Add funding scheme / program sub-property to fundingReference

[adambuttrick]

What is the problem that your suggestion solves?

fundingReference has no way to express an award scheme or funding program (e.g., Horizon Europe, a thematic call) as distinct from the funder or the award. As a result, depositors often put scheme names in funderName or awardTitle, which results in the misclassification of programs as funders, the parent funder being dropped, and breaks the correct modeling of the funder-scheme-award relationship.

What solution might meet your needs?

Add optional sub-properties to fundingReference, for example:

• fundingSchemeName (0-1): name of the scheme/program under which the award was made
• fundingSchemeIdentifier (0-1), with fundingSchemeIdentifierType and a URI attribute: PID for the scheme/program where one exists

Guidance should state that funderName/funderIdentifier always identify the funding organization, never a scheme. Naming should avoid "scheme" alone, since schemeURI already refers to identifier schemes in this property.

Your name

Adam Buttrick

Your organization

CDL

What alternatives have you tried or considered?

We already model funding schemes in our award DOI registrations. This is insufficient on its own because outputs that cite those grants are registered by others, and their fundingReference metadata has no equivalent field.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

The Barcelona Declaration funding metadata working group will be advancing recommendations that advise enumerating funding schemes/programs in this way. Supporting it in DataCite would align output metadata with those recommendations and with existing award DOI metadata, as well as prepare the way for scheme/program PIDs if/when they emerge.

What group(s) would benefit from your suggestion?

• DataCite members registering DOIs and metadata and administering accounts
• Developers building integrations with DataCite services
• Harvesters who index DataCite DOIs and metadata
• Individuals or institutions analyzing DataCite DOIs and metadata
• DataCite staff
• Other

If other group(s), please describe.

No response