Metadata standards and vocabularies

This page provides curated links to metadata standards, application profiles, controlled vocabularies, ontologies and terminology registries used to describe research data and related digital objects.

Use these resources to define metadata fields, select consistent values, represent relationships, support machine-readable exchange and improve interoperability between repositories, catalogues and research infrastructures.

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Resource information

Resource type

Curated directory of metadata specifications, profiles, vocabularies and ontology services

Intended users

Researchers, data stewards, curators, repository managers and metadata developers

Recommended use

During metadata profile design, repository configuration, cataloguing, mapping and validation

Link status

External specifications and services maintained by their respective organisations

Select the right type of resource

Metadata interoperability normally requires several complementary resources rather than one universal standard.

Metadata schema

Defines properties, structures, value types and relationships used to create a metadata record.

Application profile

Selects and constrains metadata properties for a repository, catalogue, community or exchange workflow.

Controlled vocabulary

Provides approved values, labels, codes or identifiers for use within selected metadata fields.

Ontology

Formally represents concepts, entities, properties and relationships within a domain.

A metadata standard does not provide every required value

A metadata schema may define a field such as subject, licence, resource type or unit of measurement without supplying all values permitted in that field.

A complete metadata profile should therefore specify both the structural metadata properties and the controlled vocabularies, identifier schemes or ontologies used to populate them.

Recommended starting points

Start with these resources when selecting general metadata properties, community standards or controlled vocabularies.

Citation metadata schema

DataCite Metadata Schema

Metadata specification for identifying, citing and connecting research data and other research outputs.

Best for: repository records, DOI metadata, dataset citation and related identifiers

Current documentation: version 4.6

View DataCite Schema

General metadata vocabulary

DCMI Metadata Terms

Authoritative collection of metadata properties, classes, vocabulary encoding schemes and syntax encoding schemes maintained by the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.

Best for: general resource description, metadata mappings and linked-data vocabularies

Scope: multidisciplinary

View DCMI Terms

Standards registry

FAIRsharing

Curated registry connecting metadata standards, databases, repositories and data policies.

Best for: identifying disciplinary standards and examining their use by repositories and policies

Coverage: standards, databases and policies

Search FAIRsharing

Multilingual semantic assets

EU Vocabularies

Access point for controlled vocabularies, authority lists, taxonomies, thesauri, ontologies and data models maintained by EU institutions.

Best for: multilingual European reference data and public-sector interoperability

Provider: Publications Office of the European Union

Explore EU Vocabularies

General metadata standards

These specifications support broad resource description, discovery, citation and metadata exchange across disciplines.

Research output metadata

DataCite Metadata Schema

Core metadata properties and controlled values for the publication, citation and discovery of research outputs.

Use it for: datasets, software, models, workflows, samples and other DOI-identified resources

Formats: documented XML schema and API representations

Open DataCite 4.6

General resource description

Dublin Core Metadata Terms

General metadata vocabulary containing properties and classes for describing digital and physical resources.

Use it for: cross-domain metadata, repository mappings and semantic-web descriptions

Includes: the original fifteen-element set and qualified terms

View Dublin Core

Web structured data

Schema.org

Extensible vocabulary for embedding structured descriptions of datasets, people, organisations, publications and other entities in web pages.

Use it for: web discovery, landing-page metadata and machine-readable resource descriptions

Common representation: JSON-LD

Explore Schema.org

Data catalogue vocabulary

W3C Data Catalog Vocabulary

RDF vocabulary supporting interoperable descriptions of catalogues, datasets, dataset series, distributions and data services.

Use it for: data catalogues, harvesting, linked data and cross-portal exchange

Abbreviation: DCAT

View DCAT 3

Repository and catalogue application profiles

Application profiles define how general metadata properties must be applied in a particular repository, catalogue or aggregation environment.

Repository interoperability

OpenAIRE Guidelines

Metadata guidelines for exposing publications, datasets and research information so that records can be integrated into the OpenAIRE information environment.

Best for: repository and CRIS managers preparing metadata mappings and harvesting interfaces

Integration: OpenAIRE Research Graph

View OpenAIRE Guidelines

European catalogue profile

DCAT Application Profile

European application profile of DCAT for exchanging descriptions of catalogues, datasets, distributions and data services.

Best for: European data portals, public-sector catalogues and interoperable metadata exchange

Abbreviation: DCAT-AP

View DCAT-AP

Machine validation

DataCite XML Schema

Formal XML Schema Definition for validating metadata records against the DataCite Metadata Schema.

Best for: repository exports, automated validation and metadata transformation workflows

Format: XSD

Open DataCite XSD

Profile development guide

DCAT-AP Reuse Guidelines

Guidance for creating profiles that extend or specialise DCAT-AP while remaining compatible with the wider European metadata ecosystem.

Best for: teams designing national, thematic or institutional catalogue profiles

Includes: profile-design and validation considerations

View Reuse Guidelines

Vocabulary and ontology registries

Use registries to identify an existing maintained vocabulary before creating a new local list of terms.

Standards registry

FAIRsharing

Registry describing metadata standards and their relationships with databases, repositories and data policies.

Use it to: identify standards recommended or used by a particular research community

Scope: multidisciplinary

Browse Standards

Terminology registry

BARTOC

Registry of thesauri, classifications, taxonomies, ontologies and other knowledge-organisation systems.

Use it to: discover general and discipline-specific controlled vocabularies

Coverage: multiple terminology registries and vocabulary types

Search BARTOC

Linked-data vocabulary registry

Linked Open Vocabularies

Search and discovery service for reusable RDF vocabularies used to describe linked data.

Use it to: find existing classes, properties and namespace definitions

Abbreviation: LOV

Search LOV

Biomedical ontology service

Ontology Lookup Service

Repository and search service providing access to current biomedical ontologies and their terms.

Use it to: search ontology concepts, identifiers, definitions and hierarchical relationships

Provider: EMBL-EBI

Search OLS

Biomedical ontology repository

NCBO BioPortal

Repository and service for searching, browsing, annotating and mapping biomedical ontologies.

Use it to: select biomedical terms and inspect mappings between ontologies

Domain: biomedicine and life sciences

Visit BioPortal

EU reference data registry

EU Vocabularies

Catalogue of multilingual authority lists, taxonomies, thesauri, schemas, ontologies and data models.

Use it to: obtain maintained identifiers and multilingual labels for European metadata

Provider: Publications Office of the EU

Browse EU Reference Data

Semantic vocabularies, provenance and units

These resources support structured concepts, provenance relationships and unambiguous representation of measurements.

Knowledge organisation model

SKOS

W3C data model for representing and linking thesauri, taxonomies, classification schemes and subject-heading systems.

Use it for: preferred labels, alternative labels, broader and narrower concepts and concept mappings

Full name: Simple Knowledge Organization System

View SKOS Reference

Provenance ontology

PROV-O

W3C ontology for representing entities, activities, agents and relationships involved in producing or transforming a resource.

Use it for: computational provenance, derivation, attribution and workflow histories

Representation: OWL 2 and RDF

View PROV-O

Quantities and units ontology

QUDT

Ontologies and vocabularies for quantities, units, dimensions, data types and systems of units.

Use it for: machine-readable measurements, dimensional analysis and unit conversion

Representation: RDF vocabularies and ontologies

Explore QUDT

Unit code system

UCUM

Code system for the unambiguous electronic communication of units used in science, engineering, medicine and business.

Use it for: standardised unit strings in datasets, metadata records and software systems

Full name: Unified Code for Units of Measure

View UCUM

Multilingual and scientific vocabularies

These resources support consistent subject classification and multilingual discovery within European information systems.

Scientific classification

EuroSciVoc

European Science Vocabulary developed as a reference vocabulary for scientific fields and Open Science metadata.

Use it for: classifying research projects, outputs, expertise and scientific subject areas

Formats: RDF and Turtle

Explore EuroSciVoc

Multilingual thesaurus

EuroVoc

Multilingual and multidisciplinary thesaurus covering the activities and policy domains of the European Union.

Use it for: multilingual subject indexing, public-sector information and policy-related metadata

Coverage: official EU languages and selected candidate-country languages

Explore EuroVoc

EU authority lists

EU Controlled Vocabularies

Maintained authority lists and controlled values for countries, languages, organisations, resource types and other reference concepts.

Use it for: consistent codes, multilingual labels and European interoperability

Provider: Publications Office of the EU

Browse Controlled Vocabularies

Metadata resource selection checklist

Evaluate a standard or vocabulary before including it in a metadata profile or repository workflow.

Community adoption

Is the resource recognised by the relevant discipline, repository, funder or research infrastructure?

Governance and maintenance

Is there an identified maintainer, version history, update process and stable documentation?

Machine actionability

Are stable identifiers, machine-readable formats, namespaces, APIs or downloadable files available?

Implementation fit

Can the resource be mapped to repository fields, validated and used consistently by the intended users?

Reuse maintained resources before creating local terms

Search recognised registries and disciplinary services before creating a new metadata property, code list, vocabulary or ontology.

When a local extension is necessary, document its definitions, identifiers, governance, version, licence and mappings to existing international resources.

Verify the current specification and version

Metadata standards, profiles and vocabularies may be revised, superseded or extended. Confirm the current release and migration guidance before implementing a specification in a production repository or catalogue.

Do not assume that two versions of the same standard have identical properties, controlled values, obligations or validation rules.