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 whatβs possible for high-volume, high-granularity DOI management. That means fast prototypes, real building, and learning through the process.
Last September, we announced weβd be deprecating co-access and encouraging its ~100 users to use our multiple resolution service. We announced that no new DOIs will be placed in co-access from 1st of July 2026 and that the ensuing 6 months should be spent cleaning up records already in co-access and moving them over to multiple resolution.Β
Weβre here with a reminder: co-access is being deprecated…and with an update: To help with the transition to multiple resolution, we offer a tool that simplifies the process and documentation about how to set up multiple resolution.Β
We’ve recently reached an important milestone for the research nexus: the works in our metadata corpus are now connected with over 2 billion citation links! This is a great opportunity to share a dedicated dataset and discuss why these are important for science.
Why Metadata Matters for Research Integrity and How to Contribute
Research integrity depends on accurate, complete, and connected metadata. This joint guide from Crossref and DataCite sets out the metadata elements most critical for assessing research integrity—and how all stakeholders can contribute to and benefit from a richer, more trustworthy scholarly record.
Strategists
Understand why metadata is infrastructure for research integrity.
Why completeness, accuracy, and openness across the scholarly record matters for systemic trust in research.
Decision-makers
Know which metadata elements to require, check, and act on.
A practical framework for publishers, funders, and institutions making metadata policy decisions.
Practitioners
Learn how to deposit, enrich, and query research integrity metadata.
Step-by-step guidance using Crossref and DataCite services and open APIs.
What this guide covers
This guide walks through the key metadata elements that enable research integrity assessment, and explains how to contribute them via Crossref and DataCite:
Contributors and their roles β identifying who did what
Affiliations β linking researchers to institutions
Dates β submission, acceptance, publication, and update dates
Funder, funding, and grant information β transparency on who paid for the research
Versioning β tracking how a work has changed over time
Retractions, corrections, and updates β keeping the record accurate
Abstracts and descriptions β what the work is actually about
Clinical trials β registration and reporting
References β connecting works to what they cite
Peer reviews β when and how work was reviewed
Publisher and steward β accountability for the record
Record and resource types β what kind of object is this?
Relationships and related identifiers β linking datasets, preprints, articles, and more
Rights, licences, and access β how the work can be used
The guide also sets out a call to action for each stakeholder group: how to enrich your records, query existing metadata via APIs, and report inconsistencies.
Amdekar, M., Chen, X., Cousijn, H., El-Gebali, S., Feeney, P., Hendricks, G., & Stathis, K. (2026, April). Why metadata matters for research integrity and how to contribute. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19695957
CC BY 4.0
Page maintainer: Helena Cousijn Last updated: 2026-April-01