One of our guiding principles is to uphold broad and fair representation from our members, large and small, and from all around the world.
Advisory and working groups help us to stay focused and inclusive. We also have more formal committees that have a role specified in the by-laws or that are set up by the board with a particular remit.
‘Advisory groups’ and ‘working groups’ are a good way for people to get involved in the Crossref community and to support and improve our scholarly infrastructure services. They are slightly different as described below but both are open to non-members and members alike. We’ve also listed a few ‘interest groups’ and these are the least formal, like community calls, where participants can be involved ad hoc and participate sporadically.
Advisory groups
We have advisory groups for established services or ongoing themes to get input and advice from our members and other stakeholders. Each advisory group has a statement of purpose and should represent our broad membership. Each group has a chair and staff facilitator who together set agendas, organize calls, and ensure that the group fulfills its purpose. Each group has an email list and meets regularly via conference call, although the frequency varies by group. These groups tend to be permanent and long-term.
Working groups
Working groups are more short-term than advisory groups and are set up for a specific task or ad-hoc purpose. They are usually set up to discuss and scope a specific idea, or oversee prototypes and pilots that could develop into new features. Working groups can also be set up jointly with other organizations to enable us to collaborate on projects.
Working groups don’t always have a Chair but they bring stakeholders together. A working group either disbands when finished its work or can become an advisory group if and when the board approves the idea or prototype as a production service, feature, or content type.
Interest groups
Interest groups are more like community discussion forums with fairly low commitment needed from participants, where a large group of people meet to discuss a range of issues and can bring any topic under the theme to Crossref. They are the least formal of all our groups and vary in call frequency and scope.
