Global recognition advances UCT's research accessibility and reliability

The University of Cape Town (UCT) has officially joined DataCite, a global non-profit organisation dedicated to providing persistent digital object identifiers (DOIs) for research data. This reinforces the university’s dedication to open science and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles for research output.

In parallel, UCT’s ZivaHub institutional repository, managed by Digital Library Services at UCT Libraries, has been awarded the CoreTrustSeal (CTS) Certification. This prestigious recognition validates the repository’s commitment to ensuring the long-term accessibility, reliability and integrity of its hosted research data. The certification underscores UCT’s leadership in research data management and its alignment with global best practices in open science infrastructure.

“These achievements are part of UCT’s broader vision to support open science and global research collaboration.”

The university’s open African research data repository at DataFirst was a forerunner in achieving Trusted Repository certification. DataFirst was awarded the Data Seal of Approval in 2014 and was the first African data repository to receive the CoreTrustSeal in 2018. DataFirst also joined DataCite in 2018. While the new, UCT-wide membership of DataCite supports repository best practices across the institution. It also allows e-Research to assist other UCT repositories beyond DataFirst and ZivaHub to work towards obtaining international certification.

“UCT is proud to announce these two significant milestones in its ongoing commitment to enhancing digital identity and the visibility of its researchers and research outputs,” said Professor Jeff Murugan, UCT’s acting deputy vice-chancellor for Research and Internationalisation. “These achievements are part of UCT’s broader vision to support open science and global research collaboration.”

The road to CTS Certification for ZivaHub was paved several years ago by the ilifu RDM (research data management) project, which was developed as part of the IDIA (Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy) initiative. This project also provided seed funding for the establishment of ZivaHub and other institutional repositories at universities around South Africa, with an aim to advance data-intensive research.

Advancing research visibility and digital identity

University-wide DataCite membership enables UCT to assign DOIs to research outputs across the institution, making them more discoverable, citable and connected within the global research ecosystem. This move empowers UCT researchers to establish a stronger digital identity, ensuring their contributions receive the recognition they deserve in academic and public domains.

Simultaneously, the CoreTrustSeal Certification for DataFirst and ZivaHub reinforces UCT’s strategic investment in research data management infrastructure. The certification assures that data stored in these repositories meets the highest openness, trustworthiness and sustainability standards, providing researchers with secure and compliant platforms to preserve and share their datasets.

UCT’s commitment to Open Science

By joining DataCite as an institution and securing certification for ZivaHub as another UCT data repository, UCT strengthens its position as a leader in responsible data stewardship, ensuring that its research outputs remain accessible and reusable for future generations.

“DataCite Membership is about providing open science infrastructure, while CoreTrustSeal Certification is about quality control of data repositories. Both are important in open science,” said Lynn Woolfrey, Manager of DataFirst and a current DataCite board member. “Our participation is critical in shaping the changing landscape of data repositories. We need more African voices to be heard.”

The University invites researchers, students, and other stakeholders to leverage these advancements in support of a more connected, transparent and impactful research landscape.

For more information on UCT’s research data services, visit DataFirst and ZivaHub or contact eresearch@uct.ac.za.