25. Developing Current Research Information Systems (CRIS) as Data Sources for Studies of Research

Current research information systems () are increasingly being used to standardize and ease documentation, communication, and administration of research. With broad coverage and sufficient completeness, data quality, and standardization, CRIS systems can also be used as data sources for studies of research. Making CRIS interoperable and comparable across institutions and countries is necessary for the further development of CRIS for research purposes. Integration of CRIS for administrative purposes is already on the European agenda. This chapter focuses on challenges and solutions to the development of internationally integrated CRIS. Most of the remaining challenges are not related to technical solutions, but to an efficient sharing and use of contents. The chapter starts with the situation at the international level before it moves on to an example of CRIS at the national level to describe challenges and possible solutions even more concretely. The last section of the chapter provides examples of the type of studies that can be performed if progress is made for internationally integrated CRIS.