Allow funding references to be added to work versions in the data & code deposit pathway

[EricDurante]

I see that "Funding Reference" is listed as one of the optional form fields, but this isn't a field in the existing deposit forms. So I just wanted to confirm that this is indeed a new field that should be added to work versions. If that's the case, then what kind of value(s) would go in this field? Would it be another multi-value string field like keywords, for example?

Yes, this is a field that we were hoping to add. Ideally, we would use the Crossref Open Funder Registry to provide users with a controlled vocabulary for funders to select from that would also bring in the funder identifiers. However, we will likely need to have a way for users to include funders not listed and to as you describe add multiple funders. Let me know if you want to chat about this further!

Crossref Open Funder Registry Description
Crossref Funder Registry Taxonomy

Also, if useful and for reference, here is how DataCite breaks down this funder information: You will need to search for "funder" to get the relevant metadata fields

[EricDurante]

@bdezray

I created a separate issue for this item since it seems like it may be a significant amount of work on its own, and I don't want it to hold up getting the rest of #1469 integrated and released with the other features that are in progress.

I also think that I need to understand quite a bit more about this before I'm ready to begin implementing it. Mainly, I think that I need to better understand exactly what funding data we would like to store in ScholarSphere and in what ways that data might possibly be used now and in the future. Please feel free to post any thoughts here, and/or just let me know if it would be easier to meet and discuss.

[bdezray]

@EricDurante Here we would be expecting information about the grant funding the research which produced the research output. The idea here is that we would better be able to link research outputs (the works in ScholarSphere) to the funding agency or grant itself. There is a big push to better link research proposals and their outputs using these persistent identifiers so as to move towards automating updates to funders eventually (for example: Follow the money, or how to link grants to research outputs. Let me know if you want to discuss this further!