Japanese research outputs integrated into OpenAlex database
The National Institute of Informatics (NII) in Japan has integrated metadata from its Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) into OpenAlex. Consequently, this initiative makes nearly four million Japanese research outputs freely available to researchers globally.
The integration went live on 18 August 2026. It significantly enhances the international discoverability of scholarly works held across Japanese higher education repositories. As part of the Research Organization of Information and Systems, NII manages IRDB as a central infrastructure. The system aggregates research from universities and specialist research bodies throughout Japan.
Rigorous data quality improvements
Before the integration, approximately 5.45 million raw records stored within IRDB underwent comprehensive quality processing. Technical teams removed duplicate entries and filtered out deleted content. The resulting clean dataset of nearly four million records is now indexed in OpenAlex.
The integration relies on standardised metadata compliant with JPCOAR Schema Version 2.0. This framework was established by the Japan Consortium for Open Access Repository. The metadata includes article titles, author profiles, DOIs, full-text URLs, and institutional affiliations. As a result, global repository systems can easily ingest and index the material.
Supporting national open access policy goals
The collaboration advances Japan’s strategic mandate to promote open science across its academic institutions. The initiative aligns directly with the Basic Policy on Promoting Open Access to Publicly Funded Scholarly Publications and Scientific Data. Adopted by the Cabinet Office in February 2024, this policy mandates immediate open access for publicly funded research starting from FY2025.
Furthermore, NII representatives noted that the initiative converts Japanese research into “machine-actionable knowledge assets”. This capability is critical for supporting advanced scientific analysis in the era of artificial intelligence.
Building a machine-readable ecosystem for AI
Unlike traditional bibliographic databases, OpenAlex is built specifically for machine-to-machine interactions. Its dedicated Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) create an AI-ready environment for automated software applications. Consequently, IRDB metadata can now be used seamlessly in large-scale data mining and AI research tools.
NII plans to continuously refine IRDB functionality and data quality. Moving forward, the organisation aims to reinforce Japan’s academic infrastructure while expanding the global reach of its scientific output.
Developed by a US-based non-profit organisation, OpenAlex remains one of the largest open scholarly databases in the world.