To date, we have collected around 740 million events from 12 different source since we launched our Event Data service service in 2017. Each event is an online mention of the research associated with a DOI, either via the DOI directly or using the associated URL. However, we know that there is much more out there. Because of this, we would like to explore where we could expand.
We invite proposals to conduct a gap analysis for Event Data sources, looking at what we currently collect and seeing what more could be added.
We are delighted to announce the formation of a new Advisory Group to support us in improving preprint metadata. Preprints have grown in popularity over the last few years, with increasing focus brought by the need to rapidly disseminate knowledge in the midst of a global pandemic. We have supported metadata deposits for preprints under the content type ‘posted content’ since 2016, and members currently register a total of around 17,000 new preprints metadata records each month.
It is time to put the ‘R’ back into R&D.
The Crossref R&D team was originally created to focus on the kinds of research projects that have allowed Crossref to make transformational technology changes, launch innovative new services, and engage with entirely new constituencies. Some Illustrious projects that had their origins in the R&D group include:
DOI Content Negotiation Similarity Check (originally CrossCheck) ORCID (originally Author DOIs) Crossmark The Open Funder Registry The Crossref REST API Linked Clinical Trials Event Data Grant registration ROR And for each project that has graduated, there have been several that have not.
This announcement has been in the works for some time, but everything seems to take longer when there is a pandemic going on, including finding time and headspace to plan out our strategy for the next few years.
Over the last year or so we have had our heads down addressing how to scale our 20-yr-old system and operation – and adapting to new ways of working. But we’ve also spent time talking to people, forging alliances, looking ahead, and making plans.
The Funder Registry and associated funding metadata allows everyone to have transparency into research funding and its outcomes. It’s an open and unique registry of persistent identifiers for grant-giving organizations around the world.
It is good practice for authors to acknowledge support for and contributions to their research in their published articles. This support may be financial, such as a grant or salary award; or practical, such as the use or loan of specialist facilities and equipment. They do this by listing the funding agency and the grant number somewhere in their article - usually the first or last page, or in the acknowledgments or footnotes section. Members contribute by depositing the funding acknowledgements from their publications as part of their standard metadata, together with the unique funder IDs listed in our Funder Registry. The deposit should include funder names, funder IDs, and associated grant numbers.
This means that anyone can make connections, for example, to identify which funders invest in certain fields of research. Funding data is also used by funders to track the publications that result from their grants.
The Crossref Funder Registry is an open registry of grant-giving organization names and identifiers, which you use to find funder IDs and include them as part of your metadata deposits. It is a freely-downloadable RDF file. It is CC0-licensed and available to integrate with your own systems. Funder names from acknowledgements should be matched with the corresponding unique funder ID from the Funder Registry.
You can search funding metadata manually using our funding data search, or programmatically via our REST API. This data not only clarifies the scholarly record, but makes life easier for researchers who may need to comply with requirements to make their published results publicly available.
Watch the introductory Funder Registry animation in your language:
There are many benefits of clear, transparent, and measurable information on who funded research, and where it has been published. The Funder Registry facilitates accurate funding metadata, which in turn enables multiple parties to better understand the research funding landscape:
Readers and researchers can read and assess literature in the context of knowing who funded it;
Research institutions can monitor the published outputs of their researchers;
Publishers can track who is funding their authors, and check if they’re meeting funding mandates;
Service providers can offer integrated time-saving features to their users; and
Funders can easily track the reach and return of the work they have supported.
The Funder Registry is donated by Elsevier, and is updated around every 4-6 weeks with new and updated funders. Existing entries are also reviewed to make sure that they are accurate and up-to-date. We can then make it openly available through our funding data search and our API. If you spot anything that doesn’t look right, please let us know. You can also download a .csv file of the Funder Registry.
Using the Funder Registry, members can find the unique IDs for these funders, standardize this metadata and send it to us.
Obligations and fees for the Funder Registry
The Funder Registry is open to everyone. There are no member fees for depositing funding data. Funder Registry search and our REST API are freely available.
Members must include the Funder ID from the Registry for each funder if it is present in the Registry. If a funder is not in the Registry and does not have an ID, include the name of the funder.
How to participate in the Funder Registry
To access the Funder Registry, you do not need to be a member, but you need to be a member to include funder iDs in your Crossref metadata. Anyone who’s interested can simply enter an organization’s name into the Funder Registry search to view content connected to funding sources. The metadata in the Funder Registry is also openly available via our REST API, and as a downloadable RDF file. Learn more about accessing the Funder Registry.
Depositing metadata (members): collect funder names and grant numbers from your authors through your manuscript tracking system (or extract them from acknowledgements sections) and match them with the corresponding Funder IDs from the Registry. Once this is done, it’s easy to add these three additional pieces of metadata - funder name, funder id, and grant number - as additional metadata in the regular Crossref content registration service. Learn more about how to collect and register funding data.
Whenever you register content with us, make sure you include funder names and grant numbers in the submission:
If you are using a content registration helper tool - Crossref XML plugin for OJS or, the web deposit form - simply enter funder names and grant numbers in the relevant fields. For OJS, you must be running at least OJS 3.1.2 and have the Crossref funding plugin enabled.
If you’re depositing XML with Crossref, include your funding data in your XML.
Retrieving metadata: you can view the content that has cited a particular funding source by entering the organization’s name into the Funder Registry search. If you prefer a machine-readable query, use our REST API. If you have questions about how your organization appears in the registry then please get in touch. Learn more about the funder registry and our other services on our funder community page.
