Research Data Curation at a Comprehensive Open Distance E-learning Institution

In response to funder and institutional requirements for data sharing and reuse of research data in support of the open-access and open-science movement, a comprehensive open distance e-learning (CODeL) institution in South Africa implemented a research data management policy. This article employs statistical analysis and interviews with purposively selected researchers to investigate the curation of research data at a CODeL institution in South Africa. The CODeL institution utilizes Figshare software to curate datasets. Researcher uptake remains low, with fewer than 100 datasets submitted since the software was introduced in 2019. However, the number of views and downloads is high, highlighting the demand for accessible datasets and the need for researchers to submit their data. It is hoped that the findings will inform the development of best practices for data curation that CODeL institutions can adopt to enhance the visibility and impact of their research outputs.