DataCite Metadata Schema

A practical overview of the metadata properties used to register DataCite DOIs, generate citations and connect research outputs.

The DataCite Metadata Schema provides a structured, cross-disciplinary description of datasets, software, publications, workflows, instruments and other research resources.

It supports persistent identification, citation, discovery and the creation of machine-readable relationships between research outputs, people, organisations and projects.

Resource information

Purpose and scope

The DataCite Metadata Schema defines the properties and controlled values used to identify a research resource, register its DOI, generate a citation and describe its relationships with other research outputs.

The schema is intentionally cross-disciplinary. It provides a common description that can be exchanged between repositories, discovery services, citation indexes and research information systems.

DataCite metadata does not attempt to record every scientific, methodological or technical characteristic of a resource. Detailed disciplinary metadata should be maintained in the repository record, related documentation or a domain-specific metadata profile.

What DataCite metadata supports

DataCite Metadata Schema 4.7

Version 4.7 continues the DataCite 4.x metadata model and introduces new controlled values and additional detail for describing relationships.

Levels of obligation

DataCite assigns one of three obligation levels to each major metadata property.

Mandatory DataCite properties

Six major properties form the mandatory core of a DataCite metadata record.

Recommended and optional properties

Creators, contributors and affiliations

DataCite distinguishes primary creators from other contributors. This separation supports reliable attribution and machine-readable identification of different roles.

Persistent identifiers used with DataCite metadata

Connecting research outputs

The RelatedIdentifier property records a persistent identifier for another resource and specifies the nature of the relationship through a controlled relation type.

RelatedIdentifier and RelatedItem

Resource type

ResourceType combines a controlled general category with an optional specific description supplied by the repository or research community.

Rights and access information

The Rights property records legal rights or reuse conditions associated with the resource.

Versioning and DOI assignment

From metadata to a findable DOI

Minimum metadata for DOI registration

Minimum metadata is not sufficient metadata

A DOI can technically be registered with a small number of properties, but such a record may provide little support for discovery, evaluation and reuse.

DataCite and the Core dataset metadata profile

Example DataCite JSON metadata

The following simplified example illustrates the structure used when a repository sends metadata to the DataCite REST API.

{
  "data": {
    "type": "dois",
    "attributes": {
      "doi": "10.xxxx/example-dataset",
      "event": "publish",
      "url": "https://repository.example.org/dataset/123",
      "creators": [
        {
          "name": "Researcher, Example",
          "nameType": "Personal",
          "givenName": "Example",
          "familyName": "Researcher",
          "nameIdentifiers": [
            {
              "nameIdentifier": "https://orcid.org/0000-0000-0000-0000",
              "nameIdentifierScheme": "ORCID",
              "schemeUri": "https://orcid.org"
            }
          ],
          "affiliation": [
            {
              "name": "Example Research Institution",
              "affiliationIdentifier": "https://ror.org/example",
              "affiliationIdentifierScheme": "ROR",
              "schemeUri": "https://ror.org"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "titles": [
        {
          "title": "Example research dataset"
        }
      ],
      "publisher": {
        "name": "Example Data Repository"
      },
      "publicationYear": 2026,
      "types": {
        "resourceTypeGeneral": "Dataset"
      },
      "subjects": [
        {
          "subject": "research data"
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "description": "Dataset produced during the example study.",
          "descriptionType": "Abstract"
        }
      ],
      "rightsList": [
        {
          "rights": "Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International",
          "rightsUri": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
          "rightsIdentifier": "CC-BY-4.0",
          "rightsIdentifierScheme": "SPDX",
          "schemeUri": "https://spdx.org/licenses/"
        }
      ],
      "relatedIdentifiers": [
        {
          "relatedIdentifier":
            "10.xxxx/example-publication",
          "relatedIdentifierType": "DOI",
          "relationType": "IsSupplementTo",
          "resourceTypeGeneral": "JournalArticle"
        }
      ],
      "version": "1.0",
      "language": "en"
    }
  }
}

Metadata quality recommendations

Common implementation errors

How to use this resource