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 This proliferation poses a risk of some copies remaining outdated, as updates or amendments may not be applied universally, potentially leading researchers to rely on content that is outdated or known to be incorrect or incomplete.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.

Meet the members of the Task & Finish Group

• Constanze Schelhorn, MDPI (Chair)
• Caitlin Bakker, University of Regina
• Craig Van Dyck, STM Solutions (Facilitator)
• 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