We have different fees for different kinds of accounts. These include annual membership fees and content registration fees for members, optional member fees for the Similarity Check service, and annual subscription fees for some metadata services.
Our Membership and Fees Committee regularly reviews our fees and makes recommendations to our Board. In July 2019 our board voted to approve our fee principles. We haven’t increased the regular annual membership or content registration fees in over twelve years.
Member fees
If you want to get a Crossref DOI prefix for your organization so you can create unique and persistent links and distribute metadata through us, you’ll need to become a member. Most members pay an annual fee at the beginning of each calendar year plus a one-time fee for each content item registered. There are also fees for the optional Similarity Check service.
Annual membership fees
If you are a member through a sponsor, your sponsor will pay membership fees on your behalf (but they may also charge you for their services - more here).
If you are eligible for the GEM programme, you will not pay annual membership fees - more here.
All other members pay an annual membership fee to Crossref. There are different membership fee tiers depending on whether you will be registering published content with us, or whether you are a funder and will be registering grants. These fees are tiered, depending on your publishing revenues or expenses, or the value of the grants that you award.
(IMPORTANT: your membership fee gives you access to our services, but DOES NOT include content registration. There are separate content registration fees payable.)
Annual membership fee tiers (for organizations registering published content)
Our membership fees for organizations who will be registering published content are tiered depending on the publishing revenue or expenses of your organization. Please select your tier from the table below, and use the higher number of either:
- Total annual publishing revenue from all the divisions of your organization (the member is considered to be the largest legal entity) for all types of activities (advertising, sales, subscriptions, databases, article charges, membership dues, etc). Or, if no publishing revenue then:
- Total annual publishing operations expenses including (but not limited to) staff costs, hosting, outsourcing, consulting, typesetting, etc.
Total publishing revenue or expenses | Annual membership fee |
---|
<USD 1 million | USD 275 |
USD 1 million - USD 5 million | USD 550 |
USD 5 million - USD 10 million | USD 1,650 |
USD 10 million - USD 25 million | USD 3,900 |
USD 25 million - USD 50 million | USD 8,300 |
USD 50 million - USD 100 million | USD 14,000 |
USD 100 million - USD 200 million | USD 22,000 |
USD 200 million - USD 500 million | USD 33,000 |
>USD 500 million | USD 50,000 |
Annual membership fees (for funders who will be registering grants)
Since 2019, funders are able to register DOIs for the research grants they have awarded. Their annual membership fees are lower than for all other members, but their grant registration fees are higher. Funder fees are tiered depending on your annual award value.
Total annual award value (USD) | Annual membership fee |
---|
< 500k | USD 200 |
0.5-2 million | USD 400 |
2.1-10 million | USD 600 |
10.1-500 million | USD 800 |
500.1 million - 1 billion | USD 1,000 |
> 1 billion | USD 1,200 |
Content Registration fees
Content Registration (metadata deposit) fees are one-time fees for the initial registration of content with us. There are no fees for updating the metadata for registered content. These fees are usually billed quarterly in arrears. There are different fees for different content types and some fees are different depending on the publication date of the content. Some content types have volume discounts available.
If you are a member through a sponsor, your sponsor will pay content registration fees on your behalf (but they may also charge you for their services - more here).
If you are eligible for the GEM program, you will not pay content registration fees - more here.
Content registration fees by content type
Content type | Registration fee per current record | Registration fee per backfile record | Volume discounts? |
---|
Journal articles, book titles, conference proceedings and conference papers, technical reports and working papers, theses and dissertations | USD 1.00 | USD 0.15 | No |
Peer Reviews (registered by the title owner) | USD 0.25 | USD 0.25 | Yes - see more |
Peer Reviews (registered by not the title owner) | USD 1.00 | USD 1.00 | Yes - see more |
Grants | USD 2.00 | USD 0.30 | No |
Preprints | USD 0.25 | USD 0.15 | Yes - see more |
Book Chapters | USD 0.25 | USD 0.15 | Yes - see more |
Standards | USD 0.15 | USD 0.15 | No |
Databases and datasets | USD 0.06 | USD 0.06 | Yes - see more |
Components | USD 0.06 | USD 0.06 | Yes - see more |
*Note: “Current” content includes the current calendar year + the previous two calendar years, and “Backfile” is anything older than that.
So for content registered with Crossref in 2023, current content is anything registered with publication/award dates of 2023, 2022 or 2021. Backfile is anything registered with publication/award dates of 2020 or before.
Volume discounts: peer reviews
If you register multiple peer reviews for the same article, then volume discounts apply. The prices and discounts are different depending on whether you are the publisher of the article being reviewed. Volume discounts don’t apply across reviews for different articles.
Registered by the title publisher
Total number of registered DOIs per article | Registration fee per record (current and backfile) |
---|
First peer review against single article | USD 0.25 |
Second and all further peer reviews against same article | USD 0.00 |
Registered by an organization who is not the publisher of the title being reviewed
Total number of registered DOIs per article | Registration fee per record (current and backfile) |
---|
First peer review against single article | USD 1.00 |
Second peer review against same article | USD 0.25 |
Third and all further peer review against same article | USD 0.00 |
Volume discounts: preprints and other posted content
Total number of registered DOIs per quarter | Registration fee per record (current) | Registration fee per record (backfile) |
---|
0-1000 | USD 0.25 | USD 0.15 |
1,001 - 10,000 | USD 0.25 | USD 0.12 |
10,001 - 100,000 | USD 0.25 | USD 0.06 |
100,001 and up | USD 0.25 | USD 0.02 |
Volume discounts: book chapters and reference entries for a single title
If you’re depositing a lot of chapters or reference works for the same title in the same quarter year, the following discounts apply:
Total number of registered DOIs per title per quarter | Registration fee per record (current) | Registration fee per record (backfile) |
---|
0-250 | USD 0.25 | USD 0.15 |
251-1,000 | USD 0.15 | USD 0.15 |
1,001-10,000 | USD 0.12 | USD 0.12 |
10,001-100,000 | USD 0.06 | USD 0.06 |
100,001 and up | USD 0.02 | USD 0.02 |
The higher tiers are for encyclopaedias, in case you’re wondering how a single title could possibly have 100,000 chapters!
Volume discounts: datasets and components
If you’re registering a lot of components or datasets for a single title in the same quarter year, the following discounts apply. There is no difference in price between current and backfile content for datasets and components.
Total number of registered DOIs per title per quarter | Registration fee per record (current and backfile) |
---|
1-10,000 | USD 0.06 |
10,001-100,000 | USD 0.03 |
100,001-1,000,000 | USD 0.02 |
1,000,001-10,000,000 | USD 0.01 |
10,000,001 and up | USD 0.005 |
Similarity Check fees
Members are able to participate in Similarity Check. As a participant, you pay an annual service fee to use Similarity Check plus a per document charge each time you check a document. Even members who are part of the GEM Program will pay these fees.
Similarity Check annual service fee
Members of Crossref can participate in Similarity Check. The service fee is 20% of your annual membership fee and is included in your annual membership fee invoice.
Total annual revenue/expenses | Crossref annual membership fee | Similarity Check annual subscription fee |
---|
<USD 1 million | USD 275 | USD 55 |
USD 1 million - USD 5 million | USD 550 | USD 110 |
USD 5 million - USD 10 million | USD 1,650 | USD 330 |
USD 10 million - USD 25 million | USD 3,900 | USD 780 |
USD 25 million - USD 50 million | USD 8,300 | USD 1,660 |
USD 50 million - USD 100 million | USD 14,000 | USD 2,800 |
USD 100 million - USD 200 million | USD 22,000 | USD 4,400 |
USD 200 million - USD 500 million | USD 33,000 | USD 6,600 |
>USD 500 million | USD 50,000 | USD 10,000 |
Similarity Check per-document fees
Each document run through Similarity Check is charged at a per-document-checking fee, and there are volume discounts. There is a separate invoice for Similarity Check document checking fees. This invoice is sent annually in January for the previous years’ usage.
Number of documents checked per year | Price per document up to 25,000 words |
---|
1 - 100 | USD 0.00 |
101 - 2,000 | USD 0.75 |
2,001 - 25,000 | USD 0.65 |
25,001 - 50,000 | USD 0.55 |
50,001 - 100,000 | USD 0.45 |
100,001 - 200,000 | USD 0.30 |
>200,001 | USD 0.25 |
If you want to get and use our metadata, you don’t need to be a Crossref member. We have various free public APIs available that you can use without contacting us. We also offer the Metadata Plus service for an annual subscription fee - this is offered to members and non-members alike. You’ll receive an annual fee for this service each January - but if you initially sign up during the year, your fees will be prorated for the remainder of that calendar year.
The Metadata Plus service offers combined machine access to all available metadata in XML and JSON formats with additional features. This is also available openly via our Public APIs. The Plus service offers extra guarantees and features.
Please select your tier from the table below, using one of the following criteria:
- For commercial organizations, the subscriber is considered to be the largest legal entity. The fee tier is selected based on the total annual revenue of all the divisions of your organization for all activities.
- For non-profit and government organizations, the subscriber is considered to be the department(s) or agency(ies) making use of the service. The fee tier is selected based on whichever is the higher between your total annual revenue (including earned and fundraised, e.g. grants) or annual operating expenses (including personnel and non-personnel, e.g. occupancy, equipment, licenses, etc.).
Total annual revenue or income or funding | Annual fee |
---|
<USD 500,000 | USD 550 |
USD 500,001-USD 999,999 | USD 2,200 |
USD 1 - 5 million | USD 3,300 |
USD 5,000,001-USD 9,999,999 | USD 11,000 |
USD 10 million-USD 25 million | USD 16,500 |
>USD 25 million | USD 44,000 |
You don’t have to tell us your total revenue/income/funding, just the category you are in. Let us know if you’re not sure.
If you’re an organization who works on behalf of groups of smaller organizations that want to register content with Crossref, you’ll be set up as a Sponsor. Sponsors work directly with us in order to provide administrative, technical and—if applicable—language support to the communities they work with.
The annual membership fee you pay as a Sponsor is based on the total annual publications revenue, income or funding of all the organizations you support, whichever is higher.
Total annual revenue or income or funding | Annual fee |
---|
<USD 1 million USD | USD 275 |
USD 1 million - USD 5 million | USD 550 |
USD 5 million - USD 10 million | USD 1,650 |
USD 10 million - USD 25 million | USD 3,900 |
USD 25 million - USD 50 million | USD 8,300 |
USD 50 million - USD 100 million | USD 14,000 |
USD 100 million - USD 200 million | USD 22,000 |
USD 200 million - USD 500 million | USD 33,000 |
>USD 500 million | USD 50,000 |
Each quarter you will also be sent an invoice for any content items that have been registered by the organizations that you sponsor. The charges are listed by each organization’s prefix on the invoice. There are different fees for different content types and the fees are also different depending on the publication date of the content. You will be asked to recategorize your annual fee at the end of every year, as the number of sponsoring members you represent grows.
How to pay us and other FAQs
There’s more information about how to pay us, when you’ll be billed and other billing FAQs here.
Do contact our member support team if you have any further questions.