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Jun 25, 2026

Heratio Help Center article. Category: Integration.

DataCite Metadata Enrichment

When Heratio mints a DOI for an archival record, it sends a metadata payload to DataCite. The richer that payload, the better the record is indexed in DataCite Commons, Google Scholar, OpenAIRE, and the academic citation graph. As of Heratio v1.98.0 the DOI minter automatically populates four additional DataCite blocks beyond the minimum required (title / publisher / year / type).

This article explains what's emitted, where it comes from, and what an archivist can do to enrich a record before minting.

What gets sent to DataCite

Block Sourced from What to do to enrich it
Creators Actors linked to the IO through events (creator, author, photographer, etc.) Use Add new event on the IO edit page and pick an actor record.
Creator ORCIDs ahg_actor_identifier rows where identifier_type = orcid Open the actor record, add an External authority identifier with type ORCID and the 16-digit value.
RelatedIdentifier - IsPartOf The IO's parent fonds / series / subseries (parent_id) Make sure the record sits under the right fonds/series in the tree. Minted parent DOIs are preferred over plain URLs.
RelatedIdentifier - IsVariantFormOf Digital-object derivatives (master + access copies + thumbnails) Attach the original master plus its derivatives via the Digital object panel - emitted automatically when > 1 present.
RelatedIdentifier - IsReferencedBy Exhibition placements (exhibition_object) Add the record to an exhibition via the Exhibition module.
GeoLocations Place access points (taxonomy 42) on the IO Use the Place access-point picker on the IO edit page. Coordinates flow through when configured in the place term.
FundingReferences New ahg_io_funding table Import via php artisan doi:funding-import funding.csv (see below).

ORCIDs on actors

An ORCID is a 16-digit identifier (last digit may be X) globally unique to a person. To attach one:

  1. Open the actor record.
  2. Go to External authority identifiers (or Linked data depending on theme).
  3. Add a new identifier, type ORCID, paste the value (any of 0000-0002-1825-0097, 0000000218250097, or https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1825-0097 works).
  4. Save. The next DOI mint or DOI update will pick it up automatically.

Malformed ORCIDs are silently dropped (we never emit invalid DataCite XML), so it is safe to paste something and re-check later.

Funding references - CSV import

DataCite supports <fundingReferences> with funder, identifier (ROR / ISNI / Crossref Funder ID / GRID), award number, award URI, and award title. Heratio captures these in the ahg_io_funding table.

Because the IO edit page currently does not expose a Funding panel, the operator path is a CSV bulk-import. Build a CSV like:

information_object_id,funder_name,funder_identifier,funder_identifier_type,award_number,award_uri,award_title
12345,National Research Foundation,https://ror.org/05bjb6e90,ROR,NRF-2026-001,https://nrf.example.org/grants/NRF-2026-001,Digital preservation of southern African archives
12346,Mellon Foundation,https://ror.org/04bdffz58,ROR,M-2025-7782,,Archival access for the global south

Only information_object_id and funder_name are mandatory. Run:

php artisan doi:funding-import /path/to/funding.csv --dry-run
# review the output, then drop --dry-run to actually insert
php artisan doi:funding-import /path/to/funding.csv

The import is idempotent on (information_object_id, funder_name, award_number) so re-running the same CSV will skip duplicates. Existing DOIs need a manual update to pick up the new funding rows - use Update DOI on the DOI dashboard or php artisan ahg:doi-process-queue after enqueuing.

When does the enrichment fire?

  • New DOIs: every mint via DoiService::mint() automatically includes whichever blocks have data.
  • Existing DOIs: queue an update via Update DOI on /admin/doi/view/{id} or via the queue command - the same enriched payload is PUT to DataCite.
  • Defensive: if a sidecar table is missing (e.g. ahg_actor_identifier, ahg_place_coords, ahg_io_funding) the build silently skips that block. Nothing breaks; the DOI just goes out with less detail.

DataCite XML form

For consumers that ingest raw Kernel-4 XML (OAI-PMH harvesters, some institutional repositories), DoiService::buildXml($payload) renders the same enriched record as schema-valid XML against kernel-4.5/metadata.xsd. The DataCite REST API itself uses JSON:API by default, so most operators will never need the XML form directly.

  • DOI Management - User Guide - lifecycle, states, dashboard.
  • DOI Manage - User Guide - configuration and queue ops.
  • Issue #654 on GitHub tracks the rolling DataCite v4.5 enrichment work; Phase 2 closes the four metadata blocks above. Phase 3 (Events API client + per-collection accuracy) remains open.