Abstract
With the rise of open science paradigms and funder mandates, institutional and disciplinary research data repositories (RDRs) have become pivotal infrastructure in modern higher education. However, voluntary faculty deposit rates remain inconsistent across academic disciplines. This study investigates the factors influencing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) faculty adoption of research data repositories by applying an Extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Integrating constructs such as Perceived Risk, Institutional Mandates, Subjective Norms, and Data Management Self-Efficacy into the classical TAM framework, we surveyed 342 STEM faculty members across three doctoral-granting research universities. Structural Equation Modeling via Partial Least Squares (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the conceptual model and proposed hypotheses. The empirical results reveal that Perceived Usefulness and Data Management Self-Efficacy are the primary direct drivers of behavioral intention to deposit data in RDRs. While Perceived Ease of Use exerted a significant indirect effect through Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Risk regarding intellectual property loss and data misuse served as a critical deterrent. Furthermore, Institutional Mandates significantly amplified subjective norms, indirectly driving adoption intent. These findings suggest that academic libraries must look beyond technical repository deployment to provide tailored data curation services, clear risk-mitigation policies, and targeted instructional outreach to foster a sustained culture of data sharing among STEM researchers.
