Dave RawnsleyChris DalyIn the second of two blog posts, Dave Rawnsley and Chris Daly explore usage of the UK Data Service’s international and census data, and how data citation can demonstrate how far data-enhanced research reaches.
In our previous blog post, we india rcs data explored how downloads of international socio-economic data have changed in comparison with our ‘Fruits of Data Citation’ review in 2016. Views and downloads are one thing, but we want to see how and where the data is being used, the impact it is having and the stories it is telling.
Citation stories
The UK Data Service encourages researchers to cite its data correctly.
We use Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) assigned by the International DOI Foundation to provide a persistent link to the data even if its location changes. The UK Data Service’s Deputy Director, Dr Victoria Moody recently explored some of the benefits of using persistent identifiers such as DOIs, particularly in the context of REF2021.
We have been using DOIs since 2010 and they have allowed us to view the use and impact the data is having in academic papers. We can track DOIs in Google Scholar and download the information on their use, such as the number of citations. In addition, where possible, we can view the journal articles to gain an idea of how our data is being used.