Crossref deposit XML

The XML schema family maintained by Crossref that publishers and content-registration members use to submit metadata when minting Crossref DOIs, with distinct sub-schemas for journals, books, conference proceedings, preprints, peer reviews, grants, and standards.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 22 Aug 2026

Current schema version

Crossref’s recommended metadata deposit schema is version 5.4.0, with the platform accepting deposits across a backward-compatible range — schema 4.3.0 through 5.4.0 — rather than requiring every depositor to be on the latest release immediately. A breaking change to affiliations metadata was introduced at version 5.3.1, and standards deposits specifically require schema 4.3.6 or later — a reminder that “backward compatible” doesn’t mean every content type is unaffected by every version bump; check the schema-versions changelog for a specific content type before assuming an older schema still covers a wanted metadata element.

What a deposit typically includes

Beyond bibliographic basics, Crossref encourages depositing ORCID iDs for contributors, ROR IDs for affiliations, CRediT contributor roles, full structured reference lists, a Crossmark update-tracking deposit, and funder information linked to Crossref’s own Funder Registry — none required to register a DOI, but each materially improving what downstream services, including the OpenAIRE Graph, can do with the record.

How members deposit

Depositing XML reaches Crossref through several routes: direct HTTPS POST to Crossref’s deposit endpoint, an automated pipeline built on a member’s publishing platform (many journal-management systems, including OJS, generate and submit deposit XML automatically on publication), or Crossref’s own web deposit form for occasional depositors. The schema itself is not tied to any one submission route — it is the metadata content and structure of the file that must be valid, not the transport used.

References

Crossref, “Metadata deposit schema” and “Schema versions” documentation (crossref.org/documentation/schema-library/).

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Crossref deposit XML"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/crossref-deposit-xml" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/crossref-deposit-xml",
  "name": "Crossref deposit XML",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/crossref-deposit-xml",
  "description": "The XML schema family maintained by Crossref that publishers and content-registration members use to submit metadata when minting Crossref DOIs, with distinct sub-schemas for journals, books, conference proceedings, preprints, peer reviews, grants, and standards.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-info-systems#set",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/crossref-deposit-xml",
  "sameAs": [
    "Crossref XML schema",
    "Crossref content registration XML"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "publisher": {
    "@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
  },
  "author": {
    "@id": "https://casrai.org/#editorial-team"
  },
  "datePublished": "2026-05-21T02:17:14",
  "dateModified": "2026-08-22T19:45:28",
  "inLanguage": "en-GB",
  "isAccessibleForFree": true
}

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