Funding is one of the key enablers of the research lifecycle, but has been one of the hardest parts of the scholarly record to identify, describe and connect. This is slowly changing as we have recently reached a very exciting milestone for Crossref’s Grant Linking System (GLS). What makes it remarkable is not only the numbers reached, but where the data comes from. Research funders, who joined Crossref as members, have actively contributed more than 200,000 grants to the Research Nexus (Figure 1).
We are pleased to announce the re-launch of the Crossref Service Providers Program. From today, we are accepting applications from organisations providing tools for metadata registration to Crossref members. Participation in this program is free and the application involves an accreditation process to determine eligibility and the appropriate participation tier.
As a membership organisation, Crossref supports its members to provide rich and complete metadata which facilitates integrity judgements, increases discoverability, linking among scholarly objects and activities, and improves transparency. Service providers are key collaborators in this work because they enable our members to adopt better metadata practices.
Three years ago, we asked our members what they needed from Crossref’s metadata. We received confirmation that we were going in the right direction, as well as some new ideas to explore. This helped set the course for our metadata development work since then, and continues to guide where we’re headed next.
For many years, PubPub has made it possible for communities to assign DOIs to a range of outputs and component Pubs. Knowledge Futures and Crossref are building together to test the limits of what’s possible for high-volume, high-granularity DOI management. That means fast prototypes, real building, and learning through the process.
Crossref Ambassadors act as local points of contact, meeting editors, librarians, researchers, and institutions to help them navigate Crossref services and understand how strong metadata supports visibility, integrity, and trust in research. They explain how to participate in our rich network of connections between works, people, and institutions, in ways that make sense in their own contexts. And last year, being our 25th anniversary, Ambassadors also massively contributed to our celebrations!
In 2025, the Crossref Ambassador Programme continued to grow globally with 51 volunteers from 41 countries. We were delighted to welcome five new Ambassadors: Ahmet Anıl Müngen (Turkey), Mokheseng Richard Buti (South Africa), Richard Risasi (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Pedro López Casique (Mexico), and Nadia Boutaleb (Morocco).
During the year, Ambassadors promoted the value of robust metadata through webinars, including Metadata Health Check sessions in Arabic, Bahasa, French and Turkish, alongside conference participation and institutional visits across their regions. While others were more active in the Crossref Community Forum, bringing questions from their communities and contributing to discussions that helped others learn and problem-solve together.
ABEC Conference 2025 in Brazil and the 5th Latin American Scientific Journal Editors and Researchers Congress in Colombia, with Crossref Ambassadors engaging editors and researchers.
Highlights
We endeavour to stay in touch with our communities locally, and Ambassadors play a critical role in these efforts. Ambassadors joined the first Metadata Sprint in Spain, supported engagement at the Beijing International Book Fair, and co-organised local Crossref events, such as Crossref Quito and Crossref Accra. Others played active roles in the Global Equitable Membership (GEM) program, engaging communities in Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Ghana, and Senegal.
Ambassadors connecting with the scholarly community at the Beijing International Book Fair (China)(upper left), Crossref Quito (Ecuador)(upper right), and Crossref Accra (Ghana).
Dr. Lasith Gunawardena leading a GEM programme workshop at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Some Ambassadors delivered metadata health check sessions in French, Turkish, Bahasa, and Spanish. Several institutions supported by Ambassadors went on to become new Crossref members, while others began conversations about improving their metadata completeness.
Crossref Ambassador Ahmet Anıl Müngen hosting a Metadata Health Check webinar in Turkish.
Ambassadors contribute their understanding of the industry and local contexts, and their communities’ feedback into Crossref, too. Nicolás MejĂa Torres, Juan Felipe Vargas, Ahmed Moustafa, Sandra Gisela MartĂn and Guo Xiaofeng have recently joined our new Metadata Advisory Group, where they support us to craft our metadata for the future in tune with the community’s needs, and in particular, helping us shape how we reflect global scholarship through multilingual metadata.
To mark Crossref’s 25th anniversary, a celebratory series of Ambassador-led satellite events was hosted to coincide with the Annual Meeting. These events, held in Nairobi (Kenya), Bogotá (Colombia), and Medan (Indonesia), featured workshops, presentations, and a watch party, allowing attendees to synchronously join the main live annual meeting program.
Crossref satellite events bringing local communities together in Bogotá (top), Medan (center), and Nairobi (bottom).
Many of our Ambassadors routinely organise virtual meetings and webinars. Recognising the growing need for effective online engagement, we partnered with the Centre for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement (CSCCE) to deliver a targeted training program focused on the advanced skills of convening and facilitating highly engaging and interactive online events. This intensive training was designed to provide our Ambassadors with practical techniques and resources for maximising participant involvement, fostering dynamic discussions, and ensuring that their online gatherings are both productive and stimulating. Equipping Ambassadors in this way ultimately strengthens the overall effectiveness of their outreach and community-building efforts.
Challenges & lessons learned
Alongside successes in their roles as Crossref Ambassadors, many balanced the role alongside demanding professional responsibilities, while others encountered language gaps or uneven awareness of Crossref across their regions. In some contexts, limited institutional readiness or infrastructure meant that engagement required more foundational work and patience.
These experiences offered valuable lessons, including the importance of demonstrations, translated reference and training materials, and more regionally tailored support.
The impact of the programme was also reflected through Ambassador feedback. In the annual survey, most reported feeling that their work had significantly increased their community’s capacity to understand and use Crossref services. Similarly, Ambassadors reported that their role helped Crossref reach new people and institutions that were previously unaware of Crossref.
Survey results showing how Ambassadors increased community capacity around Crossref services and helped reach new institutions (40 of 51 responses).
In 2025, Ambassadors delivered 43 activities, including training sessions, webinars, events, translations, and feedback on tools and services both individually and collaboratively, reaching more than 1,200 people worldwide.
In 2026, the priority for the program includes strengthening regional and multilingual outreach, increasing visibility of the Ambassador role, expanding access to up-to-date resources and tools, and creating more opportunities to connect with Crossref staff.
