Mapping research data landscape in Africa using the Re3data and data citation Index

Despite the efforts made by most African countries in incubating the practice of research data sharing, little is known on the status of the research data sphere in the African landscape. This study was conducted to establish the status of research data and research data repositories (RDRs) in Africa. Specifically, the study intended to identify the country-wise contributions in terms of research data and research data repositories, trends of publication of research data by African countries, content type and the nature of research data repositories hosted by African countries. The study applied the quantitative research approach. The registry of research data repositories (re3data), which is the prominent worldwide registry for the research data repository, and the data citation index (DCI) hosted by the Web of Science were used in this study. Re3data and DCI index research data repositories and datasets respectively, from almost all the countries around the world. The study identified parameters that were extracted from re3data and DCI using the browse and search facilities. The extracted data were recorded into Google Sheets, refined, and analysed using MS Office Excel. The study found little contribution from the African countries regarding research data and research data repositories to re3data and DCI. The study found further that, despite the presence of a few repositories, most of them had restricted access to external users. This study concludes that African countries are still having a lot to do for the research data practices to be fully incubated. The study suggests that governments and other stakeholders should improve the facilitating conditions, including establishing relevant policies and infrastructures for the practice to be fully embraced.