6 minute read.Notice of amendments to Crossref membership terms and bylaws
In its March 2025 meeting, the Crossref board unanimously voted to update both the Crossref bylaws and the Crossref membership terms to:
Provide more clarity and alignment between our bylaws and membership terms, where they had become out of sync over the years.
Reflect previous board motions and bring both documents up-to-date with current processes for suspending and revoking membership, and reviewing those decisions.
Work towards being more explicit about what “Member Practices” should look like in terms of preserving the integrity of the scholarly record.
The bylaw changes are effective immediately, and the updated version of the membership terms will come into effect on 11th July 2025.
In accordance with the 60-day notice period, we have emailed the Primary contact on all our active member accounts today. Note: Members do not need to do anything in response to these changes - by continuing to use our services after 11th July, they are accepting the latest version of the terms.
Changes to the membership terms
The membership terms will be updated on 11th July to be clearer on, among other things, the importance of accurate metadata, using DOI links everywhere, the all-important reference linking obligation, and the process for suspending and revoking/terminating membership. It also introduces the new concept of “Member Practices”, which a dedicated community committee will propose for board approval. More information about this will follow soon.
You can find the specific changes below, or take a look at this marked-up PDF showing the changes between the current (from June 2022) terms and the revised (July 2025) terms.
| Topic | Section | Summary of Change(s) |
|---|
| Terminology | Various sections (e.g., 1, 2(i), 2(k), 5) | Streamlines some legal language to enhance clarity and readability. |
| Member Practices | 2(a) | Establishes an obligation of Members to comply with Member Practices, to be established soon through a dedicated committee. |
| Unauthorised use of metadata | 2(d) | Highlights the harmful impact of unauthorised use or deposit of metadata on Crossref, its Members, and the integrity of the scholarly record. |
| Reference linking | 2(f), (g) | Updates the language referring to reference linking, and makes explicit Members’ obligation to maintain reference linking throughout membership, not only upon first joining Crossref. It also makes it clear that members should use DOI links wherever they communicate about any item with a DOI. |
| Displaying identifiers | 2(h) | Strengthens Members’ obligation to display DOIs in accordance with Crossref’s Display Guidelines (by eliminating the “commercially reasonable efforts” qualifier). |
| Fees | 3 | Expands the definition of “Fees” to include all usage fees and fees for optional services, in addition to annual fees and Content Registration fees. Crossref’s right to suspend or terminate a Member’s account for non-payment extends to any of these fees. |
| Termination of Membership | 9 | Significantly revises the provision regarding termination of a Member’s membership by Crossref: |
| | Updates the bases for ‘for-cause’ termination, to include ongoing misrepresentations in a Member’s practices; misleading use or creation of DOIs; and failure to pay fees due (without the former 120-day minimum duration of nonpayment); |
| | Clarifies the distinction between suspension and termination (also referred to as revocation or expulsion) of a Member’s Crossref membership; |
| | Eliminates the existing procedures for automatic Board review of a termination or extended suspension. (Crossref’s bylaws have been amended to prescribe a new suspension/termination process and right to request Board review); |
| | Adds a termination trigger for cases where a Sponsor cancels its agreement with a Sponsored Member. (The member, of course, has the option to move to a new Sponsor, or re-join Crossref as an independent member). |
| Notice contacts | 8(d) | Updates Crossref’s Notice contact; updates the list of required Member contacts. |
Changes to the bylaws
Our bylaws have needed updating for a while, but since these seldom change, we’ve saved up a few changes, also to bring them in line with the revised membership terms.
We’ve now modernised the language, ensured that the bylaws match what’s in the membership terms, and we’ve added in motions that have been agreed by the board but not updated in the bylaws over the last few years. We’ve also updated the bylaws in line with the new membership revocation process in the new July 2025 membership terms. The new bylaws also allow for a new group of members to be created to help Crossref define Member Practices.
You can find a summary of the changes below, or take a look at this marked-up PDF showing all the changes to the bylaws.
| Topic | Section | Summary of Changes |
|---|
| Terminology | Various sections | Eliminates gender-specific terminology, e.g. replaces “Chairman” with “Chair”. |
| | Makes minor clean-up edits (e.g. deletion of unused “Reserved” section and renumbering). |
| Membership Qualification | Art. I Sec. 1 | Replaces “publishes” professional and scholarly materials with “produces” professional and scholarly materials to match the language in the already-current membership terms. |
| Non-Voting Membership | Art. I Sec. 2; Art. IV Secs. 7, 8; Art. VII Sec. 4 | Reflects the establishment of a non-voting Member category as previously approved by the Board. |
| Membership Procedures | Art. I Sec. 3; Art. I Sec. 5 | Clarifies that acceptance of new Members is delegable to Crossref personnel generally, replacing a narrow reference to the Executive Director. |
| | Eliminates superfluous procedural steps regarding Member resignation. |
| Suspension and Termination of Membership | Art. I Sec. 6 | Significantly revises the provision regarding termination of a Member’s membership by Crossref: |
| | Updates the bases for ‘for-cause’ termination, to include various specific prongs (matching those already in the Member Terms), while maintaining the catch-all for conduct prejudicial to Crossref’s best interests. |
| | Authorises the Board to define standards and procedures for ‘for-cause’ terminations, or establish a committee (which can be comprised of both Board members and non-Board members) for that purpose. |
| | Specifies that Crossref staff is responsible for implementing the ‘for-cause’ termination standards. |
| | Eliminates the existing procedures for automatic Board review of a termination or extended suspension; specifies the Board’s authority to delegate discretionary appeals/review to the ExCo or other committee of Board members. |
| | Restates that temporary suspension may be used in lieu of, or in advance of, termination. |
| Annual Meeting | Art. IV Sec. 1 | Updates language around the timing of the annual Member meeting: |
| | Replaces reference to the “second week of November” with “during the month of October or November”. |
| | Eliminates language regarding avoiding legal or religious holidays; given Crossref’s global footprint, this is not feasible. |
Thanks for reading this far!
Don’t forget, members do not need to do anything in response to these changes - by continuing to register metadata after 11th July, they are accepting the latest version of the terms. But do let us know if you have any questions by emailing member@crossref.org.
Further reading
- Jun 5, 2025 – Destacando nuestra comunidad en Colombia
- May 14, 2025 – Our annual open call for expressions of interest to join our board
- Apr 29, 2025 – Reflections from Crossref Accra 2025 - Strengthening open science and partnerships in Ghana
- Apr 18, 2025 – Supporting Membership through the Sponsor Program
- Feb 27, 2025 – The GEM program - Year Two 2024
- Sep 24, 2024 – Meet the candidates and vote in our 2024 Board elections
- May 1, 2024 – Seeking consultancy: understanding joining obstacles for non-member journals
- Apr 26, 2024 – This year's call for expressions of interest to join our board
