MODERATOR:
Tony Alves
Cofounder
Scholarly Publishing Solutions
SPEAKERS:
Amanda French
ROR Technical Community Manager
Crossref
Anna Wetterberg
RTI Press
Annie Gering
Publications Project Manager
Dragonfly Editorial
Ben Mudrak
Senior Product Manager
ChemRxiv
REPORTER:
Renae Keep
SPIE
Metadata is an invisible infrastructure that underpins discoverability, analytics, and research integrity across the global research ecosystem.1 Digital object identifiers (DOIs) are essential metadata for ensuring the discoverability, accessibility, and citation of scholarly content.
Crossref and DataCite are two prominent organizations that manage DOIs. While both serve similar purposes, they differ in their focus, coverage, and functionality: Crossref emphasizes scholarly publications, while DataCite specializes in datasets.
This CSE session, moderated by Tony Alves (Scholarly Publishing Solutions), emphasized the importance of Crossref DOI metadata. Crossref DOI metadata enables downstream systems to reliably surface content, track funding and institutional participation, and transmit vital trust signals. While journals typically register Crossref DOIs for all article content, the process can become routine—with concomitant slips in quality. This CSE session provided helpful insights for improving Crossref DOI metadata.
Amanda French, ROR Technical Community Manager for Crossref, noted that although the presence of a DOI alone says little about the quality or integrity of research, specific metadata elements—such as contributor identifiers, funder information, affiliations, versioning, and policy metadata—directly affect how research is evaluated, reused, and trusted by external systems.
Crossref metadata is open, machine-readable, and available via application programming interfaces. Tools such as the Crossref Participation Reports2 allow journals to assess metadata completeness and identify gaps or compliance issues, which are often tied to platform or XML workflow limitations. Each report shows the percentage of Crossref metadata records that include key elements.
There is always room for improvement. Anna Wetterberg (RTI Press), in partnership with Annie Gering (Dragonfly Editorial), provided a case study to illustrate treatment of Crossref DOI metadata as a strategic, organization-level asset that supports mission-aligned goals for open science, transparency, and long-term discoverability. They recommended using the Crossref Participation Reports2 and focusing on one element at a time.
Ben Mudrak, Senior Product Manager for ChemRxiv, noted that preprint metadata requires careful treatment of versions, including whether updates use component IDs or separate DOIs. There is a growing need for consistent structures and two-way metadata linking preprints, published articles, corrections, and retractions.
Overall, the session framed metadata excellence as both a responsibility and an opportunity: journals that invest in better Crossref DOI metadata strengthen their visibility, integrity signals, and alignment with the broader open scholarly ecosystem.
References and Links
- OCLC. The invisible infrastructure: why metadata is now a C-level strategic asset. Research Information. [published April 9, 2026]. [accessed June 18, 2026]. https://www.researchinformation.info/viewpoint/metadata-infrastructure-he-libraries/
- https://www.crossref.org/documentation/reports/participation-reports/