Infrastructure and standards

Ensure structured and automated capture of core metadata for data publications

Research organisations should ensure that core metadata for data publications are recorded in structured fields within local systems and, wherever possible, populated automatically from authoritative registers and persistent identifiers.

As a minimum, this should include:

• the persistent identifier of the data publication (e.g. DOI)
• the researcher’s ORCID
• organisational identifiers (e.g. ROR)
• a link to related publications (e.g. DOI)

Why?

When metadata are entered manually or as free text only, the risk of inconsistency and error increases. Using structured fields combined with automated population from controlled registries reduces the administrative burden on researchers and improves opportunities for automated monitoring, interoperability, and traceability across systems.

Manage and assure the quality of identifiers and basic metadata describing the organisation

Identifiers (PIDs) and accompanying metadata describing the research organisation should be managed and quality-assured in relevant external infrastructures and services. These include organisational identifiers (e.g. ROR), enclosing official institutional names and other metadata used for expressing institutional affiliation. The use of organisational identifiers should be enabled in local infrastructures and systems, and they should be a preferred method of sharing metadata with external services.

Why?

Missing or inconsistent organisational metadata in external services impairs the ability to track data publications, link them to the correct institution and reuse information in national and international metadata flows. If organisational PIDs are used and the organisation's core metadata is properly managed, it will reduce the need for manual input by researchers, as well as improve traceability and data quality throughout the research information chain.