The Urban Studies Foundation (USF) values high-quality, open, and trustworthy metadata as a core part of its commitment to transparent and accountable research funding and knowledge production. Good metadata supports discovery, citation, reuse, and long-term understanding of funded research and its outcomes. By assigning and maintaining Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) through Crossref, the USF seeks to ensure that its grant records, funded outputs, and related materials remain citable, discoverable, and reliable over time. Where enabled for publications and other public outputs, the Crossmark service is used to signal the current status of the record and to communicate any formal updates, corrections, or withdrawals to readers. Readers can use the Crossmark button on publication pages and documents to verify whether a record is current and to access any available update information.
Purpose
The Urban Studies Foundation (USF) is committed to maintaining the integrity, transparency, and reliability of the grant records and scholarly or research outputs to which it assigns Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs). This policy sets out the principles governing the creation, maintenance, and correction of metadata associated with those DOIs, and explains how the USF manages updates, corrections, and withdrawals to records through Crossref and, where enabled, Crossmark.
Scope
This policy applies to all grant records, research outputs, reports, media outputs (e.g. podcasts), datasets, and other materials for which the USF registers DOIs with Crossref. It does not apply to third-party publications where the USF is not the registrant.
Version of record
The version of record is defined as the version of a grant record or output that is formally deposited with Crossref and made publicly available at the DOI landing page. The USF considers this the authoritative version for citation and reference purposes.
Corrections
The USF will issue a formal correction where a substantive error is identified that affects the interpretation, accuracy, or reliability of the content or associated metadata. Minor typographical or formatting changes that do not alter meaning will not normally trigger a formal correction. Where a correction is issued, the DOI metadata will be updated through Crossref. For publications and other outputs where Crossmark is enabled, the correction status will also be indicated via Crossmark.
Retractions and withdrawals
In rare circumstances, the USF may withdraw or retract a record where the content is found to be seriously flawed, legally problematic, or otherwise unsuitable for continued public availability. Cancelled grants—where an award was made in principle but did not proceed—are treated as withdrawn records for the purposes of DOI metadata. Where a withdrawal or cancellation occurs, the DOI will remain active and will resolve to a notice explaining the status of the record. Retractions and withdrawals will be registered with Crossref. For publications and other outputs where Crossmark is enabled, this status will also be displayed via Crossmark.
Updates and amendments
Where an output or grant record is substantively updated or replaced by a new version of record, the USF may deposit a new DOI for the updated version and link the relationship between versions through Crossref metadata. Minor metadata updates that do not constitute a new version of record may be made through re-deposit without issuing a new DOI.
Persistent access and archiving
The USF is committed to maintaining persistent access to the content associated with its DOIs. Where possible, records and outputs are preserved through stable hosting arrangements and/or trusted third-party repositories.
Metadata quality
The USF aims to ensure that the metadata associated with its DOIs is accurate, current, and maintained over time. This includes maintaining information on funding, dates, contributors, affiliations, and relationships between records. If material metadata errors are identified, these will be corrected through re-deposit with Crossref.
Transparency
Where formal corrections, updates, withdrawals, or cancellations occur for publications, the Crossmark service will be used to display the current status of the record to readers.
Contact
Queries, notifications of potential errors, and complaints relating to corrections, updates, withdrawals, or DOI records should be directed to: grants@urbanstudiesfoundation.org
Last updated: 2026-01-29
DOI: 10.69752/s3fz-ct87