A broken system – why literature searching needs a FAIR revolution | Impact of Social Sciences

The volume of academic research articles is increasing exponentially. However, the ease with which we are able to find these articles depends on the capabilities of the search systems that we use. These systems (bibliographic databases like Scopus and academic search engines like Google Scholar) act as important gatekeepers between authors and readers. A recent study found that many of these systems are difficult to use, non-transparent and do not adhere to scientific standards. As a result, researchers find fewer relevant records, searching takes longer, or does not have the necessary scientific rigour. In this post, Neal Haddaway and Michael Gusenbauer argue that to address these issues academic searching needs to adopt the principles of FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), and be radically overhauled.