Repository statistics: User guide

With White Rose Research Online repository statistics you can compare the number of deposits and downloads for sets of items in the repository. You can find out about the most downloaded authors and papers and where documents have been downloaded from.

This page helps you to make the most of the repository statistics available in White Rose Research Online by guiding you through the statistics options and the meaning of the information presented.

To accompany this page we have a set of step-by-step guides to walk you through popular tasks. If you have a specific question in mind that you would like answered through the repository statistics, this might be a good place to start.

You can access statistics at any time at any time during your visit to White Rose Research Online by following the Statistics link in the Tools menu at the bottom of the screen.

The Statistics are normally processed each morning. Some of the statistics views may take some time to generate (there is a lot of data to process!).

Repository statistics and IRUS-UK

As well as the statistics provided through White Rose Research Online, White Rose repositories contribute statistics data to the national IRUS-UK service. IRUS-UK brings together repository usage data from repositories across the UK, using the COUNTER standard to give directly comparable data across repositories.

If you want to compare usage statistics with repositories other than White Rose Research Online we recommend you use data from IRUS-UK to ensure the data is directly comparable. If you want to find usage statistics relating to a particular department, faculty or author, or if you want to compare between authors, departments and faculties within White Rose institutions then White Rose Research Online statistics is for you.

Navigating White Rose Research Online Statistics

When you first arrive at White Rose Research Online statistics you will see the ‘Statistics Overview’ page, where you will find some of the key statistics about the repository. You can return here at any time by clicking on Available Reports and then Statistics Overview.

From the Statistics Overview page you have three options for navigating the repository statistics:
Filter Items — to choose which repository records you are interested in
Dates — to choose the time period you are interested in
Available reports — to choose the type of information you want to see

Filter Items

When you first arrive at the Statistics pages you will see information about every item in the repository and all downloads since August 2007 (from when the repository first began capturing download data). As interesting as this is, there’s a good chance that you want to look at statistics for a particular subset of records in the repository.

To apply a filter, click the Filter Items button towards the top of the screen. From the dropdown menu select the criteria you want to use to filter your data set. Note: you can only apply one filter at a time; applying a new filter will remove any filters already applied.

Filter by author

View statistics for items linked to a specific author. After clicking Filter Items, select Author from the dropdown menu. In the box provided, begin typing the last name of the author you want to see statistics for. Select the author’s name from the populated list. Filtering by author will take you directly to the ‘Top authors’ report.

Filter by item type

View statistics for a specific type of research output such as articles, books or proceedings papers. After clicking Filter Items, select Item type from the dropdown menu. Select the output type you want to view statistics for from the options list. Filtering by item type will take you to the ‘Statistics Overview’ report.

Filter by Institutional academic unit (Schools and Faculties)

View statistics for items associated with a specific faculty, department, school or research centre. After clicking Filter Items, select Institutional Academic Unit (Schools and Faculties) from the dropdown menu. To limit the options presented, begin typing the name of the department or faculty that you want to view statistics for in the box provided. Select the department of faculty name from the options list. Filtering by Institutional academic unit will take you to the ‘Statistics Overview’ report.

Filter by institution

View statistics for any one of the White Rose Universities. After clicking Filter Items, select Institution from the dropdown menu. Select an institution from the options list. Filtering by Institution will take you to the ‘Statistics Overview’ report.

Filter by EPrint ID (for an individual record)

View statistics for a specific repository record. To do this you will need to know the EPrint ID for the record you want to view statistics for. EPrint IDs can be found in the URL of the individual item record. After clicking Filter Items, select EPrint ID from the dropdown menu. Enter the EPrint ID in the box provided and select the title of the record from the options list.

Dates

You can use the Dates option to view statistics for activity over a specific period of time. Which events are used to limit by date depends on the data you are viewing; for example, when looking at deposit data, dates will be limited by deposit date; when looking at downloads data, dates will be limited by download date.

To limit by date click the Dates button towards the top of the screen. Use the fields provided to specify start and end dates or to select a range then click View. While you are limiting by date, the selected date range will be displayed towards the top-right of the screen.

Please note, if you change your filter selection then any date ranges selected will be reset.

Available Reports

The available reports option lets you choose the type of statistics information that you would like to see for records in your selected filter and date criteria. To select a new report click Available Reports towards the top of the screen.

A number of predefined reports are available:

Comparison per year

Shows the number of document downloads per month for outputs in your selection. Results are organised by Year for easy year-to-year comparison.

Statistics Overview

Shows a selection of information about outputs in your selection including Downloads over time, the total number of items, the percentage of items which have a full-text attached, the percentage of items which are currently open access through the repository, the most downloaded items, and the authors with the highest number of downloads.

Works

Lists the most downloaded outputs within your selection.

Academic Unit (Schools and Faculties)

Lists the schools and faculties with the highest number of downloads. Based on author affiliations recorded in the repository.

Authors

Lists the authors in repository with the highest number of document downloads. Also shows activity overview.

Requests

Shows information about the visitors to the outputs in your selection (including page visits and downloads). This includes information about country, how they have been referred to WRRO, and the browser they are using.

Deposits

Shows the number of outputs deposited the repository each month which meet your filter criteria.

The data explained

Activity overview

The activity overview features in various reports and contains different information depending on the report. Activity overviews might contain information about Items, Downloads, Full text, Open access, or Hits.

Browsers

‘Browsers’ represents the number of downloads recorded for items meeting any filter or date criteria set, grouped by the internet browser software used to make the download request. Browsers are listed in order from most popular to least popular based on number of downloads, and the number to the right of each browser name represents the number of downloads recorded. If results are limited by date then only downloads which took place within the selected date range will be represented. The options given below the list can be used to increase the number of results displayed, and a complete set of the data can also be exported (see exporting data).

Countries

‘Countries’ represents the number of downloads recorded for items meeting any filter or date criteria set, grouped by the country from which the download request originated. Country data is based on the IP address from which the download request originated. Countries are listed in order from most frequently occurring to least frequently occurring based on number of downloads, and the number to the right of each country name represents the number of downloads recorded. If results are limited by date then only downloads which took place within the selected date range will be represented. The options given below the list can be used to increase the number of results displayed, and a complete set of the data can also be exported (see exporting data).

Deposits (archive)

‘Deposits (archive)’ represents the number of items meeting any filter or date criteria set, arranged by the date that the item first entered the live archive (i.e. was ‘deposited’). If results are limited by date then, statistics will only include items which first entered the live archive during the selected time period. Deposits data is only representative of items currently in the archive; items which have been removed or ‘retired’ from the archive will no longer contribute to the ‘deposits’ statistics. Deposit statistics represent all items in the archive, irrespective of full text or open access status.

The deposits (archive) bar graph display groups deposits data by month, based on the month that the item first entered the live archive. The red line shows the cumulative average (mean) within any selected time period. The information you see will only begin from the first item deposited which matches any filter criteria set. Hovering the mouse pointer over each of the elements will display the underlying figures and a complete set of the data can be exported (see exporting data).

Downloads

‘Downloads’ represents the number of times that documents attached to items have been downloaded from White Rose Research Online. For downloads to be included in the statistics, items must currently be in the live archive; once records have been ‘retired’ or removed from the repository, previous downloads of documents attached to those items will no longer contribute to download statistics. If an output is made up of two or more documents, for example where text and images presented in separate files, downloads of each individual document will be registered as a download. Downloads from known ‘bots’ are not included in the statistics but it cannot be guaranteed that all automated downloads are detected. White Rose Repository download statistics are not COUNTER-compliant. If results are not limited by time, all download statistics represent all downloads since 5th August 2007 when White Rose Research Online began recording download data.

In the Activity Overview display, the downloads figure gives the total number of downloads recorded for documents attached to items which meet any filter criteria or time limitations set. If results have been limited by time then only downloads which occurred during the selected time period are shown.

The downloads bar graph display groups download data by month, based on the month in which the download took place. The red line shows the cumulative average (mean) within any selected time period selected. The information you see will only begin from the first item download which matches any filter criteria set. Hovering the mouse pointer over each of the elements will display the underlying figures and a complete set of the data can be exported (see exporting data).

Hits

‘Hits’ represents the number of times the item summary page has been visited.

File formats

‘File formats’ represents the number of documents attached to items meeting any filter or date criteria set, grouped by the type of file (for example, text, image, or video). Formats are listed in order from most to least frequently occurring, and the number to the right of each format represents the number of documents of that type. Formats are ordered by most to least common. File format is usually derived from the file extension but can also be manually set by depositing users and repository administrators. If results are limited by date then statistics will only include documents attached to items which first entered the live archive during the specified time period. The options given below the list can be used to increase the number of results displayed, and a complete set of the data can also be exported (see exporting data).

Full text

‘Full text’ represents the percentage of items, matching any filter or time criteria set, which have at least one document attached. Documents do not have to be open access to contribute to the full text statistic.

Items

‘Items’ are records (i.e. EPrints) that are currently available in the White Rose Research Online live archive. Records which are still under review or which have been ‘retired’ from the archive are not included as items for the purposes of repository statistics. A number of documents might be associated with an item, but this will still be represented as a single item in the repository statistics.

In the ‘Activity overview’ display, the number of items represents items within any filters and date limits applied. If no filters or date limits are applied them the number of items will include all items currently available in the live archive. If a date limit is applied, the number of items will only include those which were first added to the live archive during the selected time period.

Most Downloaded Items

‘Most downloaded items’ represents the number of downloads recorded for items meeting any filter or date criteria set, grouped by item. Items are listed in order from those with the highest number of downloads to those with the lowest, and the number to the right of each item title represents the number of downloads recorded for that item. If results are limited by date then only downloads which took place within the selected date range will be represented. The options given below the list can be used to increase the number of results displayed, and a complete set of the data can also be exported (see exporting data). Clicking on the title for each item will take you to the repository record for that item.

Open access

‘Open access’ represents the percentage of items, matching any filter or time criteria set, which have at least one document attached which is currently open access in the repository. Documents which are currently under embargo will not be included in this statistic.

Top authors (downloads)

‘Top authors (downloads)’ represents the number of downloads recorded for items meeting any filter or date criteria set, grouped by authors listed on the associated item records. Authors are listed in order from those with the highest number of downloads to those with the lowest, and the number to the right of each author’s name represents the number of downloads recorded. If results are limited by date then only downloads which took place within the selected date range will be represented. The options given below the list can be used to increase the number of results displayed, and a complete set of the data can also be exported (see exporting data).

Top referrers

‘Top referrers’ represents the number of downloads recorded for items meeting any filter or date criteria set, grouped by the webpage from which the download was requested. Referrers are listed in order from the most to least commonly occurring. The number to the right of each author’s name represents the number of downloads recorded. If results are limited by date then only downloads which took place within the selected date range will be represented. The options given below the list can be used to increase the number of results displayed, and a complete set of the data can also be exported (see exporting data).

Top schools

‘Top referrers’ represents the number of downloads recorded for items meeting any filter or date criteria set, grouped by the organisational unit affiliations of White Rose authors associated with the item. Schools are listed in order highest to lowest number of downloads. The organisational units which are listed for each institution will depend on the organisational structure of each institution, but will typically include faculties, departments, and research centres. The number to the right of each unit’s name represents the number of downloads recorded. If results are limited by date then only downloads which took place within the selected date range will be represented. Where items are associated with authors from more than one department or faculty, downloads will be included in the statistics for both departments or both faculties. If there are two authors from the same department or faculty associated with an item, downloads will only be counted once in the statists for that department or faculty. The options given below the list can be used to increase the number of results displayed, and a complete set of the data can also be exported (see exporting data).

Type of resources

‘Type of resource’ represents the total number of items meeting any filter or date criteria set, grouped by the type of research output that the item refers to (for example journal article, proceeding paper or chapter. Type of resource is selected by the depositing user on deposit, based on a controlled list. The pie chart view shows each item type as a percentage of the total number of items meeting any filter or date criteria set. Hovering the mouse pointer over each of the elements will display the underlying figures and a complete set of the data can be exported (see exporting data).

Exporting data

For most tables (everything except the activity overview) WRRO statistics gives you the option to export the data in either XML, JSON, or CSV format.

Click on the arrow icon at the top right of the box containing the table you want to download. In the dropdown menu that appears you can choose the format for your export then click on the Export button to get your data.

Sharing and bookmarking your report

White Rose Research Online statistics creates an individual URL for each report you create. This means that your report can be added to your bookmarks or shared as a link and the link will return you to an up-to-date version of the same report.