RISS Research Information Sharing Service KERIS

Overview

RISS (Research Information Sharing Service) is South Korea's largest academic information-sharing platform, operated by the Korea Education and Research Information Service (KERIS), a public institution under the Ministry of Education. The service aggregates and provides access to academic resources produced, held, and subscribed to by universities and research institutions across South Korea, making them available to researchers, students, and the general public.

History and Founding

RISS was launched in 1998 by KERIS, which was itself established in 1999 as a governmental organization to advance information and communications technology (ICT) in education and research. KERIS began operating RISS International, a fee-based service for overseas libraries, in 2006.

Collections and Holdings

RISS provides one of the most comprehensive academic databases in Korea. As of 2018, the platform's union catalog contained over 9 million records from more than 699 academic libraries and institutions, including more than 5.4 million domestic journal articles (the majority in full text), over 1.9 million domestic dissertations, and more than 72,000 foreign dissertations on Korea or by Korean scholars. The platform also offers interlibrary loan services, a union catalog, and access to a consortium of international databases through KERIS partnerships.

Access and Usage

RISS is accessible to the public at riss.kr. Bibliographic information is available in open access, while full-text availability varies by resource and user affiliation. University-affiliated users may access expanded full-text content through their institutional subscriptions. RISS International (intl.riss.kr) extends these services to overseas institutions on a subscription basis. Social login is supported via Naver, Facebook, and Google accounts.

Significance for Research

As the principal academic information utility in Korea, RISS plays a central role in democratizing access to scholarly output. Its scope spans all major academic disciplines and includes content from doctoral and master's programs at over 229 Korean universities, making it an essential resource for Korean studies scholars worldwide.