# Grenoble Alpes University through ROR: ensure data quality

Maxence Larrieu

► To cite this version:

Maxence Larrieu. Grenoble Alpes University through ROR: ensure data quality. 2024. hal-04916024

HAL Id: hal-04916024

https://hal.science/hal-04916024v1

Submitted on 28 Jan 2025

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Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
# UGA through ROR: ensure data quality

Maxence Larrieu

2024-08-18

ROR open data curation identifiers

Our previous post presented a project to identify UGA's ORCIDs using HAL, OpenAlex and ORCID. In turn, this work highlighted the importance, for a research organization, of having quality data in the Research Organization Registry (ROR). In June of the same year, we undertook a cleanup of UGA data in the ROR. Each UGA unit (approx. 70) now has its ROR identifier correctly linked to the university. This required around 60 modification requests, all processed by the ROR in less than a month.

Launched in 2019, the ROR is the successor to the Global Research Identifier Database. It is global, “community-led”, features an open API and makes data available under a CC0 license:

> We value ourselves as a fully open and public registry of factual information about research organizations. The metadata and curatorial value that we contribute to the ROR registry are not
considered the intellectual property of any
ROR-related entity. As facts, information
stored in the registry, by its nature, cannot
be patented. In addition, ROR fully asserts
no ownership of the information by
making it available to the public under a
CC0 1.0 public domain dedication.

Aligning ROR with the Principles of Open Scholarly
Infrastructure. ror.org/blog/2020-12-16-aligning-ror-with-posi/

The ROR is an open, worldwide repository of research
structures. In France, the repositories for structures include
**RNSR** (managed by French Research Ministry), **IdRef** and
**AuréHAL structure** (managed by CCSD).

Identifiants externes

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Identifiant HAL : 1043180

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Identifiant HAL : 1041685

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Identifiant HAL : 675

Identifiant RNSR : 200311865N

ROR:: Identifiant ROR : 026j45x50

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Identifiant VIAF : http://viaf.org/viaf/136340959

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Identifiant Wikidata : Q30262127

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Identifiant Wikipédia : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laboratoire_Pacte

(BNF Identifiant ARK BNF : http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb14527532p)

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Identifiant ISNI : 0000000121648234

Ids used in IdRef for a research structure. idref.fr/078842697

In France, the curation of ROR data has yet to become part of
general policy and practice. However, there is every reason to
believe that this will change in the next few years. Not only
are identifiers an integral part of France's national open
science policy, but ROR data is now an authoritative part of
the scientific information ecosystem: it is used to structure
OpenAlex, with which the French Research Ministry has
announced a partnership; it is also used in the recent (2024)
CWTS Leiden Ranking Open Edition; and at French level, in
the French Research Ministry's equally recent works-magnet,
which links scientific productions and organizations.

Under the aegis of the UGA's Open Science Commission, and
in collaboration with the Cellule Data Grenoble Alpes, we set
about curating the data relating to the university in the ROR.
The aim is to ensure that all units under the supervision of
the UGA have a ROR identifier that is correctly linked to that
of the university. The ROR data schema allows structures to
be linked: "The relationship types supported are Parent,
Child, Related, Successor, and Predecessor." See the excellent
blog post on these relationships and the difficulties to be
overcome for a global repository: ror.org/blog/2023-02-27-
parents-children-and-other-relationships-in-ror/.

Curation in the ROR

Anyone can *request* a modification to the data in the ROR
using a simple form; completion of the form generates a
Github "issue", which is then processed by the ROR team.
This system makes it possible to track the progress of
requests, see github.com/ror-community/ror-updates.

Timeline

The project took place between June and mid-July 2024,
mobilizing 4 people, for a total of around 60 “issues”, all
[traceable in Github](https://github.com).

One of the strengths of the ROR is that its curation is quick: within a few days, we receive feedback from a curator; the issue in Github successively changes labels; and the update, if accepted, is carried out in less than a month.

The UGA project also provided an opportunity to review the
way in which “research federations” and other “research
groups” are attached to institutions on a national scale. In
short, these entities were attached to institutions in the same
way as units, with a child-like relationship. Following our
request, an exchange with the ROR curators and an opinion
from ABES (see github issue), the type of relationship was
changed to *other* (e.g. ror.org/0459fdx51), which differentiates
them from the units that make up an organization.

**Conclusion**
This project contributes to the university's visibility in tools and services using the ROR, such as [lens.org](https://lens.org), [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org), [CWTS Leiden Ranking Open Edition](https://www.cwts.nl/leiden-ranking-open-edition), and the French Research Ministry [works-magnet](https://www.researchministry.fr/en/works-magnet). But the bottom line is that these tools and services are growing: the ROR has become the industry solution for identifying research organizations on a global scale.

At university level, the challenge for the future is to carry out this work on a regular basis, and above all to coordinate with those responsible for structural repositories (RNSR, AureHAL, IdRef) and other internal information systems.

We can only invite organizations to carry out similar curation projects. This is essential for linking researchers, productions and organizations. Because it is open, the ROR is increasingly used in the research ecosystem. On the publisher side, for example, it is possible to link these three entities directly when registering the DOI; CrossRef recently added an indicator on the use of the ROR in the metadata produced by a publisher (see [Re-introducing Participation Reports to encourage best practices in open metadata](https://www.cwts.nl/leiden-ranking-open-edition)).

Larrieu, Maxence (2024). UGA through ROR: ensure data quality. *Blog GATES Data SHS*. Université Grenoble Alpes.

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