Documentation

Troubleshooting submissions

If you register your content with us using the web deposit form, XML file upload using our admin tool, or XML deposit using HTTPS POST, you’ll receive a submission log email from us. This email lets you know if your submission was successful, and if not, will provide error messages to explain more.

If you register your content with us using the third party Crossref XML plugin for OJS, or if you’re still using the deprecated Metadata Manager, you won’t automatically receive a submission log, and instead the success o r error message will show in your interface. However, you can still log in to the admin tool using your Crossref account credentials to retrieve submission logs if you wish.

Here are some examples of submission logs - read on to find out more about a specific error message and how to fix the problem.

DOIs that return a Warning status in your submission logs have been deposited, but may need extra attention. A Failure status means that either a particular DOI has not been deposited, or the entire deposit file was unable to be processed due to some error.

Warnings

Errors in title records

In order to prevent duplicate records, and to ensure that DOIs are being assigned by the appropriate member, our deposit system includes certain checks on titles, ISSNs, and ISBNs.

When you submit the very first deposit for a work associated with a title, a title record is created in our system. This record includes the title, ISSNs or ISBNs, (optional) title-level DOI, record type, and the details of the associated member.

In all subsequent deposits, the title, ISSNs or ISBNs, and (if included) title-level DOI must match this existing record exactly.

There are several errors that you may see in your submission logs that may indicate that there isn’t a match.

Errors in titles

ISSN "[ISSN]" has already been assigned, issn ([ISSN]) is assigned to another title ([title])

Problem: The title in your submission is slightly different from the existing title record we hold.

You may think that the title you are depositing is the same as the title record we hold, but there are some common reasons why it may not be, such as:

• Punctuation, easily-confused characters, and punctuation marks that look similar:
  • An em-dash looks like this —, its UTF-8 (hex) representation is e2 80 94 and in Unicode it’s U+2014. An en-dash looks like this –, its UTF-8 (hex) representation is e2 80 93 and in Unicode it’s U+2013. The default dash-like character on some keyboards is a hyphen, but on others is an en-dash, so they can easily be confused. A hyphen looks like this ‐, its UTF-8 (hex) representation is e2 80 90, and in Unicode it’s U+2010.
  • Use of Cyrillic Х (Cyrillic Ha) instead of Latin X. While the Cyrillic Х (U+0425 in Unicode) looks almost exactly like the Latin X (U+0058 in Unicode), they are not the same letter.
• Language: if your journal is in more than one language, you need to choose one version of the title as the master entry.
• Typos, such as The Journal of Thigns, in the spelling of your journal title
• Variant spellings of your journal title, such as The Journal of Things and Journal of Things

Solution 1: Change the title in your current submission to match the previously registered title and resubmit.

Solution 2: Change the title in the existing title record - you’ll need to contact us for help with this.

Errors in title-level DOIs

Deposit contains title error: The journal has a different DOI assigned; If you want to change the journal's DOI please contact Crossref support: title=Journal of Metadata; current-doi=10.14393/JoM; deposited-doi=10.14393/JoM.1.1

Problem: The journal level DOI that you have in your submission is slightly different from the journal level DOI in our title record.

Solution 1: Change the journal level DOI in your submission to match the previously registered journal level DOI and resubmit.

Solution 2 : Change the journal level DOI in the existing title record - you’ll need to contact us for help with this.

Errors in title ownership

ISSN "{ISSN}" has already been assigned to a different publisher {publisher name}({publisher prefix})

ISBN "{ISBN}" has already been assigned to a different publisher {publisher name}({publisher prefix})

ISSN "[ISSN]" has already been assigned, title/issn: [journal title]/[issn] is owned by publisher: [prefix]

Problem: These errors indicate that the title you are depositing is owned by another member or prefix in our system.

Solution: If you are the correct member for the title being deposited, please follow the procedures indicated in establishing and transferring ownership to have the title record transferred to your member/prefix.

General title record discrepancy error

ISSN "{ISSN}" has already been assigned to a different title/publisher/record type

Problem: This error indicates the ISSN(s), title, or publisher in your deposit do not match the data we have on record for that ISSN.

Solution: To verify the data in the title record with a given ISSN, please search for that ISSN on the Crossref title list. Resubmit with the correct information. If you need to change your title, get in touch with us. If there are any discrepancies between the title, ISSN(s), publisher, or record type that need to be updated, please contact Support and include the submission ID for your deposit.

Invalid ISSN or ISBN error

ISSN "{ISSN}" is invalid

ISBN "{ISBN}" is invalid

Problem: This error indicates that the ISSN or ISBN in your deposit is incorrect. All valid ISSNs and ISBNs use a check digit which is algorithmically validated by our deposit system.

Solution: If your deposit fails with this error, please verify the ISSN or ISBN, and resubmit the deposit with the correct number.

Errors in DOI suffixes

If you see <msg>DOI: 10.5555/2411?3417 , contains invalid characters</msg> in your submission log, your deposit has failed because within your DOI suffix 2411?3417, there is a non-approved character, indicated by the ?. You can learn more about approved characters for DOI suffixes, but here are the two most common problems:

Problem 1: Using an em-dash or en-dash instead of a hyphen. An em-dash looks like this —, its UTF-8 (hex) representation is e2 80 94 and in Unicode it’s U+2014. An en-dash looks like this –, its UTF-8 (hex) representation is e2 80 93 and in Unicode it’s U+2013. The default dash-like character on some keyboards is a hyphen, but on others is an en-dash, so they can easily be confused.

Solution 1: reconfigure your DOI so it doesn’t include an em- or en-dash, or replace the em- or en-dash with a hyphen. A hyphen looks like this ‐, its UTF-8 (hex) representation is e2 80 90, and in Unicode it’s U+2010.

Problem 2: Use of Cyrillic Х (Cyrillic Ha) instead of Latin X. While the Cyrillic Х (U+0425 in Unicode) looks almost exactly like the Latin X (U+0058 in Unicode), they are not the same letter.

Solution 2: change the Х to the Latin X or another approved character, and then resubmit your deposit.

Errors in the XML

Deposited XML is not well-formed or does not validate: Error on line 538

Problem: This error means that the XML is poorly formatted against our schema, or as an XML file in general. For example, it may contain self-closing tags, or invalid values.

Solution: Check your XML file for mistakes. Be sure to edit it in an XML editor and not a word processing program. Check you have saved the file correctly (as an .xml file), and deposit it again. If it still fails, contact Support for help. We also have a collection of XML examples you may use as a template.

Errors in timestamps

Record not processed because submitted version: 201907242206 is less or equal to previously submitted version 201907242206

Problem: The timestamp in this deposit file is numerically smaller than the timestamp in a previous deposit for this same DOI.

Solution: Every deposit has a <timestamp> value, and that value needs to be incremented each time the DOI is updated. This is done automatically for you in the Crossref XML plugin for OJS, the web deposit form, or if you’re still using the deprecated Metadata Manager. But if you’re updating an existing DOI by sending us the whole XML file again, you need to make sure that you update the timestamp as well as the field you’re trying to update.

To fix this, simply increment the timestamp value to be larger than the current timestamp value, and resubmit your XML file. Timestamps can be found by reviewing past deposits, in the depositor report, or by retrieving the DOI’s metadata record.

Other types of errors

When processing a metadata deposit, we do a number of checks to prevent the introduction of bad data to our system.