crossref
nounPronunciation: /ˈkrɒsrɛf/
A not-for-profit membership organization that provides Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registration services and citation linking infrastructure for scholarly publications.
Full Definition
Crossref is the official DOI registration agency for scholarly and professional publications, enabling publishers to register DOIs for their content and create citation links between publications. The organization maintains a comprehensive database of scholarly metadata and provides services including reference linking, similarity checking, and content registration. Publishers use Crossref to ensure their articles are discoverable and properly cited in the academic ecosystem. The system facilitates automated citation tracking and helps maintain the integrity of scholarly citation networks.
Plain English
An organization that gives unique identification numbers to research articles and helps connect citations between different papers so readers can easily find referenced sources.
In Editorial Context
The primary service used by journal editors and publishers to register DOIs for published articles and ensure proper citation linking in reference lists.
Etymology & History
Founded in 2000 by a consortium of publishers to address the problem of broken citation links in digital scholarly publishing.
Originally focused solely on reference linking but has expanded to include various metadata and content services for publishers.
Usage
"All accepted manuscripts must be registered with Crossref before publication to ensure proper DOI assignment and citation linking."
Usage note: Often written with capital C, as it is a proper noun referring to the specific organization.
Context: scholarly publishing, editorial workflow, citation management
Region: international
Also known as
Don't confuse with
Sometimes confused with the general concept of cross-referencing, but Crossref specifically refers to the organization and its services.