CRIS / RIMS
The terms CRIS - current research information system and RIMS - research information management system, are largely used interchangeably within the market and you will see both terms used across the sector.
These are software solutions which are designed to manage the full research lifecycle and work of individual researchers from project inception, funding due to publication and subsequent impact.
The benefit of a CRIS / RIMS is to ensure that all information related to an institution’s researchers and research outputs is available and accessible in one place. This has advantages both from an internal administration point of view particularly when meeting the requirements of external evaluation exercises such as the Research Excellence Framework (REF). It also provides an effective means of promoting and disseminating the institution’s research activity to the wider world.
CRIS / RIMS structure
Typically a CRIS / RIMS will contain modules for the following:
- Researcher profiles
- Grant applications / awards
- Publications
- Supporting information on research impact / research environment
Additional information such as teaching responsibilities may also be included.
Architecture
The data structure of CRIS / RIMS is based on the set of basic entities defined by the Common European Research Information Format (CERIF) maintained by EuroCRIS (the international organisation for research information).
The basic CERIF entities are people, organisations, projects and outputs.
A fundamental underpinning of CRIS / RIMS systems is interoperability and bilateral data exchange with third party internal systems including but not limited to human resources systems, finance systems and institutional repositories. Similarly metadata needs to be seamlessly exchanged with third party external systems such as those of funders and the REF.
CRIS / RIMS and institutional repositories
CRIS / RIMS systems were traditionally based on integration with institutional repositories as outlined above. However, increasingly solutions are now offering integrative institutional repository functionality removing the need for a separate IR. Elsevier’s Pure offers an integrated repository as part of its base solution whilst Worktribe offers an integrative repository as an add-on module.
Such CRIS / repository systems may be appealing for institutions wishing to remove the overhead and complexity of maintaining separate systems. However, it should be noted that the benefits of such systems are dependent on what the institution chooses to use their repository for. For example, due to all content being linked to specific researcher profiles, integrative CRIS / repository systems are not designed for storing non-research outputs.
CRIS / RIMS in the UK
A full list of CRIS / RIMS products available in the UK is included in our product directory and an overview of the current CRIS / RIMS market is included in the market overview section under this topic.
The UK market however is dominated by Elsevier’s Pure and Symplectic Elements, with smaller market shares for Converis and Worktribe.
It is worth noting that less than 50% of UK HEIs are users of CRIS / RIMS systems currently. However, use is almost universal amongst research intensive institutions such as those of the Russell Group.
Procurement & implementation
CRIS / RIMS systems are high-value and complex solutions. As such, purchase of a new system will be subject to procurement rules and must follow either a competitive tendering process or be purchased through an approved procurement route such as a purchasing framework.
CRIS / RIMS systems are included in the UK Government procurement framework G Cloud 13 Details of CRIS / RIMS suppliers and their products can be found in the G Cloud digital marketplace.
Project timescales
There is no definitive answer to how long it may take to implement a CRIS / RIMS system as this is dependent on:
- Volume and state of existing metadata to be migrated
- Number of third party systems to be integrated
- Whether institutional repository will be migrated
However a typical CRIS / RIMS project may take upwards of 12 months from project inception to implementation and will typically involve numerous stakeholders from libraries, research offices, IT departments and other institutional services such as finance and HR.