Crossref at 20 years: what do the community need?

Abstract

Purpose The 20th anniversary of Crossref is a good point to evaluate where Crossref stands with the communities it supports so that it can be in a position to serve their needs in the future. Methods This evaluation took the form of a survey and a series of interviews run by Shift Learning in mid-2019. Results Results are presented in the form of a report authored by Shift Learning which is discussed in this paper. Conclusion Overall, Crossref is appreciated and provides value for the scholarly community. However, it needs to make sure that it continues to serve key stakeholders, ensure that core systems work smoothly for all members and that they balance the needs of its different sizes of members and those who subscribe to or use the Crossref metadata. The report from Shift Learning makes specific recommendations regarding pricing, products and services and, communications which Crossref should consider to continue to address the needs of its diverse stakeholders

Keywords

• crossref
• publishing
• digital object identifier
• metadata
• community