Open Access Scientific Digital Repositories : An Analytical Study of the Open DOAR

The main objective of the study is to discover the composition of the scientific repositories in the Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR) based on the eight key parameters i.e., regional distribution, country-wise contribution, repository type, collection development, contents archived, language diversity, software used, and metadata policies. The OpenDOAR was accessed to collect the related data to achieve the laid down objectives. The results revealed that Europe has contributed the highest number of repositories among the regions whereas the USA tops the list among countries. Most of the scientific repositories are institutional, accept contents in English language, archive journal articles, have fewer collection, use DSpace to manage contents and don't have well-defined metadata policies. The scope of this study is confined to the scientific repositories available in the Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR).