A growing number of the organizations we work with don’t publish content themselves, but instead work with and provide publishing services for groups of smaller organizations who do want to register content and fit specific criteria. If you are one of these entities, you might be considering how you can also offer Crossref services to the organizations you work with.
Sponsors work directly with us in order to provide administrative, billing, technical and if applicable, language support to the members they work with. They have agreements with Crossref and with each member they represent, and they submit an annual report to Crossref detailing their outreach and training activities. Sponsors are not full voting members themselves, but the organizations that work with them are members and may vote in our elections. In turn, we’re keen to support our Sponsors too, by running LIVE events and other outreach activities with them and listening to their feedback on what they need from us. You can find a list of our current Sponsors on this page.
If you’re interested, you can read on to find out what functions/criteria we’d expect a Sponsor to fulfil. Because our Sponsors are such a key contact with our members, we need to make sure that your organization will be able to meet the criteria to be a Sponsor. If you need more information or have questions about what’s involved get in touch and we can discuss this with you.
A Sponsor will:
- Facilitate content registration with Crossref on behalf of the members they work with
- Handle Crossref billing on behalf of these members
- Pay one annual fee which covers all the members they work with
- Provide administrative, technical and if applicable, local language support.
Sponsors are key partners in making Crossref membership benefits available to all; we, therefore, ask them to fulfill certain criteria so that they can represent Crossref accurately and successfully in the community.
About you as a Sponsor:
- You are a recognized organization in good standing with the scholarly community with a clear online presence describing your services. Your services are a good fit with Crossref services.
- You exhibit a clear knowledge of Crossref and our services, and of what is achieved by registering content with Crossref.
- You work with a particular segment or region of the research community who wouldn’t otherwise be able to work with Crossref due to barriers such as:
- Lack of resources either technically, financially, or operationally (or all)
- Need for support in languages other than English
- You have the technical know-how and resources to facilitate Content Registration with Crossref on behalf of members and you understand the importance of complete and accurate metadata, not solely registering a DOI.
- You are aware of the criteria that need to be met on an ongoing basis to participate in optional Crossref services e.g. Similarity Check, Cited-by. You understand that services such as these can only be offered to the Crossref members you work with, and is based on their eligibility for these services.
- You are aware that Crossref membership is not open to organizations of individuals who are sanctioned by OFAC (USA).
- You have a financial model/funding and are capable of covering the membership fees for the members you represent and the content registration fees they incur. You can handle billing on behalf of members and will pay invoices within agreed payment terms.
- You can demonstrate the above in a plan that you would share with us and update annually.
Your role as a Sponsor:
- You work with organizations to enable them to be members of Crossref. This includes:
- Managing the membership set-up and joining process in collaboration with the members and our staff.
- Ensuring that organizations are clear about what they are agreeing to when becoming a Crossref member and joining Crossref through you as their Sponsor.
- Ensuring relevant contracts are completed by the member, that accurate information about members is sent to Crossref and kept up-to-date,
- Sharing and explaining member-specific communications and changes, and helping members adapt to new processes or obligations related to Crossref services.
- You perform checks to make sure the members you are working with are not prohibited from joining Crossref due to OFAC sanctions.
- You provide support for and promotion of Crossref activities and services. This includes being the first line of technical support for the members you work with, potentially providing training.
- You communicate with our staff in a timely manner.
- You positively contribute to the reputation of Crossref and its inclusive mission, adhering to the code of conduct and best practice guidelines that protect and enhance other members of the Crossref community collectively.
If you are interested in becoming a Sponsor, please apply or contact our membership specialist. We’ll also ask you to complete the specific Sponsor application form so that we can find out more about your capacity to act as a sponsor.
If you are interested in joining Crossref through a Sponsor,find out more here.
For more information please contact our membership specialist.
