Content-update Signaling
and Alerting Protocol (CUSAP)


The CUSAP project seeks to enhance the transparency and integrity of scholarly records through a protocol and unified service. This initiative will notify scholarly content platforms — such as aggregators, repositories, personal storage services, citation managers, and publishing systems — about updates or amendments to published works, including errata, name changes, corrections, retractions, updated versions, or expressions of concern.

Context and problem statement

The rise of Open Access is anticipated to result in a widespread distribution of publications across various platforms, increasing content syndication and the likelihood of identical content hosted on multiple sites. This proliferation poses a risk of some copies remaining outdated, as updates or amendments may not be applied universally, potentially leading researchers to rely on content that is outdated or known to be incorrect or incomplete.

Aligned with STM’s mission of “Advancing Trusted Research,” STM publishers are committed to responsibly managing and disseminating accurate scholarly literature, including updates, amendments, or retractions. To that end, publishers are seeking guidance and solutions to effectively communicate changes to all platforms hosting scholarly content, ensuring stakeholders are promptly informed of updates to publications.

About the CUSAP Task & Finish Group

The CUSAP project seeks to enhance the transparency and integrity of scholarly records through a protocol and unified service. This initiative will notify scholarly content platforms — such as aggregators, repositories, personal storage services, citation managers, and publishing systems — about updates or amendments to published works, including errata, name changes, corrections, retractions, updated versions, or expressions of concern.

Fact Sheet

CUSAP at-a-glance | What’s happening & why it matters

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Metadata package document

The metadata package provides notification about an update to a published scholarly work (e.g. an article published in a journal).

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Survey of Repositories

A survey with questions for repositories and other potential users of the system was open 25 October to 22 November and received 27 responses.

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Meet the members of the Task & Finish Group

  • Caitlin Bakker, University of Regina
  • Constanze Schelhorn, MDPI
  • Craig Van Dyck, STM Solutions (Facilitator)
  • Patrick Hargitt, Atypon (Chair)
  • Hylke Koers, STM Solutions
  • Rolf Kwakkelaar, Elsevier
  • Vincent Lizzi, Taylor & Francis
  • Luigi Longobardi, IEEE
  • Bjoern Miyoshi, Springer Nature
  • Joshua Routh, Highwire
  • Jennifer Wright, Cambridge University Press

Status

This Task & Finish Group is currently active.

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