Minting DOIs in Crossref

Pending Publications

In some cases, our stakeholders need a DOI before the item is formally published or available online. Crossref supports this through a special record type called a Pending Publication. A Pending Publication is a temporary Crossref record that allows us to register a DOI early, with minimal metadata, while signaling to readers that a final version is forthcoming.

Pending Publications appear in Crossref with a green banner reading:

“Manuscript has been accepted.”

This banner communicates that the content is not yet fully published but has been accepted by the publisher.

Why use a Pending Publication?

Use a Pending Publication when:

  • A DOI is needed in advance for grant reporting, early citation, or repository workflows.

  • The item has been accepted but is not yet publicly available.

  • Metadata is incomplete (e.g., volume, issue, page numbers, final URL).

Crossref allows you to register the DOI immediately and update the metadata later once the final version is ready.

Creating a Pending Publication

To create a Pending Publication, you:

  1. Use the pending_publication work type in your Crossref deposit.

  2. Supply the minimum required metadata: - Title - Authors - Acceptance date - Intent-to-publish statement - DOI you are minting

  3. Deposit via your normal Crossref workflow (XML upload, API deposit, or system integration).

Once deposited, the DOI resolves to a basic record with the green “accepted” banner.

Updating a Pending Publication After Formal Publication

Crossref does not have a special “update” operation. When the work is finally published, you simply deposit new metadata to the exact same DOI. Crossref will then replace or expand the metadata accordingly.

Typical metadata added at this stage includes:

  • Publication date

  • Final title (if changed)

  • Journal, volume, issue, and pages

  • Final landing page URL

  • Abstract

  • License

  • Funding and affiliation details

  • References

This update creates the official published version of the DOI.

Withdrawals and Corrections

The behavior differs depending on whether your organization uses Crossmark.

For Crossmark users

If the Pending Publication needs to be withdrawn, you may include a Crossmark scholarly update assertion, such as withdrawal.

This tells Crossref to automatically:

  • Change the green banner to a red “Accepted manuscript has been withdrawn” banner

  • Record the update in Crossmark metadata

  • (Optionally) link to a new DOI representing the update/notice

This is the recommended approach if your workflow includes Crossmark.

For organizations not using Crossmark

Without Crossmark, Crossref cannot automatically change the green Pending Publication banner. Even if you redeposit metadata, the record will continue to display:

“Manuscript has been accepted.”

Therefore, if you withdraw a Pending Publication you must communicate this manually in the <intent_to_publish> field.

Example:

<intent_to_publish>
    This item has been withdrawn by the authors and will not be published.
</intent_to_publish>

This ensures that downstream users and metadata consumers understand the withdrawal even though the banner will not change.

Sample Pending Publication

A sample XML document will look like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<doi_batch version="5.3.1"
           xmlns="http://www.crossref.org/schema/5.3.1"
           xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
           xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.crossref.org/schema/5.3.1
           http://www.crossref.org/schema/deposit/crossref5.3.1.xsd">

  <head>
    <doi_batch_id>pending-pub-example-001</doi_batch_id>
    <timestamp>20250101000000</timestamp>

    <depositor>
      <depositor_name>Your Organization Name</depositor_name>
      <email_address>contact@example.org</email_address>
    </depositor>

    <registrant>Your Organization Name</registrant>
  </head>

  <body>
    <pending_publication>

      <titles>
        <title>Example Title of a Pending Publication</title>
      </titles>

      <contributors>
        <person_name sequence="first" contributor_role="author">
          <given_name>Alice</given_name>
          <surname>Smith</surname>
        </person_name>
        <person_name sequence="additional" contributor_role="author">
          <given_name>Bob</given_name>
          <surname>Johnson</surname>
        </person_name>
      </contributors>

      <acceptance_date>
        <month>01</month>
        <day>10</day>
        <year>2025</year>
      </acceptance_date>

      <intent_to_publish>
        This manuscript has been accepted and is awaiting publication.
      </intent_to_publish>

      <doi_data>
        <doi>10.1234/example.pendingpub.001</doi>
        <resource>https://example.org/pending/example.pendingpub.001</resource>
      </doi_data>

    </pending_publication>
  </body>

</doi_batch>