rise of internet-based guild publishers and the entrance of players from the new economy. Society journals should stop aspiring to such functions as registration and archiving and should shed electronic dissemination, while enhancing certification and investing in (new) navigation services.

In the Philosophical Transactions, Henry Oldenburg (or: Oldenbourg) in 1665 provided the model of academic journal publishing, conjoining dissemination and certification, and setting up the journal as a register and archive of knowledge claims. With the internet, however, the time has come to step out of Oldenburg's long shadow. From the table of contents: Moving out of Oldenburg's long shadow; The technology and economics of internet-based scholarly communication; The impact on societies; What is the role for mission-oriented publishers?; Faculty reluctance?; Shifting from 'content' to 'service'.

Scholarly Communication, Electronic Publishing, Society Publishing, Not-for-profit Publishing, Learned Societies, Professional Societies, Open Access, Institutional Repositories, Digital Libraries, Peer Review, Navigation Services

Abstract:
Economists have done most to innovate scholarly publishing and communication by switching to Open Access. In cultural studies, history, law, political science and sociology, Open Access publishing is still an innovation at the margins. Yet Open Access is demonstrably the superior publishing model in the WWW Galaxy. Research networks, scholarly communities and academic tribes would do well to consider how to switch their communication and publishing to Open Access. The penalty for failing to do this will be decreased visibility and diminished impact, followed ultimately by a decline in public and philanthropic funding. For everyone, this article outlines the compelling reasons to switch to OA. Moreover, we have a common agenda when it comes to the means whereby Open Access is achieved. We will all suffer if a sub-optimal lock-in occurs and innovation spaces are blocked. Therefore, full and partial OA solutions are evaluated. There is also a genuine need for collaboration when it comes to developing the next generation of overlay services such as literature awareness tools, information mining tools and search engines.

This paper features the Budapest Open Access Initiative, the Berlin Declaration on Open Access, the UN WSIS and OECD positions on OA, and trans-national federations such as SciELO, DSpace and EPrints. It shows how economics and law (SSRN and RePEc) are moving towards OA and indicates that OA is the emerging standard in European integration research (as it is in Biomed with the Wellcome Trust manadatory OA policy). Five roads are outlined on the way to making Open Access the standard for all scholarly communication.

Open Access, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Scholarly Publishing, Scholarly Communication, Peer Review, Open Science, Comparative Research, Globalization

Abstract:
In the search for a viable 21st century cost-sharing contract between university, student and state, the issues of rising participation and student demand, functional differentiation, institutional competition and stratification and social inequality are systematically discussed. The argument develops through, firstly, a critical appraisal of the genre of elite, mass and universal higher education; secondly, a discussion of the consequences of US institutional stratification; and, thirdly, an assessment of national tuition fee systems as a way of sponsoring mass and universal participation. The Ivy League and the California Master Plan as well as the tuition fee systems in Australia, New Zealand and England have addressed rising participation and relative declining state funding (per FTE tertiary student) while seeking to preserve and enhance quality by mobilising and concentrating resources. Yet, the accumulated unintended consequences of theses systems are undermining their very foundations, making none of these a suitable candidate for emulation in the 21st century. Moreover, the conceptual distinction between, elite, mass and universal higher education is flawed and not suitable for guiding further reform initiatives. Consequently, it is submitted that the financing of state funded undergraduate degrees (BA) be decoupled from postgraduate degrees (MA, PhD). The rise of the European Higher Education Area with 46 member states, and more expected to join, serves as a vantage point from which to critique the legacy of the 20th century and develop preliminary policy recommendations for the 21st century.

Higher Education funding, tuition fees, cost-sharing, income contingent loans, elite, mass and universal higher education, participation rates, Ivy League, California Master Plan, Australian Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS), European Higher Education Area, Bologna process

Abstract:
The entire system of scholarly communication is in transition, with the emergence of new markets, services and players. Given what we know about this digital transition, the technical, financial and legal parameters of a future model of publishing scientific information are predictable. The contribution of the Commission of the European Communities has been to emphasize how digital access to scientific information is related to the digital preservation of the record of scientific publications and data; because if digital preservation is undertaken access cannot be guaranteed for future innovations. The proposition for the delineation of a European model is developed as follows:

1. A digital model may be developed that results in open access, while preserving and enhancing the viability of a variety of commercial publishing models.

2. The institutional players in the publishing system, namely publishers, repositories and libraries, must be ready to accept a redistribution of the key functions of registration, certification, dissemination, archiving and navigation in a manner that plays to the strength of each.

3. The condition for any successful elaboration of a digital model is that it is complementary to the technology and economics of the internet, while the litmus test is that it enhances the impact and re-use of scientific information.

Open access publishing leads to complementary relationships between publishers, libraries and repositories; unrestricted access and the widest possible dissemination; and usually facilitates the creation of value-added services as an overlay from platforms, repositories and libraries. In recent years, a number of viable full open access publishing (OAP) models have emerged: OAP where the author pays, by subscription, through a sponsoring consortium, and by way of support and sponsorship.

Covered initiatives include BMC, Sage-Hindawi, Springer, SCOAP3, Science Commons OA law program, DRIVER, PARSE, PEER, NEEO and policies of the ERC, NIH and Harvard FAS

Digital publishing, scientific publishing, open access publishing, permission mandate, scientific information, repositories, digital libraries, peer review

Abstract:
As the Internet has enhanced the collection and provision of citation, usage and access metrics, the challenge lies neither in the technology nor the method, but in constructing databases that deliver services of value to the scholar. However, the development of metrics has hitherto been driven by the needs of external research assessment (governments and funders), while publishers and libraries have focused on their own needs (e.g. journal impact and usage factors). Scholars often criticize research assessment and the use of particular metrics as a zero-sum game whose undesirable consequences far outweigh the benefits. However, this is not to be confused with a general prejudice against metrics, which are principally compatible with the scholarly recognition and rewards system. But it does indicate that current metric information services often do not serve the needs of scholars. The question everybody should be asking is: What kind of metric information services would serve scholars?

The argument proceeds in six steps. First, the problematic and controversial nature of assessment metrics is discussed. Second, the limited value of current metric information services is outlined. Third, the notion of metrics as research information services is clarified. Fourth, some examples of such services are offered. Fifth, the potential value is sketched from the perspective of a postdoc. Sixth, it is indicated that societies and publishers could begin building more metric information services since tried-and-tested technology and methods are available already.

Services mentioned: Journal impact factor, journal usage factor, GoPubMed, SSRN CiteReader, RePEc LogEc, RePEc CitEc, SPIRES, Harzing POP, Webometrics, ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Google Scholar, Citebase, CiteSeer X, CERIF

Citation metrics, usage metrics, access metrics, research assessment, research information services, scholarly societies, scholarly publishers, postdocs, Hirsch index

Abstract:
Max Weber, by 1920, had a well-defined and elaborated notion of domination but did not complete a theory of domination. While the concept of power is amorphous, organised power relations that are structured by a relation of command and obedience may be theorised as a relation of domination. Yet, throughout the 20th century, sociologists have not completed the task.

The following is a concise but systematic elaboration of a theory of domination. The text has the following headings: Preparing a theory of domination - Definition of the term domination and separation from the concept of power; Domination is a relation of command and obedience from which an organisation emerges; Domination requires recognition or, else, commands lack legitimacy; The legitimacy of domination confers authority on the commander: Continuing domination requires administration; Organisation facilitates mobilisation in collective action.

The text has been written in German so as to engage Max Weber as fully as possible.

Domination, power, organisation, hierarchy, legitimacy, authority, administration, collective action

Abstract:
A new hypothesis for explaining the world historical event of 1989 is proposed: The Soviet imperial association was immobilised by a structural stasis. Structural stasis was the condition that made Soviet imperial breakdown possible. As the leadership sought to mobilise the imperial association in the late 1980s the breakdown became increasingly likely. Once the resort to violence was heavily constrained and the imperial association lost control over borders and space the breakdown became inevitable. The hypothesis is theoretically well grounded in a Weberian theory of domination, which is elaborated to include indicators of illegitimate domination. Methodologically the hypothesis is bolstered by the most advanced models of social and cultural change available, which are developed to account for structural and cultural conditioning as well as probability and contingency. Theory, methodology and model foster an explanatory understanding. It is anticipated that this new hypothesis will prevail over alternative political, economic, military and cultural explanations.

Soviet empire, 1989, structural stasis, historical explanation, historical contingency, communist party, nomenklatura, terror, workers' councils, rationalisation

Abstract:
Questions of domination and power, legitimacy and legitimation have driven 20th century research on dictatorship and democracy, on totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, on fascism and communism and even on capitalism versus socialism. Reference to Max Weber's ideal-types of legitimate domination was universal, but the prior logical distinction between legitimate and illegitimate domination remained unexamined. Hence Soviet relations of domination were appraised as total, goal-rational, new traditionalist and eudaemonic but never was the legitimacy of relations of command and obedience examined closely, not even in the light of the scope, duration and intensity of Stalinist terror. We propose such a re-examination here and conclude that as a consequence of the terror Soviet (imperial) relations of domination were illegitimate. We buttress this hypothesis through a historical comparison between the Soviet, National Socialist and Chinese communist case; by contrasting it with the most theoretically informed contemporary appraisal of the Soviet path after Stalin's death; and by defending the excess content of the new hypothesis vis-a-vis such notions as total domination, goal-rational legitimation, new traditionalist legitimacy and eudaemonic legitimacy. Our discussion challenges sociology to develop a general theory of domination as a social relation - as begun by Max Weber but never completed.

Domination, Power, Legitimacy, Legitimation, Soviet empire, terror, totalitarianism, goal-rational legitimation, eudaemonic legitimacy, legal-rational domination

Abstract:
With the benefit of hindsight it becomes easier to appraise the historical significance and impact of the European revolutions of 1989. By a privileging a global point of view, it becomes possible to leave behind the prevalent perspective of 1989 as a regional transition of Central Europe only. This essay does not substitute the stultifying regional perspective for a globalist doctrine, but rather acknowledges the contested character of revolution and its interpretation by taking as starting point six distinct interpretations of 1989. These are:

- The breakdown of the Soviet empire due to the disintegration of its association of party and nomenklatura, and the future of "Empire;"
- The transition from communist party rule to democracy;
- The exhaustion of socialist welfare regimes based on a planned economy and the return of the market;
- Nation building processes in the USSR and Eastern Europe and the consolidation of independent states;
- Resistance, dissidence and the revival of civil society in a carnival of revolutions;
- The end of the Cold War, the collapse of Soviet world power and the new world order.

Through each of these lenses an effort is made to appraise the global scope and scale of 1989. The following questions guide the enquiry:

- What is the global meaning of this aspect of the revolutions of 1989?
- Does this shed new light on the history before 1989?
- What kind of structural and cultural change followed after 1989?
- In scholarship, which discursive shifts have occurred in response to 1989?

In conclusion, a first estimate on the global significance of 1989 is provided with respect to short-term impact and medium-term change. Viewed from after 1989, the 20th century has seemed dark, an age of extremes and violence defined in Europe and spreading from there. However, just before 1989, it seemed as if the social question had been resolved, at least in the North: the 20th was seen as the social democratic century. Yet, in the 21st century the social question returns. But, with Marxism discredited and socialism infeasible, no ideas or actors are discernible that could carry the world towards a new resolution of the social question. This outcome is disquieting, for it now seems as if communism, fascism and world war were necessary handmaiden in this resolution, but have no peaceful, civil or cosmopolitan equivalent - at least, not yet. This should worry everyone.

Soviet Union, 1989, revolution, empire, civil society, Cold War, communist party, dissidence, democracy, socialist state, welfare, planned economy, nation building, market economy, social inequality

Abstract:
The European Research Conundrum may be described thus: In the interest of the European Research Dream, the structure and culture of the research organization should be adapted to the mission of achieving scientific and technological breakthroughs but, alas, this mission is first overwhelmed and then deformed by the existing structure and culture of the organization. The conundrum has been highlighted publicly by the high-level review of the European Research Council (ERC), which “found fundamental problems related to rules and practices regarding the governance, administration and operations of the ERC that are not adapted to the nature of modern ‘frontier’ science management.” The organization threatens to defeat the mission, even though the ERC is new, corresponds to targets, and is well funded.

This paper advances three arguments. Firstly, the prevalent focus on targets, money and policy is criticized because it does little to bring about the required organizational restructuring while allowing the organization to overwhelm the mission, thus threatening a lock-in of ERA as second rate. Secondly, it is shown that it is known what kind of organizational design is conducive to scientific and technological breakthroughs and that this knowledge could be utilized to drive forward organizational restructuring. Thirdly, some practical suggestions are made how to gather empirical evidence about barriers and challenges in the European Research Area by tracking the experience of grantees of European flagship programmes in a multiple case-study design, which may be extended to innovation systems.

To also speak to those who think that targets, money and policy should remain the focus, the research may be designed in a fashion that accommodates alternative and competing hypotheses as to what is conducive to or impedes scientific and technological breakthroughs and innovations systems.

Summary of key concepts and topics and institutions discussed: - Organizational factors fostering breakthroughs Organizational autonomy, scientific leadership, mission-oriented flexibility, personalized recruitment, intellectual diversity, communicative integration, cognitive complexity

- Organizational factors impeding breakthroughs Strong institutional environment, departmental differentiation, bureaucratic coordination, filling positions, uniformity of intellect, compartmentalized communication, specialization of mind

- Institutions mentioned European Research Area (ERA), European Research Council (ERC), European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), European Research Advisory Board (ERAB), European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI)

- Expert Groups covered Lisbon Expert Group, Knowledge for Growth, Community Research Policy

- Topics discussed Researchers in ERA, Research Infrastructure, Joint Programming

Scientific breakthroughs, technological inventions, innovation systems, scientific excellence, research university, research funding, research policy, R&D targets

Abstract:
The 'Quality of Democracy' is a meta-level research programme, the rise of which is tied to the events of 1989 in a structural and ideational sense. Democracy, as a concept, has spread widely and external threats have become almost non-existent. Thus, research of democracy has turned inward in attempting to appraise its quality. Upon examination, however, it is clear that the research programme falls short of its promise. It is insufficiently comparative both conceptually and historically. Proponents seem captivated by the 'end of history' narrative in their adherence to a single standard 'liberal' democratic quality by which all regimes are assessed and ranked. Symptomatically, observers both East and West imagine Eastern European democracies as backsliding, claiming that new democracies must be externally assisted. Singular notions of good democracy lead to poor research.

Consequently, it is suggested that the 'Quality of Democracy' research programme must become more reflexive. Methodologically, this implies a reckoning with the different types of democratic substance and procedure that exist as ideas and institutions. With regard to 1989, it is argued that the key to understanding the transition to democracy and the failures of democratization in Eastern Europe lies in, firstly, reckoning with the Soviet legacy; and, secondly, establishing whether a negotiated revolution occurred or not. In conclusion, the foundations for an analysis of the institutional types of Eastern European procedure and substance are offered. Thus, a historical and comparative analysis of the quality of democracy in Europe is outlined.

Contents

Introduction: The Quality of Democracy as a research programme

1. The Quality of Democracy as a procedure, substance and outcome

2. Methodological critique: delineating types, reckoning with history

3. Deficient and defective democracies in Eastern Europe?

4. Legacy: Soviet illegitimacy and democracy

5. Origins: negotiated revolution or not?

6. Constitutions, welfare and the quality of democracy in Eastern Europe

Quality of Democracy, comparative politics, Eastern Europe, Soviet illegitimacy, negotiated revolution, constitutional reform, welfare outcome

Abstract:
1989 was described as ‘annus mirabilis’, and its revolutions hailed as one of the great moments in human history. In subsequent years, the re-emergence of war, genocide and terror led to re-interpretation: Europe became a dark continent, the 20th century its darkest hour. Was 1989 merely a bright moment in a dark age? This contribution acknowledges European war, genocide and terror and examines in some detail the contribution of this history to the self-limiting or negotiated revolutions of 1989. It is argued that horrific violence – Stalinist terror, World War II, the Cold War as well as genocide, ethnic cleansing and deportation – resulted processes that contributed to the revolutions of 1989 in the following ways: • The legacy of Stalinist terror resulted in a structural stasis that prefigured the breakdown of the Soviet empire; • Integration into global warfare enabled the perpetuation of Soviet rule but also provided the window of opportunity for overturning the Soviet legacy: • State building was constrained by the Soviet imperial cage but ultimately resulted in independent states and societies able to purposefully organise change after 1989. The argument is that the self-limiting or negotiated revolution of 1989 (Staniszkis 1984, Lawson 2005) was more than just a utopian moment in that it contains a new idea for organizing large-scale, rapid social and political change, which is relevant the twenty-first century. Contrary to received historical wisdom, revolutions may in future be the non-violent means of organising large-scale and rapid change, if negotiated.

1989, war, genocide, terror, Soviet empire, Cold War, self-limiting revolution, negotiated revolution, state building, large-scale change, transition, transformation

Abstract:
After two decades of repository development, some conclusions may be drawn as to which type of repository and what kind of service best supports digital scholarly communication, and thus the production of new knowledge.

Four types of publication repository may be distinguished, namely the subject-based repository, research repository, national repository system and institutional repository. Two important shifts in the role of repositories may be noted. With regard to content, a well-defined and high quality corpus is essential. This implies that repository services are likely to be most successful when constructed with the user and reader uppermost in mind. With regard to service, high value to specific scholarly communities is essential. This implies that repositories are likely to be most useful to scholars when they offer dedicated services supporting the production of new knowledge.

Along these lines, challenges and barriers to repository development may be identified in three key dimensions: a) identification and deposit of content; b) access and use of services; and c) preservation of content and sustainability of service. An indicative comparison of challenges and barriers in some major world regions such as Europe, North America and East Asia plus Australia is offered in conclusion.

Repository infrastructure, scholarly communication, scientific information, publication repository, subject-based repository, research repository, national repository system, institutional repository, deposit mandate, open access