Integration of western Balkan countries into the European system of digital data archives in social sciences: the case of Serbia

Science has a very important role in the development of any society. A special dimension of social phenomena has been analyzed by social sciences like anthropology, economics, education, communication studies, sociology etc. Despite that this type of research should provide solid basis for solving many social problems, the researchers in this area in the Western Balkans are facing many problems. The main limitation is the lack of funding for quality research, and the consequences are reflected in the small number of scientific papers published in internationally recognized journals and studies without connection to real problems. Regarding the fact that process of collecting primary data is most expensive and time consuming phase in the research process, establishment of national digital data archives for research data in social sciences and their integration into the standardized system for data sharing on the international level is considered as cost savings solution. Digital data archive (DDA) is technique that would deal with issues of preservation and archiving primary research data. In this paper we analyze the concept of DDA and its significance for researchers in social sciences, give an overview of EU effort in this field, reflected through the work of Council of European Social Science Data Archives (CESSDA), organization that gathers social data archives across Europe. In addition, we analyze the current practice of data archiving in Western Balkan countries and possibilities to build the prototype of DDA in Serbia according to the European standards.