Methodological
Approach .
The Italian Research Monitor employs a robust methodology, underpinned by a commitment to best practices in Open Science. This approach ensures comprehensive, accurate, and user-centric insights into Italy's Open Access landscape.
Principles
Openness & Transparency
We prioritize transparent methodological assumptions and the use of openly available, public data. Adherence to the FAIR principles and international standards ensures our findings are trustworthy, replicable, and accessible for public engagement.
Comprehensive Coverage & Accuracy
Leveraging the extensive data capabilities of the OpenAIRE Graph and working closely with stakeholders for data representation and quality we aim to provide the most comprehensive coverage possible, incorporating data from multiple sources for accurate and meaningful indicators.
Readiness & Timeliness:
Built around well-established open databases and already tested knowledge extraction technologies - natural language processing (NLP) / machine-learning (ML) - using operational workflows in OpenAIRE to warrant timely results.
Engagement & Inclusivity
Our methodology focuses on meeting the needs of our diverse users, from researchers to policymakers. We emphasize ease of use, clear communication, and responsiveness to feedback. The platform is designed to be intuitive and responsive, ensuring an effective and engaging experience for all stakeholders.
Data backbone: The OpenAIRE Graph
How? It’s about open data and collaboration .
The Italian Research Monitor is built upon the OpenAIRE Graph, a comprehensive database of research metadata records. This extensive collection includes records from 162K data sources, featuring around 3.5 million projects, 217 million publications, 98 million datasets, 880K pieces of research software, and approximately 35.8 million other research outputs as of March 2026. Regular updates, conducted nearly monthly, ensure the graph is consistently reflective of the latest scholarly contributions.
At the core of the OpenAIRE Graph is a commitment to data quality. The pipeline processes metadata from a multitude of sources, including detailed project information from funding bodies. Advanced inference algorithms enhance the metadata and full texts of Open Access publications, establishing crucial links between research results, projects, author affiliations, and classifications like Fields of Science (FoS) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To maintain an open, trusted, and publicly accessible resource, we apply sophisticated techniques for identifying and merging duplicate records, supplemented by OpenAIRE's suite of curation tools, including the Metadata Validator for completeness checks and OpenORGS for organization disambiguation.
The OpenAIRE technology center is responsible with the upkeep of this robust infrastructure, conducting regular hardware maintenance and implementing high-availability solutions, load balancing, backups, and precise restore procedures to ensure uninterrupted system performance.
Explore the Graph in detail at the OpenAIRE Graph website and its documentation .
