The DOI matches its Crossref record; 24 of the 25 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Maturing research data services and the transformation of academic libraries
Open accessAbstract
Purpose: A major development in academic libraries in the last decade has been recognition of the need to support research data management (RDM). The purpose of this paper is to capture how library research data services (RDS) have developed and to assess the impact of this on the nature of academic libraries. Design/methodology/approach: Questionnaire responses from libraries in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the UK and USA from 2018 are compared to a previous data set from 2014. Findings: The evidence supports a picture of the spread of RDS, especially advisory ones. However, future ambitions do not seem to have seen much evolution. There is limited evidence of organisational change and skills shortages remain. Most service development can be explained as the extension of traditional library services to research data. Yet there remains the potential for transformational impacts, when combined with the demands implied by other new services such as around text and data mining, bibliometrics and artificial intelligence. A revised maturity model is presented that summarises typical stages of development of services, structures and skills. Research limitations/implications: The research models show how RDS are developing. It also reflects on the extent to which RDM represents a transformation of the role of academic libraries. Practical implications: Practitioners working in the RDM arena can benchmark their current practices and future plans against wider patterns. Originality/value: The study offers a clear picture of the evolution of research data services internationally and proposes a maturity model to capture typical stages of development. It contributes to the wider discussion of how the nature of academic libraries are changing.
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“Prior research outlines services, competencies and lifecycle functions but offers limited explanation of how responsibilities are structured into distinct yet interconnected roles.”
From Librarians’ roles and responsibilities in managing data within academic libraries: A role-based data governance model (2026) · cites this paper as Cox et al., 2019b
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“While IT units manage infrastructure, librarians coordinate service-level functions, acting as knowledge orchestrators who connect people, systems, and data (Cox et al., 2019a(Cox et al., , 2019b)).”
From Librarians’ roles and responsibilities in managing data within academic libraries: A role-based data governance model (2026) · cites this paper as Cox et al., 2019b
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“Laskowski (2021) and Cox et al. (2019b) highlight librarians' roles in risk management, policy development, and compliance frameworks.”
From Librarians’ roles and responsibilities in managing data within academic libraries: A role-based data governance model (2026) · cites this paper as Cox et al. (2019b)
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“This aligns with Cox et al. (2017Cox et al. ( , 2019b) ) and Tang & Hu (2019), who describe librarians as facilitators and brokers.”
From Librarians’ roles and responsibilities in managing data within academic libraries: A role-based data governance model (2026) · cites this paper as Cox et al., 2019b
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“These findings are consistent with previous studies that position libraries as key actors in data governance and sustainability.”
From Librarians’ roles and responsibilities in managing data within academic libraries: A role-based data governance model (2026) · cites this paper as Cox et al. (2019b)
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Citations
Cites
REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE THEORIES: A MULTILEVEL EXPLORATION OF THE PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM PARADIGM
Gersick, C. J. G. (1991) · The Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.1991.4278988 · Cited by 2,183
ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION AS PUNCTUATED EQUILIBRIUM: AN EMPIRICAL TEST.
Romanelli, E., & Tushman, M. L. (1994) · Academy of Management Journal · doi:10.2307/256669 · Cited by 1,492
Pöppelbuß, J., & Röglinger, M. (2011) · European Conference on Information Systems · Cited by 399
Research data management and libraries: Current activities and future priorities
Cox, A. M., & Pinfield, S. (2013) · Journal of Librarianship and Information Science · doi:10.1177/0961000613492542 · Cited by 284
Self-citationBibliometrics and Research Data Management Services: Emerging Trends in Library Support for Research
Corrall, S., Kennan, M. A., & Afzal, W. (2013) · Library trends · doi:10.1353/lib.2013.0005 · Cited by 281
Self-citationCox, A. M., Kennan, M. A., Lyon, L., & Pinfield, S. (2017) · Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology · doi:10.1002/asi.23781 · Cited by 236
Self-citationResearch Data Services in European Academic Research Libraries
Tenopir, C., Talja, S., Horstmann, W., Late, E., Hughes, D., Pollock, D., Schmidt, B., Baird, L. N., Sandusky, R. J., & Allard, S. L. (2017) · LIBER Quarterly The Journal of the Association of European Research Libraries · doi:10.18352/lq.10180 · Cited by 180
Research Data Services in Academic Libraries: Data Intensive Roles for the Future?
Tenopir, C., Allard, S. L., Frame, M., Survey, U. S. G., Birch, B., Baird, L. N., Sandusky, R. J., Langseth, M. L., Survey, U. S. G., Hughes, D., et al. (2015) · Journal of eScience Librarianship · doi:10.7191/jeslib.2015.1085 · Cited by 105
Mapping the future of academic libraries: A report for SCONUL
Pinfield, S., Cox, A. M., & Rutter, S. (2017) · White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) · Cited by 88
Self-citationInvestigation and analysis of research data services in university libraries
Si, L., Xing, W., Zhuang, X., Hua, X., & Zhou, L. (2015) · The Electronic Library · doi:10.1108/el-07-2013-0130 · Cited by 66
Research works printed but not linked: 6
- ANDS, 2018, Creating a Data Management Framework
- 2017, The Realities of Research Data Management: Part Two: Scoping the University RDM Service Bundle
- 2014, The Theory and Practice of Change Management
- 2012, Research Methods in Information
- 2012, Academic Libraries and Research Data Services: Current Practices and Plans for the Future: An ACRL White Paper
- 2015, Big Data, Little Data, no Data: Scholarship in the Networked World
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Cox, A. (2023) · Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology · doi:10.1002/asi.24635 · Cited by 200
Self-citationLund, B. D., Omame, I. M., Tijani, S., & Agbaji, D. A. (2020) · College & Research Libraries · doi:10.5860/crl.81.5.865 · Cited by 163
Understanding Artificial Intelligence in Research Libraries – Extensive Literature Review
Gasparini, A., & Kautonen, H. (2022) · LIBER Quarterly: The Journal of the Association of European Research Libraries · doi:10.53377/lq.10934 · Cited by 86
ACRL Research Planning and Review Committee (2016) · College & Research Libraries News · doi:10.5860/crln.77.6.9505 · Cited by 75
A systematic literature review on research data management practices and services
Ashiq, M., Usmani, M. H., & Naeem, M. (2020) · Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication · doi:10.1108/gkmc-07-2020-0103 · Cited by 61
Metadata
- Authors
- Cox, A. M., Kennan, M. A., Lyon, L., Pinfield, S., & Sbaffi, L.
- Affiliations
- University of Sheffield (GB)
- Charles Sturt University (AU)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Corresponding author
- Cox, Andrew M.
- Venue
- Journal of Documentation
- Publisher
- Emerald
- Published
- 2019-09-26
- Volume
- 75
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1432-1462
- ISSN
- 0022-0418 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2963526428
- Cited by
- 139
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 15
- FWCI
- 20.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Documentation (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
- Charles Sturt University Research Output (CRO) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Research Data Management Practices
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Information
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Optics and Image Analysis
- Keywords
- research data services, research data management, academic libraries, library service development, maturity model, organizational change, text and data mining, bibliometric analysis, artificial intelligence, international comparison of libraries
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