Open Access Repositories A Case Study of BRICS Nations - IEEE Conference Publication

This paper explores different facets of open access repositories developed and hosted by the BRICS nations. The data for the study was taken from OpenDOAR and Alexa to assess the trends, developments, nature of repositories and global ranking. The findings reveal that Brazil has the highest number of repositories in BRICS and bags first five rankings evaluated by Alexa as far as web traffic is concerned and their repositories show maximum positive upward growth among the BRICS repositories. China though has a less number of repositories; it has the highest number of items hosted in its repositories. Indian repositories show maximum negative growth in global web traffic that signifies a dipping position of Indian repositories within BRICS. Further India achieved 9th rank in global ranking by Alexa which is a matter of concern and needs to be addressed whereas Russia didn't find its place in the top ten ranking and contributes very less number of repositories. South Africa being the recent addition to group, needs to work hard to make a mark in the competitive world where information is the key to development by hosting more and more repositories with diverse subjects and wide variety of contents.