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Research data sharing has become an expected component of scientific research and scholarly publishing practice over the last few decades, due in part to requirements for federally funded research. As part of a larger effort to better understand the workflows and costs of public access to research data, this project conducted a high-level analysis of where academic research data is most frequently shared. To do this, we leveraged the DataCite and Crossref application programming interfaces (APIs) in search of Publisher field elements demonstrating which data repositories were utilized by researchers from six academic research institutions between 2012–2022. In addition, we also ran a preliminary analysis of the quality of the metadata associated with these published datasets, comparing the extent to which information was missing from metadata fields deemed important for public access to research data. Results show that the top 10 publishers accounted for 89.0% to 99.8% of the datasets connected with the institutions in our study. Known data repositories, including institutional data repositories hosted by those institutions, were initially lacking from our sample due to varying metadata standards and practices. We conclude that the metadata quality landscape for published research datasets is uneven; key information, such as author affiliation, is often incomplete or missing from source data repositories and aggregators. To enhance the findability, interoperability, accessibility, and reusability (FAIRness) of research data, we provide a set of concrete recommendations that repositories and data authors can take to improve scholarly metadata associated with shared datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Institutional data repositories play a vital role in the long-term stewardship of research data. These repositories provide support for researchers in sharing data that may otherwise be lost, such as data without a disciplinary repository or data from projects with limited funding. Institutional repositories ensure responsible access to information and align with international standards. They also offer valuable services to researchers, including data curation and guidance in meeting funding agency and publisher mandates. Institutional repositories are a sustainable solution for data sharing, access, and preservation, and should be recognized as such by publishers and funding agencies. [Extracted from the article]