The availability of shared data and non-traditional research outputs has increased dramatically over the last ten years and this corpus is growing at an exponential rate. Generalist repository platforms have matured into well-known locations to transparently share a wide range of outputs, enabling sustainable sharing and reuse of data. They have a global reach and serve researchers from a wide range of domains and research settings. However, what does the use of these open platforms actually look like? Have they helped researchers share outputs FAIRly? Is the data being reused and cited? If so, what percent of citations are other than self citations? The answers to these questions can help build a business case for research support services and resource allocation, as well as guiding platform development. They also help inform the broader conversation around how institutional repositories fit into the research landscape, democratizing data sharing and empowering global progress. In this paper we present data from one free generalist platform, examining how its global user base shares and reuses research outputs, with specific focus on linking and citations, to answer the questions above and explore its contribution to empowering global progress.

Investigating national repositories is crucial as they play a pivotal role in shaping the accessibility and interconnectedness of global research. This investigation aims to offer insights into the impact and effectiveness of SwePub, Sweden's national bibliographic database. Through bibliometric exploration spanning 8-years (2015-2022), this study employs SwePub’ s data to unveil publication trends in open access, shedding light on the preferences of Sweden-affiliated researchers in disseminating their research through non-open access, gold open access, and green open access channels. This paper advocates for a more distinct classification of open access beyond a binary categorization, providing a detailed representation of Sweden's contributions to various forms of open access, such as gold and green open access, and their impact on disseminating academic knowledge. The findings on international and national collaboration stress the importance of global and national networks in collaborative research. However, data retrieval requires integrating citation data from databases like Open Alex to enhance in-depth bibliometric analysis. This paper concludes by proposing the transformation of SwePub into a more comprehensive resource, elevating its utility for institutional or national-level bibliometric analysis. The results contain insightful information for academic institutions, policymakers, and the scholarly community.

Brazil currently hosts several institutional platforms, such as the Lattes Platform, Sucupira Platform, Transparency Portal, Catalog/Library of Theses and Dissertations, and Industrial Property Bank. These platforms were created with the aim of providing data in a centralized and updated manner on the academic, scientific, and technological performance of its researchers. Therefore, the BrCris Project aims to establish a unique model for organizing scientific information across the entire Brazilian research ecosystem. Among the agents of this ecosystem are researchers, projects, infrastructures, laboratories and research institutions, funders, in addition to research results expressed mainly through scientific publications, theses, dissertations, scientific data sets, software and patents. This work aims to present how BrCris has contributed to the process of aggregating platforms and data visualization, with the aim of promoting access and visualization of science. As a result, it is possible to visualize, access, export and evaluate integrated data from different sources, enabling the understanding of scientific and academic information, as well as the analysis of aggregated data from different perspectives.

The research landscape in Africa holds immense potential, yet its scholarly output often struggles to reach global audiences. Institutional repositories (IRs) emerge as beacons of hope, a platform to showcase African research and development as well as intellectualism and propel it /them into the international spotlight. However, the effectiveness of IRs in achieving these goals depends on their visibility, which in the case of African repositories is very low. This paper delves into the trajectories of IR development by selected universities in each of the sub-regions of Africa. Using mixed methods, a visibility analysis was conducted using interviews, case studies and key metrics such as evolution, Institutional policies, awareness, Authors' attitudes and responsiveness, downloads, citations and global impacts. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis were utilized. Findings revealed that although visibility is relatively low on global terrains, it showed an impressive, vibrant and competitive landscape of African IRs. Despite challenges such as insufficient researcher awareness, inadequate infrastructure and limited funding, the repositories are increasingly promoting global engagement with African scholarship, discoverability and collaboration beyond national borders. Recommendations were made for supportive policies, sustainable funding, enhanced awareness for researchers, ethical considerations, standardized metadata and platforms for knowledge sharing.