SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH DATA AND METADATA: A PERSPECTIVE FROM THEMATIC DATA REPOSITORIES

This paper studies research data repositories in the social sciences and humanities (SSH), from the Registry of Research Data Repositories (re3data), paying particular attention to metadata models used to describe the datasets included in them. 397 repositories are reviewed at the general level, including those of a multidisciplinary nature. We discuss and reflect on the special features of research data in these disciplines, and on coverage and information collected by re3data. The metadata schemas and standards most commonly used in SSH repositories are analyzed, with special emphasis on the six main repositories.