This review focuses on identifying how the literature studies the existing problems in the Resource Representation (RR) of Institutional Repositories (IR). RR is a process of recording in a persistent manner a set of data (metadata) as a synthesis and replacement of the "real" object, to allow its identification, retrieval and dissemination. RR is defined by certain elements: resources, metadata schema, storage and cataloging. On the other hand, IRs are based on functional processes according to the material that is deposited and the ISO 14.721 standard: ingest, storage, cataloging,indexing, search engine and browsing. The results of this review show that identifying the problems found in these elements and functional processes is not a subject of study for the researchers, which leads to a vacant area in this field, and in this way to solve some of the problems present in the RI, from the point of view of functional elements and processes.